- The Ledges — the Harriman Reservoir's clothing-optional swimming spot, and one of the more quietly beloved open secrets in southern Vermont — are open for the season.
- brbVT has prepared a full-day itinerary for the discerning visitor who wishes to approach this milestone with the gravity it deserves.
- The day begins at Starfire Bakery. It proceeds, via picnic and reservoir, to the Ledges. It ends at TT's Kitchen for dinner and the Creemee Stand on Route 100 for dessert.
- This is, objectively, a perfect day. We have done the planning. You simply have to show up.
- Dogs on leash are welcome at the Ledges. The maple latte from Starfire travels in a jar. The creemee does not travel. That is the one logistical constraint you will need to manage yourself.
Every year, sometime in the weeks when the water temperature at the Harriman Reservoir crosses the threshold that separates "technically swimmable" from "actually swimmable," a quiet announcement goes out through the channels that handle such things — a message between friends, a knowing nod at the hardware store, a comment on a local Facebook group that achieves more reach than its author intended — and the Ledges reopen for the season. There is no ribbon cutting. There is no press release. The town of Wilmington does not send a newsletter. The Ledges simply become available again, the way the creemee stand opens at 3 p.m. and the mountains turn green and the second homeowners reappear on Route 100 with kayaks on their roofs, because this is Vermont and these things happen on their own schedule and not anyone else's.
The Ledges are open. Southern Vermont has entered its unclothed era. brbVT has prepared accordingly.
A Brief History of a Place That Does Not Require One
The Ledges have existed, in their current form and with their current reputation, for longer than most of the people who use them have been aware of them. They occupy a section of shoreline on the Harriman Reservoir — Vermont's second-largest lake, nine miles long, fed by the Deerfield River and ringed by mountains — where the rock formations create natural platforms at the water's edge. The clothing-optional designation is informal, localized to the area near the rocks, and observed by visitors with the relaxed Vermont attitude toward personal liberty that has historically made this state ungovernable in the most endearing possible sense.
It is, in other words, a swimming hole where people take their clothes off near the rocks if they feel like it, and keep them on if they don't, and everyone minds their own business because this is Vermont and that is the arrangement. The water is cold and clear. The mountains are visible from the water. There are grills at the main beach if you want to cook something. The whole thing operates on the honor system, which is the only system Vermont genuinely trusts.
The Harriman Reservoir is nine miles long, surrounded by mountains, and happens to contain a section of shoreline where the unspoken local consensus is that clothes are situational. This is not a scandal. It is a feature.
The Official brbVT Season-Opener Itinerary
In recognition of the Ledges' reopening, and in the interest of providing a complete day-program for the visitor who wants to approach the occasion with appropriate ceremony, brbVT has prepared the following itinerary. It is not mandatory. It is, however, objectively correct.
On the Subject of the Picnic
The picnic deserves more than a line item in an itinerary. A proper Ledges picnic requires advance thought and River Valley Market provides most of it in one stop: hand-cut meats, local Vermont cheeses, fresh bread, and whatever produce looks good that morning. Pair it with the loaf from Starfire and you have an entirely local meal assembled in two stops on Route 100 that would embarrass the charcuterie board at most restaurants in the northeast corridor.
The grills at the main beach are available if you want to cook. The rocks provide natural seating at the water's edge if you don't. The Harriman Reservoir does not care about your picnic aesthetic. It will be beautiful regardless. This works in your favor.
On the Subject of Dinner
There is a particular quality to hunger after a full day at a reservoir — the specific appetite of someone who has been in cold water, in sun, in fresh mountain air, for five hours. It is not the same hunger as office hunger or errand hunger. It is older than those and harder to ignore. TT's Kitchen on Route 9 East is the correct answer to it.
TT's is a newer addition to Wilmington's food scene and the town is better for it — a proper kitchen doing quality ingredients and carefully prepared food, with a catering operation that serves weddings and private events across the valley. It is the kind of place that fills a gap you didn't know was there until it arrived. Dine-in, order online, or plan ahead if you're feeding a group. After a day at the Ledges, you have earned something made with care by people who know what they're doing.
On the Subject of the Creemee
The Creemee Stand at 716 Route 100 closes at 9 p.m. TT's Kitchen on Route 9 East is minutes away. This is not a coincidence. This is the valley having quietly organized itself into a perfect evening without anyone asking it to.
The maple soft serve — made with pure Vermont maple syrup, one of four creemees named by Edible Green Mountains as the best in the entire state — is the closing argument for the day. You have been in cold water. You have eaten well. You have had a drink worth having. You are standing on Route 100 at dusk in the Green Mountains of Vermont with a soft serve cone and no particular reason to be anywhere else.
The creemee does not travel. It must be consumed on Route 100, in the parking lot, watching the light go off the hills. There is no other correct way to eat it.
The season is open. The Ledges are waiting. The jar from Starfire is reusable. brbVT will see you out there.