Lyndon Outdoor Orientation Program (LOOP)
Start your first year at Lyndon with an adventure! Northern Vermont University-Lyndon’s LOOP offers an opportunity to make connections with peers and returning students before fall orientation begins.
Burke Mountain
Just 10 minutes from Lyndonville, Burke is the number one off-campus destination for many Lyndon students. Here you’ll find 2,000 vertical feet of classic New England skiing and riding. The mountain offers an exceptional mix of terrain: wide cruisers, narrow chutes, winding rollers, double black diamond tree runs, and a large, gentle, secluded area for beginners. Home to world-famous Burke Mountain Academy, this mountain has produced more U.S. Ski Team members than any resort its size…or perhaps any size. In the warmer months there’s a paved toll road to the summit, hiking, camping, auto rallies, concerts, and lift-serviced mountain biking. It also serves as an important site for hands-on learning experiences for students in a variety of programs.
Kingdom Trails
This 100-mile trail system has put East Burke, Vermont, on the map in a big way in the mountain biking community. Cited by many as the best trail network in the U.S., the system was the brainchild of several grads of Lyndon’s outstanding mountain resort management program. Along the way they created a national model of how landowners and sports enthusiasts can work together for everyone’s benefit. Like Burke Mountain, Kingdom Trails is a popular site for student interns and volunteers.
Rock Climbing
Nestled in the northern valleys as we are, we are in a perfect position to take advantage of the leftover action of titanic glaciers as they carved their way south across the face of our state. Just a stones throw away is one of our favorite outdoor classrooms—Wheeler Mountain. Wheeler has become the place for local climbing and teaching about all things vertical, and a number of things geological! With over 50 routes of varying degrees of difficulty, Wheeler is the place for a relaxing afternoon of dancing on New England granite.
Adventure Break Series
The Adventure Break Series works to improve on school breaks by offering occasional, serious adventures for the discerning participant. Did you like the afternoon rock climbing trip in the fall? Come on down to West Virginia on spring break and see what kind of climber you have become. Want a little break? Join us in on our Western Massachusetts adventure: climb, mountain bike, and run the white water rivers till you feel recharged and ready to come back to Lyndon. Bring your adventurous spirit, we’ll take care of the rest!
Also Nearby
Jay Peak, Stowe, Cannon Mountain, Loon, and Bretton Woods are all within an hour of campus. For climbers and hikers, the Franconia Range, Presidential Range, and Mount Washington are 45 minutes away in New Hampshire. To the west, Mount Mansfield and Camel’s Hump beckon. Our glaciated past has given us numerous small and large lakes to explore. And the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) and Vermont All Terrain Vehicle Sportsman’s Association (VASA) maintain hundred of miles of trails for winter and summer trail riding in the area.
Boundless Opportunities
What can you do within minutes of the Lyndon campus? Want to go bike riding? You’re 10 minutes from the best mountain bike riding in the country: Kingdom Trails. Designed and developed by Lyndon grads, naturally, and now with lift-serviced terrain on Burke Mountain.
Need to scratch a vertical itch? Harness up, grab some friends, and head out to Wheeler Mountain for some of the best hidden gem rock climbing. Also home to a great short hike for the less vertically inclined.
Start the morning paddling Lake Willoughby—considered by many to be Vermont’s most beautiful lake. If you’re feeling a little sporty paddle the Passumpsic River as it winds through Lyndonville, just down the hill. Feeling sportier? Want to get your white water on? Launch your boat in the Moose River and ride through some excellent drops outside of St Johnsbury right after a rain storm or in early spring.
Wintertime? Burke Mountain keeps staring us down from across the valley. That means 2,000 vertical feet of great skiing and riding just 10 minutes away. More excitement can be found on the cliffs of Mount Pisgah where world-renowned ice climbing can be had. Back country skiing abounds in the hills around campus as do XC ski trails, snowshoe trails, and miles and miles of snowmobile trails.
All this no more than 30 minutes from your front step. If it can be done and it’s outdoor fun, there’s a good chance you’ll find it in our backyard.