The ultimate pond hockey road trip
By Nick Villano
Fifth Stop: Lake Morey
Fairlee, Vermont, U.S.A.
There are a ton of pond hockey locations in New England, but we had to whittle it down to just one. It has to be Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vermont. It isn't always easy to find great pond hockey because not all of these huge lakes freeze completely over. That's not the case in Vermont. In the dead of winter, this 600-acre lake becomes one big sheet of ice ready for skates.
Just two hours north of Boston, there are tournaments multiple times a year, including the January tradition that is the fight for the Yeti Cup. The Frostbite Face-Off is a late-January tilt and is called the hockey enthusiast's alternative to a ski-resort weekend. It's the ice-pail version of a hockey tournament.
Yet, the view looks like it comes from a million-dollar resort. The ice goes on for literal miles and is surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
Beyond the hockey, Lake Morey is home to the longest-maintained ice skating trail in the United States. This would be the perfect place to catch a warm-up skate before puck drop. That trail makes this entire ice sheet large and picturesque. And the best part is it's free to skate on! It feels like playing hockey on an endless sheet of ice.