Shires of Vermont Byway
Shires of Vermont Byway is a State Scenic Byway in Vermont. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Shires of Vermont Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Vermont's Shires of Vermont Byway runs 33 miles on Historic Route 7A between Bennington and Manchester, tucked between the Taconic and Green Mountains. Bennington and Manchester are Vermont's only 'Shire Towns' outside the standard county-seat system, the South Shire and North Shire of the state's southwestern corner. The path itself predates European settlement by millennia, used by Mohawk and Iroquois travelers as far back as 5000 BC, and became a principal migration route in the 1760s for pioneers and cattle moving north from Connecticut's Litchfield County and Massachusetts's Berkshires. Most of the towns along the way, including Pownal, Arlington, and Shaftsbury, were chartered in 1761 and still show it, with white clapboard and red brick buildings, historic churches, and classic New England village greens largely unchanged in character. Locally owned shops rather than chain retail still anchor most of these town centers, making the byway one of Vermont's better-preserved historic corridors.
- Bennington and Manchester
- Historic Route 7A
- 33 miles
- Shire Towns
- 15 historic villages
- 1761 town charters
- Taconic and Green Mountains
Plan a drive on Shires of Vermont Byway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Shires of Vermont Byway
1 campground or RV park sits within about 5 miles of Shires of Vermont Byway.
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