The 9 Best Free Things to do in Mad River Valley, Mad River Valley

Mad River Distillers ferments, distills and bottles whiskey, brandy and rum on our farm in Warren, Vermont. We use regionally sourced non-GMO grains, local fruit and fair trade certified sugar. Our tasting room is in Waitsfield at the Mad River Taste Place, where you can enjoy our local spirits, as well as Vermont cheese, beer, cider and specialty foods.

The Mad River Taste Place is a learning center, tasting gallery, retail store and gathering place focused on local, artisan food and drink. Over 50 makers are represented with a wide selection of products that range from cultured butter, naturally leavened bread, handmade chocolates, an extensive and changing selection of Vermont cheeses, old-world style charcuterie, craft beer, hard cider, wine and distilled spirits. Many of these products are made within just a few miles of the Taste Place. Our cheesemonger and cicerone are on-hand to offer guided tastings of cheeses, beer, hard cider and distilled spirits. Learn about the producers and what makes their products superior. The difference will be obvious as soon as you taste it. After a hike or morning ski, stop in for a classic European ploughman’s lunch of cheese, charcuterie and bread. Keep the meal local with a pint of Tin Hat hard cider, Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine or a French Press pot of locally roasted Awake Coffee.

The Mad River Glass Gallery is located in the heart of the Green Mountains of northern Vermont and features the gallery and working studio of David and Melanie Leppla. On Main Street in historic Waitsfield Village is where David and Melanie produce their world reknowned sculptural and functional glass. Visitors can view the artists working from the gallery observation window overlooking the hot glass facility. Their works have been collected by individuals and institutions world wide, including the Museum of American Craft, National Museum of Art (Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institute), New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Musee des Artes Decoratifs (Lausanne, Switzerland) among others.