The Newport Waterfront Recreation Path is connected to Bluffside Farms via this boardwalk. Credit: Vermont Land Trust
Newport Capitalizes on Waterfront Recreation Path through the Rural Tourism Academy
New map connects outdoor recreation and downtown development in this Northeast Kingdom community along Lake Memphremagog.
Leaders in Newport, VT, recently released a new recreational map to help local residents and visitors enjoy the Newport Waterfront Recreation Path. This multi-use recreation trail extends seven miles along the shores of Lake Memphremagog – from downtown Newport to the Canadian border. The mapping project, along with new downtown navigational signs, stemmed from local participation in the Northern Forest Center’s Rural Tourism Academy.
Newport’s Evolving Relationship with the Lake
Lake Memphremagog gives the Newport area one of the iconic views in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. For many years, that view and access were underutilized.
When logging became the economic engine for the area in the early 1800s, industry shaped the community not as a recreation destination but as a working town with ‘its back to the lake,'” said Rick Ufford-Chase, director of Newport City Downtown Development and manager of DiscoverNewportVT.com.
“However, in the last several decades, it’s been clear that Memphremagog is the key to Newport’s desire to develop itself as a hub for the four-season, outdoor recreation economy,” Ufford-Chase shared. “Little by little, with steady effort on the part of the city and local developers, we’re working to ‘look to the lake’ and make it a beautiful resource for local folks and visitors alike.”
Center Supports Completion and Activation of the Waterfront Recreation Path
The Center’s involvement in Newport started with a $50,000 destination development grant to Vermont Land Trust for the creation of a boardwalk connecting Newport’s beach to Bluffside Farm. This key segment of the seven-mile recreation pathway allows for an uninterrupted experience from downtown Newport all the way to Canada.
With the completion of the boardwalk, the Center began facilitating the Newport area Rural Tourism Academy last October.
“The idea is to bring together leaders from local businesses, nonprofits, and the City of Newport to strengthen our shared commitment to an economy that highlights our lakes and rivers and the surrounding mountains while mitigating the potential risks to the natural resources that increased attention could bring,” Ufford-Chase said.
Participants identified activation of the Newport Waterfront Recreation Path as crucial for helping local businesses derive greater economic benefit from the outdoor recreation economy, starting with increasing awareness of the trail and accessibility as a top priority.
