The natural, cultural and historic resources within the Lake Champlain Basin offer an outstanding environment for many recreational activities. Water fun includes swimming, sailing, sea kayaking, canoeing, waterskiing, scuba diving, fishing, and powerboating. On the shores and in the mountains, popular activities are birding, hiking, bicycling, picnicing, rock climbing, hunting, camping, and wildlife viewing. Snow and ice just creates more winter recreation such as ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice boating, alpine and nordic skiing, ice skating, and snowshoeing.

• Recreation Sites and Access Map & Article (LC Basin Atlas)

Lake Champlain is a significant recreational resource with tremendous potential as a tourist destination. Total tourism-related expenditures in the Basin were estimated at $3.8 billion in 1998-99. In 1997, the owners of the 98 fishing-related businesses within 10 miles of Lake Champlain estimated that $5.6 million of their total income was from anglers using Lake Champlain.

Although research shows that substantial recreational use and tourism already exists in the Basin, research has also shown that Lake Champlain has not been highlighted as a key tourist image. A number of efforts to highlight the Lake and to improve access to it are currently underway. Examples include, Lake Champlain Bikeways, the Lake Champlain Paddlers' Trail, the Lake Champlain Birding Trail, and the creation of interpretive water trails on the Lake. This is balanced with efforts to reduce recreational conflict and congestion in specific areas.

New opportunities for ecologically sustainable recreation in the Lake Champlain Basin are also being encouraged. For example, the scenic byway, Lakes to Locks Passage, is promoting “multi-modal” recreation through bikeways, walkways and waterways to merge recreation with transportation. These slower modes of travel, coupled with interpretation, allow more authentic experiences of the region and increased access to local businesses, services, cultural heritage, and the working landscape of farms and pastures.

Initiated in 1994, Lake Champlain Bikeways is a network of interconnected, international bicycle routes around Lake Champlain in New York, Vermont and the Upper Richelieu Valley of Quebec. The network includes principal route around the entire Lake, known as the Champlain Bikeway, and shorter loops that connect to the principal route. Lake Champlain Bikeways, a not-for-profit organization, works closely with local communities and the LCBP to create bike loops and identify ways to preserve and enhance the bicycle-friendliness of the region. The LCBP played an integral role in the development of this program.

• Bikeways Map & Article (LC Basin Atlas)
• Lake Champlain Bikeways Website

Lake Champlain is considered one of the North America's premier fishing destinations. In recent years, it has become very popular for fishing derbies, many of which provide a valuable economic benefit to lakeshore communities. Of the Lake's 81 fish species, about twenty are sought by anglers, including large and smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, chain pickerel, brown bullhead, channel catfish, yellow perch, lake trout, landlocked Atlantic salmon, steelhead trout, brown trout, and rainbow smelt. Click here for lists of fish and other species in the Lake.

In 2004, a reciprocal fishing license between New York and Vermont was adopted, which is likely to increase the success of fishing related businesses. This initiative was spearheaded in part by the local anglers and the Lake Champlain Citizen Advisory Committees. Learn more and view a map of the reciprocal fishing locations on the LCB Atlas Recreation page. In order to fish on Lake Champlain, it is necessary to purchase a state permit. These permits help fund many activities vital to fisheries, such as the fish hatchery programs and fisheries research.

Please visit these links for more details about fishing and derbies:

• Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
• New York State DEC
• Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife
• LCI Fishing Derbies

Launched in 1996, the Lake Champlain Paddlers' Trail links access sites and camping for paddlers along the shorelines of New York, Vermont and Quebec. The Lake Champlain Committee (LCC), a membership supported non-profit advocacy organization, manages the trail. The Paddlers' Trail development was a partnership among the LCC, Champlain Kayak Club, and the LCBP. The LCBP provided funding and technical assistance to the LCC to develop trail signs and a guidebook that emphasizes the importance of good stewardship at these sites. The guidebook can be purchased from the LCC (link below). Several state agencies were also involved including: Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation; New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

• Paddlers' Trail Article (LC Basin Atlas)
• Lake Champlain Committee Website

Shelburne Bay

An LCBP grant funded the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) to create a guide for an interpretive water trail. This trail on Lake Champlain's Shelburne Bay interprets 11 sites of natural and/or cultural significance. Click here (863 KB PDF) or on the image to download a copy of the guide.

The Narrows

Another LCBP grant funded Lakes to Locks Passage and Essex County New York's Champlain Valley Heritage Network to create an interpretive water trail guide for The Narrows. This portion of Lake Champlain embraces all chapters of local history--from unique geologic formations and Native American territories to shipwrecks and "Champ." Click here (760 KB PDF) or on the image to download a copy of the guide.

Birders will want to flock to the Lake Champlain Birding Trail. This highway-based trail connects about 90 birding sites along Lake Champlain's shoreline and uplands in Vermont and New York. Although Texas and Florida have successful birding trails, the Champlain loop is the nation's first bi-state birding trail. Organizers hope to include future locations in Quebec as well. The Lake Champlain Basin Program helped fund the development of the trail, as well as the free map to the sites, which is now available.

Great birding spots include:
Point au Roche State Park in Beekmantown, NY - (518) 563-6444
AuSable Wildlife Management Areas in Peru, NY - (518) 897-1200
Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Swanton, VT - (802) 868-2352
Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area in Addison, VT on Route 17 (802) 241-3700

• Lake Champlain Birding Trail Website