The Route 100 run: Burlington to Stowe, three stops worth making

Route 100 between Burlington and Stowe is the kind of drive that makes newcomers understand, finally, what Vermonters are always going on about. The road cuts through river valleys and past farms that look like they were staged for a tourism campaign, except they weren't — they just look that way because Vermont is genuinely like this. In summer the shoulder fills with cyclists. In winter it's ski bags and anxious weather-checking. Year-round, it rewards the person willing to trade the interstate for something slower and worth seeing.

What's changed recently: the corridor now has dispensaries that are actually worth stopping for. Not just passable, not just convenient — worth planning around. Three of them, specifically: 31° North, Vermont GoodFire, and Zenbarn Farms. They sit at different points along or just off the route, they each have a distinct personality, and you can hit all three without backtracking. That's the ideal road trip problem to have.

Before you leave, spend two minutes with the weather-strain tool — not because you need a machine to tell you what to smoke, but because a long day that moves between afternoon sun on a lake and a cooler Stowe evening does actually call for some light planning. What you want at noon on a boat dock and what you want at 9 p.m. in a ski town are different things.

How to think about the route

The practical sequence, heading northeast from Burlington, puts you on Route 2 toward Waterbury before connecting to Route 100 north for the Stowe push. Waterbury Center sits at the intersection of those two roads, which makes it a natural midpoint — and no accident that Zenbarn Farms anchors that zone. The other two shops require short detours, neither of which will feel like a mistake.

If you're doing this as a one-day run, leave Burlington with enough time to get to your first stop before early afternoon. Vermont dispensaries tend to see their best floor traffic mid-morning and around the post-lunch hour, so the sweet spot for a relaxed conversation with staff — if that's what you're after — is either side of noon rather than during it.

31° North

The name is a geographic reference, which tells you something about how the brand thinks about itself: grounded, specific, not trying to be everything. 31° North has built a reputation for carrying well-curated flower, and the shop itself reflects that sensibility — it doesn't feel like a gas station with a cannabis license, which is a bar that not every Vermont dispensary clears.

This is a good first stop if you're the kind of person who wants to take time with the decision. Ask questions. Look at what's in the case. The staff here tend to have opinions worth hearing, and opinions worth hearing are what separate a good dispensary visit from a transaction.

On a Route 100 run, 31° North sets the tone. Pick up what you'll want for the drive itself — something that won't make you paranoid on a winding road, something that pairs well with scenery — and leave room in your budget for the next two stops.

Vermont GoodFire

Vermont GoodFire has earned genuine enthusiasm from people who pay attention to the Vermont cannabis scene, and that's a crowd that's harder to impress than it sounds. The shop leans into craft — not in a try-hard way, but in the way that happens when the people running a place actually care what ends up on the shelf.

If you've been reading about the solventless movement in Vermont cannabis, GoodFire is a natural stop to understand what that conversation is actually about in practice. The state's solventless extract scene has been developing quietly but seriously, and shops like this one are where you see it.

This is also where the crawl discipline matters: don't over-commit early. A common mistake on multi-stop runs is arriving at the second shop with a cart that's already full and a budget that's already spent. Leave yourself something to work with here, because GoodFire will give you reasons to spend it.

Zenbarn Farms

Zenbarn is the shop that people talk about when they're explaining Vermont cannabis to someone who doesn't follow it closely, and that's because it's attached to something larger than itself. The Zenbarn venue — music, events, a working farm energy — gives the dispensary a context that most shops don't have. Buying cannabis here doesn't feel fully disconnected from where cannabis comes from, which is not a small thing.

Zenbarn Farms sits in the Waterbury area in a way that makes it the logical anchor for the middle of this run. After you've been on the road for an hour and you're ready to get out of the car, this is the stop where you do that. Walk around. The setting earns it.

The farm-adjacent identity also means the shop tends to carry products that fit that ethos — flower and pre-rolls that feel connected to the land in a way that some of the more clinical dispensary experiences don't. If you've been curious about what Vermont's craft cannabis scene actually looks like in product form, Zenbarn is a good place to find out.

After Stowe

If you're continuing north or spending the night in Stowe, the logistics get easier: you've already done your shopping, the hard decisions are behind you, and whatever you picked up along the way is presumably doing its job. The trail options around Stowe warrant their own afternoon if you have one to spare — Stowe Pinnacle is the obvious choice, short enough to be manageable and high enough to justify the effort.

A few practical notes for the route overall: Vermont law allows possession of up to two ounces by adults 21 and older, but consumption in a vehicle is illegal regardless of whether the vehicle is moving. The CCB is unambiguous on this. Keep purchases sealed and stored until you're somewhere you're allowed to use them. Check the current deals page before you leave — at least one of these shops usually has something worth knowing about, and it takes thirty seconds to look.