Vermont

Vermont is New England turned inland and uphill — the only state in the region without an Atlantic coast, defined instead by the Green Mountains that run the length of it like a spine. Forest covers some three-quarters of the state, and the rounded, ancient peaks give Vermont both its name (from the French vert mont, "green mountain") and its character. Mount Mansfield, the high point at 4,393 feet (1,339 m), crowns the range near the center.

Water bounds it instead of ocean: the Connecticut River forms the entire eastern border with New Hampshire, while long, deep Lake Champlain fills the western lowland between Vermont and New York, a glacial trough that drains north to the St. Lawrence. The fertile Champlain Valley holds the best farmland and the largest city, Burlington. Famous for fall foliage, maple sugaring, and small farms, Vermont is the second-least-populous state — rural, wooded, and mountainous from end to end.