Mount Equinox summit Manchester
— — the ridge that catches four states at once.
Not only on a wall.
“The summit of Equinox holds the longest view in southern Vermont. From the deck above Manchester the eye runs west to the Adirondacks, east to the Greens, and on a hard clear day north to the Whites. A toll road climbs from Route 7A; below the ridge the Carthusian monks keep their woods. The mountain is loud with weather and quiet with people. from the studio
Mount Equinox summit Manchester, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Equinox Mountain rises 3,848 feet above the village of Manchester, the high point of the Taconic Range and one of the most prominent peaks in southern Vermont. The Skyline Drive, a private toll road begun in 1947, climbs roughly five miles from Route 7A to a summit parking area, an inn, and a viewing deck. On the western flank the Carthusian monks of the Charterhouse of the Transfiguration hold a large monastic enclosure of forest, closed to the public. The Equinox Preservation Trust manages a 914-acre tract on the lower slopes laced with trails out of the village.
The summit sits high enough that weather changes the view by the minute. From the deck the Adirondacks rise across the Hudson Valley to the west and the main Green Mountain spine runs east; on a hard clear morning the White Mountains are legible to the north. Wind comes through the col between Equinox and Little Equinox most days. Temperatures at the top routinely run ten to fifteen degrees below the village, and a cloud can swallow the ridge in the time it takes to cross the parking lot. The view rewards patience over arrival.
Skyline Drive opens roughly from May through late October, weather permitting, with a per-vehicle toll collected at the gatehouse near 7A. The road climbs about 3,100 feet of elevation over five and a quarter miles to a parking area near the Equinox Mountain Inn. Walkers can reach the summit on foot from the village by the Burr and Burton Trail, a steep four-mile route managed by the Equinox Preservation Trust. The monastery road is closed to visitors year-round. Most days the deck is busy at midday and empty an hour before the gate closes.