Vermont’s Notch Road (Route 108)

Route 108 through Smugglers’ Notch earned its name from Prohibition-era bootleggers who used this treacherous mountain gap to smuggle Canadian whiskey into Vermont. The road squeezes between massive boulders and cliff faces with hairpin turns so tight that RVs and trailers are banned year-round. At King Rock, the passage narrows to barely 16 feet wide with vertical granite walls towering 1,000 feet overhead.

This isn’t a technical 4×4 trail, but it demands respect — especially the descent from the 2,162-foot summit where guardrails are suggestions and drop-offs are real. Any vehicle can make it, but wide trucks will get intimate with the rocks. Open roughly May through October depending on snow. No permits needed, but bring your pucker factor and maybe skip it if you’re precious about paint. The reward is genuine Vermont mountain driving that’ll have you telling stories around camp for years.