Some of the weird laws in Vermont are real statutes with teeth, some are ceremonial resolutions that nobody enforces, and a few repeated online are pure folklore. The state bans billboards, shields your right to hang laundry outdoors, has no general prohibition on public nudity, and officially suggests you serve apple pie with cheddar. Here’s what’s actually on the books and what isn’t.
No Billboards Anywhere in the State
Since 1968, Vermont has prohibited virtually all off-premise outdoor advertising visible to the traveling public, with only narrow exceptions written into the same chapter.1Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 10 V.S.A. 488 – Prohibition of Other Outdoor Advertising The legislature justified the ban by declaring scattered outdoor advertising “detrimental to the preservation of those scenic resources, and so to the economic base of the State.”2Vermont General Assembly. 10 V.S.A. Chapter 21 – Tourist Information Services
Businesses can post on-premises signs identifying their own location, but size and placement rules are strict. If someone puts up an unauthorized sign and ignores an order to take it down, the Agency of Transportation can remove it without further proceedings and bill the owner. If the same sign goes back up, the Agency can tear it down again without any advance notice.2Vermont General Assembly. 10 V.S.A. Chapter 21 – Tourist Information Services
The civil fine looks modest at up to $50, but each day the violation continues is a separate offense, so a sign left up for months generates a real bill.2Vermont General Assembly. 10 V.S.A. Chapter 21 – Tourist Information Services Vermont, Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine are the only states with this kind of blanket ban. Cross the border and the commercial clutter disappears.
Apple Pie Comes With Milk, Cheese, or Ice Cream
In 1999, the legislature passed Act No. 15, designating apple pie as the official state pie and the apple as the official state fruit. The act also included a section on how to serve the dessert. When serving apple pie in Vermont, a “good faith” effort should be made to accompany the slice with at least one of the following: a glass of cold milk, a slice of cheddar cheese weighing at least half an ounce, or a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Nobody is getting fined for a plain slice. That serving language sits in a section of the act outside the portion codified at 1 V.S.A. § 512 and functions as a ceremonial resolution. The real purpose was to celebrate the state’s dairy and apple industries at once, and Vermont restaurants have been known to print the law on their menus.
Public Nudity Isn’t a State Crime
Vermont has no statewide statute making public nudity illegal. Simply being naked in public, by itself, is not a criminal offense at the state level. The gap drew national attention in 2006 when teenagers in Brattleboro began walking around downtown without clothes, prompting the town to pass a local ordinance against it.
The distinction matters. Vermont does have laws against lewd and lascivious conduct, but those require sexual behavior or intent, not bare skin. Towns can pass their own nudity ordinances and some have. The legislature, however, has never enacted a general prohibition. Proposals have surfaced and failed multiple times. Annual World Naked Bike Ride events and clothing-optional swimming holes operate in that legal space.
Your Clothesline Is Legally Protected
Vermont protects outdoor laundry drying with unusual thoroughness. Two statutes stop municipalities from banning clotheslines. One bars towns from adopting zoning bylaws that prohibit clotheslines, solar collectors, or other renewable energy devices.3Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 24 V.S.A. 4413 – Limitations on Municipal Bylaws The other prevents municipalities from using ordinances or resolutions to accomplish the same thing.4Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 24 V.S.A. 2291a – Renewable Energy Devices
A third statute, 27 V.S.A. § 544, blocks private restrictions too. No deed covenant, HOA agreement, or similar binding document can prohibit clotheslines or solar collectors on residential property. If a homeowners’ association tries to fine someone for hanging laundry, the restriction is unenforceable. The law awards attorney’s fees to the prevailing party in any lawsuit over it, which keeps HOAs from testing the limits.
The legislature framed all three statutes around renewable energy, grouping clotheslines with solar panels on the theory that air-drying uses sun and wind instead of electricity. Even in the most restrictive planned community in Vermont, your right to hang a bedsheet outside is legally shielded.
Maple Syrup Fraud Is a Crime
Vermont produces more maple syrup than any other state, and the legislature treats it accordingly. State law directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish grading standards covering color, flavor, clarity, and density.5Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 6 V.S.A. 487 – Grade and Density Standards Those standards follow the four-tier USDA system adopted across North America in 2014.
Selling fake or adulterated syrup labeled as pure Vermont maple is a criminal offense. Under current federal and state law, fraudulent maple syrup sales carry misdemeanor penalties. Vermont’s U.S. senators have repeatedly pushed legislation to elevate syrup fraud to a felony, arguing that mislabeled products undercut the state’s signature agricultural industry.
Hunters Can Cross Unposted Private Land
Vermont flips the usual rule about private land and hunting. Instead of making all trespass illegal, the state puts the burden on landowners who want hunters off their property. Under 10 V.S.A. § 5201, a landowner who wants to prohibit the taking of game must post signs at every corner and no more than 400 feet apart along the boundary. The signs have to follow a standard size and design set by the Fish and Wildlife Commissioner, and they must be dated each year. The posting also has to be recorded annually with the town clerk on a form from the Commissioner.6Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 10 V.S.A. 5201
The practical effect: unposted private land in Vermont is more accessible to hunters than in many other states. Skip the yearly ritual and your “no trespassing” intent may not carry legal weight for hunting purposes. The system reflects Vermont’s long tradition of open land access.
Town Meeting Day Shuts Down the State
Town Meeting Day falls on the first Tuesday in March and is codified as an official state holiday alongside Christmas, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving.7Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 1 V.S.A. 371 – Legal Holidays State offices close, and many schools and private employers give the day off so residents can attend their local meeting.
At these meetings, residents vote directly on municipal budgets, school spending, local ordinances, and sometimes non-binding resolutions on national issues. There is no representative casting a vote on your behalf. You show up, debate your neighbors, and raise your hand. Most states hold municipal elections on ordinary workdays. Vermont clears the calendar.
Sunday Hunting Is Now Allowed
Vermont once had strict Blue Laws that prohibited work, commerce, and recreation on Sundays to preserve the Sabbath, part of a broader colonial-era enforcement movement across New England.8National Endowment for the Humanities. Fighting for the Right to Party on Sundays Most of those restrictions are gone.
In 2021, Vermont lifted its statutory ban on Sunday hunting. Hunters can now pursue most game on Sundays, though migratory bird hunting on Sundays remains prohibited. Some vestiges of the old Blue Laws still influence local ordinances around alcohol sales and certain commercial activities, but the rigid Sunday prohibitions that once defined New England life are largely gone.
The Myths and the One That’s Actually True
Any list of weird Vermont laws eventually hits claims that don’t trace back to any statute. The most popular is the supposed ban on whistling underwater. It appears on virtually every “weird state laws” list online, but nobody has ever produced a statute number, act reference, or legislative history for it. Treat it as folklore.
Margarine, on the other hand, is real. Vermont passed a law in 1884 requiring that margarine be dyed pink to distinguish it from butter. Several dairy-producing states did the same thing in the late 1800s to protect butter producers from what they saw as a deceptive substitute. Vermont’s pink margarine requirement was eventually repealed, but it lasted long enough to become part of the state’s legislative identity. The impulse behind it, protecting Vermont’s dairy industry from imitators, is the same one that still drives the maple syrup fraud protections on the books today.