If you’re driving Route 30 between Brattleboro and Newfane, Vermont, keep an eye out for Bigfoot. More specifically, keep an eye out for Bigfoot Coffee Local favorite: Bigfoot Coffee, a tiny roadside coffee stand tucked into the former Maple Valley ski area in Dummerston. It’s one of those Vermont businesses you could easily drive past if you didn’t know to look for it, although the giant Bigfoot outside makes missing it considerably harder.
The location alone is enough to make me pull over, but thankfully the coffee gives you a reason to come back. Bigfoot keeps its menu relatively simple, with quality espresso drinks, a handful of more interesting options and one very important food order: the donut waffle.
If you’re heading north toward Newfane for the weekend, this is where I’d start the day.
A Coffee Stand at an Abandoned Vermont Ski Area
Part of what makes Bigfoot Coffee interesting is where you find it. The stand sits at the former Maple Valley ski area along Route 30 in Dummerston, between Brattleboro and Newfane.
Maple Valley opened in the early 1960s and operated for decades before closing in 2000. The ski area has been dormant ever since, leaving its steep trails and old ski infrastructure as a recognizable Route 30 landmark for anyone who knows what they’re looking at.
Today, instead of pulling in to go skiing, you can pull over for a cappuccino.
I love this kind of Vermont stop. You aren’t driving into a busy downtown or searching for a coffee shop in a shopping center. You’re pulling off a state highway at a decommissioned ski area because there’s a giant Bigfoot outside and someone told you the coffee was good.
What to Order at Bigfoot Coffee
Don’t expect an enormous menu of increasingly elaborate latte combinations. Bigfoot keeps things relatively focused, and I actually appreciate that.
You’ll find the coffee shop standards, including espresso, cappuccinos and Americanos, alongside a few drinks with more personality. For the obvious Vermont choice, get the maple latte. It’s what I’d order on a cool fall morning before heading north on Route 30.
If you want something cold and sweet with a little more fuel behind it, try the Vietnamese iced coffee. And if you’re firmly in the chai camp, there’s a dirty chai too.
What I like is that the menu gives you options without requiring five minutes to decipher 40 different combinations of syrups, foams and toppings. Order your coffee, add the donut waffle and get back to your Southern Vermont adventures.
Yes, You Need the Donut Waffle
I wasn’t going to stop at a place like Bigfoot Coffee and ignore something called a donut waffle.
It’s exactly the kind of road-trip breakfast that makes sense here: sweet, portable and substantial enough to pair with your coffee before spending the morning driving around Southern Vermont.
Get one. This is not the moment to convince yourself that the maple latte is breakfast.
Why Bigfoot?
Of course, putting a coffee shop called Bigfoot in the middle of the Vermont woods invites a little discussion about Sasquatch.
Southern Vermont has plenty of folklore involving mysterious creatures, unexplained happenings and things supposedly wandering around in the woods. The best-known stories tend to center farther west around Glastenbury Mountain and what’s popularly called the Bennington Triangle, where legends include a Bigfoot-like creature sometimes referred to as the Bennington Monster.
As with most Bigfoot stories, separating documented history from decades of retelling, folklore and embellishment gets complicated quickly. I’d treat it as exactly that: Vermont folklore, and a fun backdrop for a coffee stand with a giant Sasquatch standing outside.
Thankfully, the only thing I encountered while driving Route 30 was a very good cup of coffee.
Bigfoot Coffee Has a New Home
Bigfoot Coffee entered a new chapter in 2026 with new ownership and a new location, but you don’t have to change your Southern Vermont road-trip plans very much to find it. It’s still right along Route 30, now at the former Maple Valley ski area in Dummerston.
The roadside location works particularly well for this business because Bigfoot is less of a “bring your laptop and work for four hours” coffee shop and more of a “pull over because you’re on your way somewhere good” coffee stop.
That’s exactly how I’d use it.
Pair It With the West Dummerston Covered Bridge
Don’t get your coffee and immediately drive north. You’re already in Dummerston, so make the short detour to the West Dummerston Covered Bridge while you’re here.
Built in 1872, the historic bridge stretches roughly 280 feet across the West River and is commonly recognized as the longest covered bridge located entirely within Vermont. It’s still open to vehicle traffic, but I’d park nearby and get out for a better look at the bridge and river.
Coffee, donut waffle, covered bridge. That’s a pretty efficient start to a Vermont morning.
Then Continue North to Newfane
Bigfoot Coffee also fits perfectly into the Newfane weekend itinerary I’ve put together because it’s directly on the route if you’re coming north from Brattleboro or Massachusetts.
After coffee and the covered bridge, continue up Route 30 into Newfane. Stop at the Newfane Store for lunch, explore the village and surrounding backroads, visit Bensch Mountain Maple, spend some time along the West River and make a reservation at Fat Crow for dinner.
For the night, I’d stay at Otherland, the reimagined boutique hotel and motor lodge set on 40 acres along the West River. I’ve written full guides to both Otherland and Fat Crow, and together these stops make a really good Southern Vermont weekend without requiring you to drive all over the state.
Bigfoot Coffee is the logical first stop.
Visit During a Route 30 Road Trip
Even if you aren’t staying in Newfane, I’d save Bigfoot Coffee for any trip that has you traveling this section of Route 30.
The road follows the West River north from Brattleboro through Dummerston, Newfane and Townshend before continuing toward Jamaica and the mountains. It’s one of those drives where the smaller stops are a big part of the reason to take the route in the first place.
In fall, add foliage and you’ve got an especially good morning drive. Grab coffee, visit the covered bridge and continue north along the river toward Newfane. In summer, work in a swimming spot or hike. During winter, the setting at an old ski area feels particularly appropriate, even if nobody has ridden a lift here in decades.
What to Know Before You Go
Bigfoot Coffee is in Dummerston along Route 30 at the former Maple Valley ski area, between Brattleboro and Newfane. Current hours are Friday through Monday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., but this is exactly the kind of small Vermont business where I’d check current hours before making a special trip.
You don’t need to build your entire day around it. In fact, I think Bigfoot works best as part of something bigger. Stop on your way north, order the maple latte and donut waffle, take the obligatory picture with Bigfoot and continue exploring Southern Vermont.
One of My Favorite Kinds of Vermont Coffee Stop
I’ll always appreciate a beautiful coffee shop with plenty of seating and an elaborate menu, but there’s something particularly fun about finding very good coffee in a completely obscure location.
Bigfoot Coffee delivers exactly that.
It’s a tiny coffee stand at a decommissioned Vermont ski area, marked by a giant Sasquatch on the side of Route 30, serving a focused menu of espresso drinks and a donut waffle I absolutely think you should order.
You could drive right past it. But now you know better. Keep an eye out for Bigfoot.
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