Walking tours to highlight Montpelier’s bridges, public art, wildlife

October 2, 2025  |  By Waterbury Roundabout

Courtesy of Montpelier Alive

The Montpelier Alive organization will host a series of walking tours on Thursdays in October to highlight the capital city’s bridges, public art and wildlife. 

The Cityscape and Landscape tours are free and will happen on three consecutive Thursdays, Oct. 9, 16 and 23, beginning at 5:30 p.m. 

The first, titled “Montpelier’s Bridges: Spanning Time and Technology,” will be led by Bridge Illumination Project Coordinator Vivian Ladd Tomasi. It will use a new digital walking tour that describes Montpelier’s historic downtown bridges and the project that led to their illumination. 

The second tour will be led by the North Branch Nature Center’s teacher-naturalist Ana Maria Arroyo. “Montpelier’s Wildside: Tracking Life along the River,” will invite participants to hunt for tracks and signs of wildlife movement along Montpelier's rivers, such as muddy pawprints, beaver chews and bird roosts. 

The final tour, “Montpelier’s Murals: New Public Art Projects,” will be led by Rob Hitzig, a Montpelier artist and member of the Public Arts Commission. It will take in public murals downtown and the work of the commission. 

Each tour will begin from the empty lot between Shaw’s and the Drawing Board and will last approximately one hour, covering no more than one mile in distance. Find more information online at  MontpelierAlive.com/Bridges.

The tours are sponsored in part by AARP and Toyota Motor North America. Montpelier Alive is Montpelier’s nonprofit economic and community development organization.