8 Fairy-Tale Small Towns In The United States

People drive clear across Washington to see Leavenworth, where residents remade a timber town into a Bavarian village in the 1960s. In New Glarus, residents fill their window boxes with red geraniums, a habit the Swiss founders brought over in the 1840s. Builders in Pipestone cut a whole downtown from pink quartzite, gargoyles included. All eight of these American towns look like illustrations in a storybook. In some, settlers recreated a homeland an ocean away. In others, the setting is the draw, all nearby mountains and rivers.

Crested Butte, Colorado

You will find Crested Butte in a bowl of the Elk Mountains, with a row of pastel-painted Victorian storefronts along its downtown. Every July, organizers run the ten-day Wildflower Festival, with guided hikes and photography walks out to meadows of lupine and columbine at peak bloom. Riders after a harder day take the dirt singletrack that leads out of town in every direction. Paddlers head a short drive west to Lake Irwin, where forested slopes reach down to the shoreline. On Sundays, hundreds turn out for the farmers market on Elk Avenue. Anyone with a sweet tooth can stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

New Glarus, Wisconsin

Swiss immigrants from the canton of Glarus founded this town in 1845, and their descendants still call it "America's Little Switzerland." At the Swiss Historical Village, replica pioneer buildings include a settler's cabin, a cheese factory, and a firehouse, all open through the summer. Downtown, you will see half-timbered facades and red geraniums in the window boxes. For food, Glarner Stube serves Swiss plates and local beer, and Canter Inn is the fine-dining option. Each June, a cast stages the Heidi play, the folk tale behind the festival's name. On Labor Day weekend, more than 200 volunteers perform the Wilhelm Tell pageant outdoors alongside goats, cows, and horses. On the first Sunday in August, townspeople mark Swiss Independence Day at the Swiss Volksfest with alphorns and yodeling. In December, vendors line the streets at the Christkindli Market with mini chalets and horse-drawn sleighs.

Lindsborg, Kansas

In Lindsborg, the European corner is Sweden, and locals call it "Little Sweden." The town's signature is the Dala horse, a carved and painted wooden figure and a symbol of the Swedish province of Dalarna. You can watch artisans shape small ones at the Hemslojd workshop and spot four-foot versions on downtown street corners. Most of the festivals are Swedish too, beginning with the Midsummer celebration each June, full of folk dancing and food. Every other year, organizers hold Svensk Hyllningsfest, with a smorgasbord, ethnic music, and more dancing. Anyone staying past a day can book a room at the Swedish Country Inn, decorated in traditional colors and furniture.

Leavenworth, Washington

In the 1960s, residents reinvented a struggling timber town as a Bavarian village, and the makeover stuck. Leavenworth lies at the edge of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the gateway to the Enchantments, a high basin of granite peaks, meadows, and clear lakes. In spring, hikers take the Icicle Ridge Trail as wildflowers open along the switchbacks. Through the town center, a walkable Main Street is lined with hanging flower baskets and cheese shops. In October, residents put on a large Oktoberfest with German music and beer, fitting for a faux-Bavarian town in the Cascades. At Christmas, the streets are full of gingerbread displays, lights, and a holiday market. A reindeer farm just outside town stays open year-round, and the crowds are largest in December.

Woodstock, Vermont

Federal and Greek Revival buildings stand around the village green in Woodstock, the kind of scene you find on postcards. Three covered bridges lie within reach of the green, and Mount Tom stands behind the farmland and flower boxes. Hikers reach its summit from the trailhead in the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, with a wide view at the top. In the heart of the village, the Middle Covered Bridge spans the Ottauquechee River, with a separate footpath for walkers. A mile from downtown, the Billings Farm & Museum has wagon rides and farm animals for families.

Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

Jim Thorpe is a town of Victorian streets set into the ridges of the Pocono Mountains. In fall, the surrounding trees turn orange and gold, and the town is at its most photogenic. In October, during the Fall Foliage Festival, visitors browse arts and crafts and join a ghost tour through the old downtown. For a closer look at the leaves, visitors board the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, which runs daily along the river and is dog-friendly. Builders finished the Mauch Chunk Opera House in 1881, one of the oldest vaudeville theaters in the country, and concerts still take place there. To dig into the coal-mining and railroad past, visitors head for the Mauch Chunk Museum and Cultural Center.

Pipestone, Minnesota

The people of Pipestone took the storybook idea literally, building much of the downtown from pink Sioux quartzite. Workers finished the county courthouse in the early 1900s, complete with a clock tower and heavy stone pillars. The Historic Calumet Inn went up in 1888 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, its walls faced with rough jasper and quartzite. The old City Hall has pink-and-lavender stone walls and arched windows. On the 1896 Moore Building, a dozen sandstone gargoyles include an ogre and a jester, best seen on the downtown walking tour. Each June, residents hold the Water Tower Festival, with a parade, live music, and a car show. About ten minutes south, at Split Rock Creek State Park, a loop trail runs around the lake and its quartzite dam.

Frankenmuth, Michigan

German heritage is on display in Frankenmuth all year, though the busiest season is the holidays. Before the Christmas trees go up, residents set out scarecrows and cornstalks for Halloween. Once the decorations come out, most visitors make their way to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, home to ornament aisles, miniature villages, and a replica of Austria's Silent Night Chapel. In summer, kayakers put in on the Cass River, and others take a lazy trip aboard the Bavarian Belle riverboat. Families gravitate to the Frankenmuth Aerial Park and its ziplines and ropes courses.

Eight Towns, Eight Ways To Look Unreal

What connects these towns is not a single style but a shared commitment to one. In Pipestone, the builders drew on the local quarries; in Leavenworth, residents adopted an Alpine costume; in New Glarus and Lindsborg, settlers recreated the homelands they left behind. In Woodstock and Crested Butte, the storybook look comes from the covered bridges and the mountain peaks. Each one looks like an illustration, and people still shop the Sunday market and turn out for the yearly festivals.