[5] The town was named in honor of the American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen.

To the east, across Lake Champlain, are the towns of St. Albans and Swanton in Franklin County, Vermont, while to the southwest, across the western arm of Lake Champlain, is the town of Beekmantown in Clinton County, New York.

U.S. Route 2 crosses North Hero from north to south, departing the town in the north by a bridge over the Alburg Passage into the town of Alburgh, and in the south by a bridge over The Gut to South Hero Island (Grand Isle).

[8] As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 810 people, 333 households, and 237 families residing in the town.

There were 906 housing units at an average density of 65.9 per square mile (25.5/km2).