There are literally hundreds of guides to fall foliage in Vermont, and I won’t go down that road though I do have some suggestions for southern Vermont, and I’ll try to post dates next year. The nice thing about living in Vermont is that you don’t have to like, take an extra trip to see the leaves, you just get in the car and go when you have time. I know it’s so hard to plan a trip and try to figure out when things are going to be at their peak, my suggestion is, just enjoy being in Vermont itself, get a nice B and B, plan some great meals, and go with the flow.
In my opinion, the best road in Southwest Vermont is the Shires of Vermont Byway, or Route 7A, but going south from Bennington down into Pownal and Massachusetts, not actually going north to Manchester and Dorset. The reason, when it goes south it goes down into the valley and you can see a lot more, it’s just more scenic. But the road that was really popping this year was Route 9, which runs from Bennington east over to Brattleboro. Towns like Woodford and Wilmington are along the way, and the Hogback Mountain lookout in Marlboro is a must-see.
But just keep in mind when you stop, and if you go to Wilmington on an October weekend, it will be you and every other mofo from Connecticut and New Jersey in their Escalades and Moncler vests, so be prepared. You probably won’t be able to get a seat at the restaurant up at Hogback (and maybe not in Wilmington either), it is a full-on scene. We did not even try to eat or sightsee in Wilmington (though to be honest you’re hard-pressed to get a seat at really any lunch restaurant along Routes 7 or 9 in October anyway), but this is kind of the spot unless you go all the way up to the Northeast Kingdom, but people from the tri-state area don’t want to go all the way up usually, so it’s jammed. But it’s fun though, and it’s wonderful that everyone comes here and supports the local economy, Vermont is a somewhat depressed state and a lot of the jobs are tourism, so please do come and spend your money, just try not to let your Escalade take up 2 parking spots (and, full confession, we drive a Volvo SUV ha ha I don’t always practice what I preach!). Do you have a secret favorite spot for foliage? If so I’d love to hear leave me a comment below!
