Autumn Adventures

Too much fall foliage said no one, ever. Every day is a gorgeous adventure thanks to the stunning scenery. Our calendar is filled to the brim with harvest festivals and fairs inspired by the season.

Find Your Foliage Headquarters.

If you’ve already booked your rooms, rock on. If not, explore options at #stayMVT, where each property is unique, run by fabulous folks, and surrounded by natural beauty. Seasonal opportunities include an inspired fall getaway at Equinox Resort, with breakfast for two and a personal orchard tour! When you book a Stay & Dine package at the wonderfully cozy Inn at Manchester, a $50 voucher for Vermont’s most historic restaurant awaits. History buff you say? Casablanca Motel packages two complimentary passes to Hildene, the Lincoln family home, with your two-night foliage getaway! Must call to book.

Foliage splendor surrounds the historic Wilburton Inn. Courtesy Photo.

Travel Tips.

Pack your digital camera, extra cards, and your most comfortable shoes. Hope for sunny days but expect cool nights. Pack layering items, plus something swanky for cocktail hour or dinner out. And, while you track the colors with Vermont’s Foliage Forecaster, remember that a spontaneous drive or hike has, more than once, completely floored us. Schedule yourselves for a couple terrific events, but make sure you leave time to just cruise. Look up, look down, look all around. That insta-worthy vista may surprise you!

Harvest Events

Over Columbus Day Weekend, hit Stratton Brewfest where you can sip and twirl to Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass amid pure foliage bliss. And mid-October, Equinox Nursery’s fabulous fall festival is the kind of small town tradition we’re famous for. Take a wagon ride, gobble up cider donuts, sleuth your way through the corn maze, and enter the pumpkin carving contest! October 14 from 9-5.

Epic Leaf Peeping.

For big views, take the ride up Skyline Drive where you can see three states and five mountain ranges. If you’re adventurous, hikes to Mount Equinox, Prospect Rock, or out at Merck Forest are the stuff epic fall selfies are made of. We also love a trip up the Stratton Resort gondola. Kid-friendly, easy, and utterly gorgeous.

Catch the view from Stratton’s Gondola. PC: Hubert Schriebl

Best for groups.

Backroads Discovery Tours. A duo of consummate guides run two daily foliage trips with varying riffs, morning departures for history buffs, afternoon jaunts highlighting local culture. Both, replete with opportunities to soak up gorgeous vistas and colorful cascades along the way. You can book with a minimum of two, or bring friends – vans accommodate 8 or 11 peeps, depending.

The truth is, by late September, it’s pretty just about everywhere. Visit Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home for a tour of the house and grounds. From the back of the garden and the observatory, grab a stunning shot of the valley. If you’re a golfer, you know that certain views can only be found from the course. Take one look at our local venues and you’ll see what we mean in spades.

If you just want to cruise for leaves, we love River Road, Dorset West Road (with a loop back on Rte 30), a cruise over Danby Mountain, or Route 100 to Weston and The Vermont Country Store.

And you KNOW we won’t mind if, while you’re out and about, you tag us in your pics — use #ManchesterVT and we might even repost 😉

Bromley Mountain cloaked in color