Best fall foliage drives in Vermont, ranked
The 6 leaf-peeping routes worth burning gas on, from Smugglers' Notch to Route 100.
The unbeatable two
Route 100 from Waitsfield to Weston is Vermont's foliage spine — 70 miles of sugar maples, covered bridges and roadside cider donuts at Cold Hollow. Do it northbound on a weekday in the last week of September to dodge tour buses. Smugglers' Notch (Route 108 between Stowe and Jeffersonville) is the shorter, more dramatic pick: 8 miles of narrow granite hairpins closed to trucks and, from November, closed entirely. Both peak color-wise around October 5-12 most years.
Underrated alternatives
The Molly Stark Trail (Route 9, Brattleboro to Bennington) gets skipped because it's an east-west slog, but the Hogback Mountain overlook shows 100 miles of ridgelines lighting up. Route 125 over Middlebury Gap is my quiet favorite — Robert Frost country, a Bread Loaf detour, and almost no traffic. Skip Route 7 unless you enjoy staring at pickup bumpers. If you only have half a day, do the Waterbury-Stowe-Morrisville loop and stop at Cabot Creamery for cheese samples.