It's fall foliage season, and this month, Vermont became covered in reds and oranges as trees started to drop their leaves.
The foliage was so anticipated that popular foliage spots in Pomfret and Reading closed due to the expected leaf-peeping traffic.
Right now, the state’s trees are putting on a show. And for all the attention it gets, fall foliage is a bit of a mystery to scientists. Every year, they never know exactly how it's going to play out because of variables like rainfall and temperature. We turned to forest ecologist Bill Keeton from the University of Vermont to learn more.
Why Vermont has such great fall foliage:
- Tree diversity: “We have so many different species, and they grow in all different combinations across the landscape. That gives us the full array of color combinations and potentials."
- Topography: “Up higher, we'll get the foliage earlier. And the places down low, where the nighttimes remain warm longer, we’ll get the foliage a little bit later.”
Go peep some leaves:
- The state provides foliage forecasts here. Yankee Magazine tracks all of New England. And this map shows the whole country.
- See peak foliage from a peak: Vermont has 13 fire towers that are open to the public, of nearly 40 that were built here in the early 1900s.
Vermont Public staff recommendations for fall leaf peeping:
- App Gap on Route 17 and Lincoln Gap Road
- Drive up the Stowe Toll Road “with a beautiful, non-arduous, 3-mile hiking loop at the top of Mansfield with amazing views”
- Aldis Hill Park at Hard'ack in Saint Albans
- The Cantilever Rock Trail near Underhill
- The Pinnacle in Westminster
Read more about Vermont's famous fall foliage in Out There, our climate-focused newsletter, published every other week.
