MONTPELIER, Vt. –Another excellent foliage season is coming to a close here in Vermont. After a rather damp summer, autumn cooperated nicely with some warm sunny days and cool, clear nights and absolutely top-notch foliage.
You can still find some beautiful color, even though we are generally well past peak conditions. With no major severe weather in October (especially high winds) the foliage is really hanging on in several locations.
 Vermont is very fortunate to have all of the conditions required to consistently produce excellent fall foliage year after year. With a diverse combination of tree species, high quality soils and the right topography (which allows for good moisture retention), Vermont can consistently count on beautiful foliage. Mother Nature can often have a lot to say about when foliage season starts and how long it lasts, but every year between mid-September and the third week of October, the foliage display is spectacular.
Some advanced planning will make your next fall foliage visit to Vermont even more enjoyable. Here are a few basics tips:
- Make your lodging reservation as soon as possible. Then, when you come next year, make the following year's reservation before you even check out. Then you don't ever have to think about it again until you're ready to come to Vermont.
- The myth of no rooms. You can find good rooms in Vermont, even during the peak of foliage. If you have your heart set on a particular room at a particular inn on a particular weekend, then make your reservations as far in advance as possible. However, even if you do decide to swing up to Vermont at the last minute, you can still find rooms. For help with this, you can consult our Lodging Availability Forecaster page that offers links to regional Chambers of Commerce that can help you find rooms.
- Find a room before you come. No matter how much we beg, plead, cajole and urge, some folks come up every year without room reservations on busy foliage weekends expecting to find available rooms. They can end up in a very stressful situation driving around desperately trying to find lodging late in the day. Our innkeepers, state Welcome Center staff, Chambers of Commerce, 1-800-VERMONT operators and others go out of their way to make referrals and help with lodging. However, why would you want to put yourself through the stress and panic in the first place? Book before you come!
Foliage season in Vermont is much longer than you think. The majority of foliage season visitors come to Vermont during the last week in September and the first two weeks of October. This is the time when peak foliage is generally at its broadest distribution statewide.
It is important to remember, however, that you can still find excellent foliage in the third week of October throughout much of the southern half of Vermont as well as in the Champlain Valley along the Route 7 corridor (along the western side of Vermont) and along the Connecticut River (in eastern Vermont).
Elsewhere, sheltered valleys will offer solid peak or just-past-peak foliage conditions throughout this third week. Also in the third week, the crowds have subsided so you can still enjoy great color and face a lot less competition for lodging and dining availabilities.
Look for the first report on next year’s foliage season in September 2010.
This section of our Web site has several tools for planning your 2010 Vermont Fall Foliage tour including:
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