Stowe, Vermont’s Quintessential Fall Foliage Experience

By Jamie Edwards, award-winning travel writer who’s visited 70+ countries on all 7 continents.

There are places you visit in autumn, and then there’s Stowe. I’ve been coming to this small Vermont town for decades, long enough to know it under snow, in mud, on lazy summer afternoons, and on those gray November days when virtually every leaf has surrendered. I love them all.

But fall is when Stowe is at its best, at least in my eyes.

By late September, the first flashes of yellow and orange begin creeping down the mountains. Soon, the slopes surrounding town are ablaze with crimson maples, golden birches, rusty oaks, and stubborn evergreens that refuse to participate. White church steeples and red barns suddenly look as if they were positioned specifically for photographers. Dirt roads disappear beneath tunnels of color.

And everyone becomes a leaf peeper. Me included.

Why Stowe for Fall Foliage?

Plenty of New England towns have beautiful foliage. Stowe has an added element: topography. The village sits in a valley between the Worcester Range and Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest mountain. Higher elevations around Mount Mansfield and Smugglers’ Notch generally turn first, followed by the surrounding hillsides and, eventually, the village and valleys below. This progression gives Stowe a longer and more nuanced foliage season, not one magical “peak weekend” as some might think.

Then there’s the town itself. Stowe has managed to retain much of the New England imagery we collectively associate with fall: old red barns, country inns, covered bridges, church steeples, winding roads, and mountains rising behind it all. The foliage isn’t just something to look at; it’s the town’s glorious backdrop.

You can hike through it. Bike beneath it. Drive into it. Photograph it. Drink cider surrounded by it. Or simply sit and stare at it, a highly underrated activity that I particularly enjoy.

When to Visit Stowe for Fall Foliage

The leaves in Stowe generally begin changing in September and can linger into mid-to-late October. Historically, the strongest color tends to fall somewhere around the final week of September through the first couple of weeks of October, although temperature, rainfall, wind, elevation, and other factors can move that window considerably.

If planning a trip to Stowe for leaf-peeping, aim for late September through mid-October, understanding that Mother Nature refuses to make guarantees. Fall is one of Stowe’s most popular seasons, and lodging fills quickly. So book early, and try to spend at least three nights if time allows. Four gives you the luxury of waiting out a rainy morning or chasing better color in a less traveled direction.

But don’t obsess over peak. Some of my favorite fall landscapes contain green. Early foliage gives you that quilted patchwork of summer and autumn, while later October brings copper leaves, bare branches, softer light, and fewer people.

Five Places to Find Stowe’s Fall Colors

Smugglers’ Notch: This is Stowe’s showstopper drive. Route 108 climbs from Stowe toward Smugglers’ Notch, squeezing between Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak before twisting through enormous boulders and sheer rock walls. In autumn, the forest closes in around the narrow road and drenches it in kaleidoscopic color.

Drive slowly. Not just because it’s beautiful, but because the winding road demands it. Go early in the morning, because believe it or not, everyone else knows about this road, too.

Stowe Recreation Path: Some of my favorite Stowe photographs have been taken nowhere near a mountaintop. The 5.3-mile Stowe Rec Path follows the West Branch of the Little River through woods and meadows, crossing small bridges and opening periodically to mountain views. Walk it. Bike it. Photograph it. Better yet, do it all.

Near the village, make the short detour behind the Stowe Community Church. Its white steeple rising against a mountainside of autumn color is one of Stowe’s defining views.

Edson Hill and West Hill: For a quieter leaf-peeping drive, leave the village behind. The roughly 11-mile Edson Hill–West Hill loop winds through the countryside northwest of town, where maple-lined roads, fields, old homes, and views toward the Worcester Mountains create a completely different fall experience from busy Route 108. This is the Stowe I love most: turn down a road simply because it looks interesting and see where it goes. Don’t count on Wi-Fi, so prepare to embrace getting lost.

Mount Mansfield: Sometimes you need altitude. The seasonal Auto Toll Road climbs 4.5 miles toward the summit ridge of Mount Mansfield. As you gain elevation, you move through different stages of foliage until the view opens across mountains that appear to have been painted in fiery colors. Don’t want to drive? Take the Gondola SkyRide instead. Either way, the perspective from above explains why Vermont foliage is so extraordinary. Individual trees disappear, and the forest becomes a vast mosaic of color.

Stowe Hollow and Gold Brook Road: For a quintessential Vermont drive, head south and east of the village into Stowe Hollow. Follow Gold Brook Road toward Gold Brook Covered Bridge, better known as Emily’s Bridge, before continuing along Stowe Hollow Road beneath the Worcester Range.

Emily’s Bridge may be Stowe’s best-known covered bridge, helped considerably by the ghost story of unrequited love attached to it. But don’t stop your covered-bridge hunt there. Head north toward Red Covered Bridge on Sterling Valley Road, where the surrounding backroads have a wonderfully rural feel. Continue through Smugglers’ Notch toward Cambridge and Jeffersonville, and you’ll find still more historic covered bridges tucked into the countryside.

Where to Stay in Stowe, Vermont

Your hotel can be part of the foliage experience, not just somewhere to sleep. For far-reaching mountain views, stay at the von Trapp Family Lodge, which occupies an elevated hillside above Stowe, surrounded by extensive trails and extraordinary views. In autumn, you can wake up and start leaf peeping before you’ve finished your coffee.

For something smaller and more secluded, Edson Hill is tucked into the countryside north of town. Its manor-house setting, ponds, meadows, and surrounding woods feel removed from Stowe’s fall bustle while remaining minutes from the village.

And if you want to be in the middle of it all, quite literally, choose the Green Mountain Inn. Dating to the 1800s and sitting right on Main Street, it delivers the classic village experience: step outside, and you’re already in historic Stowe.

Five Tips for Photographing Stowe’s Fall Foliage

Get up early. Morning light is softer, roads are quieter, and mist frequently hovers between Vermont’s valleys and fields. Even better, you’ll have a chance to photograph Stowe’s iconic spots before the crowds.

Don’t photograph only the big view. Turn around. Look down. Photograph a single red maple against a white house, fallen leaves on a dirt road, reflections in the river, a weathered barn door, or the first frost on a field. These details often tell a deeper, more intimate, story.

The rule of thirds. Instead of automatically placing your subject in the center of the frame, imagine your image divided into a nine-square grid and position the focal point along one of those lines or intersections. Place a church steeple slightly off-center, or keep the horizon in the upper or lower third of the frame. This simple hack can make foliage photos feel more balanced, dynamic, and unique.

Use something to anchor the color. A white church, red barn, fence, bridge, or lone evergreen gives the eye somewhere to land. An entire frame of foliage can become surprisingly chaotic.

Clouds are your friends. Don’t abandon your camera because the sky isn’t blue. Overcast conditions reduce harsh shadows and glare and can make saturated autumn colors appear richer. After the rain, wet leaves can become especially vibrant.

Shoot at both ends of the day. Midday is for exploring—a strategy that frees you from trying to capture it all—all the time. Early morning and late afternoon are for photography. Lower-angle light creates texture and depth, particularly when photographing rolling mountains covered in foliage.

The Stowe Fall Experience

There’s no single way to leaf peep in Stowe. Drive through Smugglers’ Notch in the morning. Walk the Rec Path beneath a canopy of yellow maples. Stop at a covered bridge. Wander a dirt road without agenda. Climb high enough to see the colors from above. Find cider. Find a cider doughnut.

I’ve watched Stowe change over the years, but the constants are so deeply reassuring. Main Street still has one stop sign. The Community Church spire still rises above the village. Mount Mansfield still dominates the horizon. And every year, the mountains change color as if none of us has ever seen it happen before.

Maybe that’s why fall in Stowe remains so spectacular, because it’s fleeting. Those brilliant leaves will be gone soon, and winter is waiting just behind them. So drive a little slower, stop more often, and take one more photograph.

Maybe more than one.

Jamie Edwards is an avid traveler, travel writer, and photographer. After 25 years of living and traveling around the globe, she launched I am Lost and Found, her adventure/luxury travel website. Jamie’s goal is simple: to inspire travel.

CIRE Travel is a full-service travel agency headquartered in New York, NY, with offices in Kennebunkport, ME, Washington, DC, Boston, MA, Atlanta, GA, Los Angeles, CA, and Philadelphia, PA. Our expert corporate travel planners, honeymoon travel agents, and luxury travel planners support clients across the country and around the world.