Scenic Foliage Drives →
Vermont Foliage Driving Tour
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If you are interested in more action, take a detour south about 15 miles on Route 108 to Stowe. Here you will find shops, movies, apres-ski entertainment, and an abundance of lodging and dinner choices. Edson Hill Manor is an inn that consistently receives rave reviews for its dining, which is open to the public. For an overnight in Austrian style, book a room at the mountaintop Trapp Family Lodge. Closer to Jeffersonville on Route 108 is Smugglers' Notch Resort, where both formal and informal dining choices abound.
Day Two
In the morning, drive north from Jeffersonville on Route 108. At Bakersfield, the blip in the road 10 miles north, turn left opposite the cemetery onto Route 36. Two and a half miles west is East Fairfield, where you can take a side trip to visit the reconstruction of President Arthur's boyhood home, known as the President Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site. Here you will get an idea of what a wilderness this was in 1830. (It still is -- this route is 4-1/2 miles each way on dirt roads.) To get there, turn right onto New Street, then go to a fork and bear left onto Dodd Road. Continue to the next intersection, where you'll see signs for the Arthur Site. Turn right; the site is a half mile down the road. To return (views on the way back are terrific), retrace your steps to Route 36. Stay on this through East Fairfield, and in five miles you'll enter Fairfield. Here you can pick up a sandwich, a maple-white chocolate scone, or a whole pie at Chester's Bakery, where everything is homemade.
When you crest a hill six miles west of Fairfield, you may have trouble paying attention to the road. The view that suddenly spreads before you takes in a vast swath of the upper Champlain valley, with St. Albans in the foreground, Lake Champlain in the middle distance, and New York's Adirondacks as a backdrop for it all. St. Albans is a redbrick period piece: A century ago it was northern New England's rail capital, and during the Civil War it was the site of the conflict's northernmost action, when Confederate raiders robbed the town's banks and made off into Canada. Stop to appreciate the handsomely preserved Victorian facades on Main Street and the stately public buildings facing the park on Church Street. One of these houses is the St. Albans Historical Museum, with an eclectic trove ranging from railroadiana to an old-time doctor's office. If you're hungry, try Jeff's Maine Seafood.
Head west out of town for three miles on Route 36 (Lake Street) to St. Albans Bay. Turn right and follow Route 36 for ten miles along Lake Champlain to Swanton, gateway to the waterfowl-rich St. Albans Co-Op , which is the supplier of much of the cream that goes into Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
Continue your itinerary on Route 78 east and drive five miles to Highgate Center (intersection with Route 207). Stay on 78 east out of Highgate Center, and after about 1.5 miles, the road will fork. Bear left at the next fork onto Franklin Road, which will take you (on dirt roads) through five miles of dairy country. Franklin County is Vermont's milk-producing leader.
Follow the road through Franklin, which, if everyone sneezed at once, would be in Quebec. When the road comes to a T, turn left and follow Route 120 north. Ahead and a little to the right, you'll see the summit of Jay Peak, with its cantilevered aerial tramway station. On your right, a few miles farther, Lake Carmi reflects the colors of the surrounding hills. Stay on Route 120 through East Franklin, then take Route 108 south to the junction with Route 105. Turn left and head east along the Missisquoi River to East Berkshire, where you take Route 118 south to Montgomery Center.
Reader Comments
Comment from Diane Pouliot on October 11, 2009
Having been born and lived in Vermont all my life the author presents a wonderful route to visit for foliage. I would also like to point out though that moving from Burlington to Manchester Vermont has also opened up a whole new vista of foliage. How nice it would be to take the "option" drive from I-91 into Vermont and cross over the mountains on VT Route 9 - where the scenery and landscape are as remarkable as the people who work and live on the farms and in the smaller towns. Head over to Bennington and then catch Route 7 or Historic Route 7A where the Green Mountain Boys used to roam to see some of Vermont's Southern most beauty.. Towns rich with color and history and foliage to take one's breath away ....Arlington-home to Norman Rockwell; Manchester-home to Robert Todd Lincoln, Dorset and Danby and on through up to Rutland, Vt all are well worth a quick trip off of I-91. And head back down US VT 7 all the way to CT to see more than just VT at it's finest. Southern VT is sometimes forgotten along the travels- but with the only Shires in Vermont, it is well worth the travel to our part of the state....
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