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Best Foliage Town: Readers' Choice

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DUBLIN, New Hampshire (September 29, 2011)—Kent, Connecticut, has been named the number one foliage town in New England according to a poll conducted on YankeeFoliage.com, Yankee Magazine's fall foliage Web site. Peacham, located in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, placed second and Camden, a seaside town in the Mid-coast region of Maine, came in third. The voting period started in mid-August and ended yesterday, on September 28.

"We here in Kent are thrilled to be selected as Yankee Magazine's number one fall foliage spot for the second year in a row, this time as voted by readers," said Elissa Potts, president of the Kent Chamber of Commerce. "Our charming town is the perfect place for a fall getaway experience filled with vibrant foliage and we are excited to welcome all of Kent's leaf peeping visitors again this autumn."

In 2010, Yankee Magazine's September/October issue named the top 25 towns in New England for fall foliage travel—the first time the magazine has ever ranked towns by this standard. Kent, Connecticut, won top honors and first place on the list. Camden, Maine tied with Waitsfield, Vermont, for sixth place. Peacham, Vermont, a perennial favorite for leaf peepers, was not on the 2010 list. Total votes cast for all towns was 1180. Kent earned 410 votes, Peacham tallied 270 and Camden received 111.

"Based on the enthusiasm for Yankee's 2010 top foliage town rankings, we decided to put the vote to the people. According to this year's poll, our editors—in naming Kent the best foliage town in New England—got it right," says Heather Atwell, Yankee's communications manager. "Though Peacham, Vermont, was not included in last year's rankings, it is a documented favorite for fall foliage fans and our editors. In fact, Peacham was featured on the cover of Yankee's foliage issue in both 2007 and 2009."

This year's poll simply asked online visitors to vote for their favorite foliage town. Last year's system, devised by Yankee's editorial team, was more complicated. To determine the listing for the 2010 article—"The Top 25 Foliage Towns in New England," by Michael Blanding and the editors of Yankee Magazine—a variety of tourism professionals, as well as Yankee's own writers and editors, first nominated communities for an initial review. The top contenders were then scored on a scale from 0 to 5 in 14 essential attributes of a perfect fall foliage outing: color intensity, scenery, vistas, nearby water, scenic drives, hikes, culture, farmers' markets and farmstands, orchards, covered bridges, state or local parks, the quality and variety of shops to browse, tourism amenities such as hotels and restaurants, and a category called "uncrowded"—giving a boost to less touristy locations.

The foliage season in New England spans from mid-September through mid to late October. In very general terms, foliage peaks earlier in northern locations, and later in southern locations. For more specific details on what's happening this season, meteorologist, science teacher, and photographer Jim Salge blogs weekly about foliage conditions in New England in the "Foliage Blog" on YankeeFoliage.com. "For travelers this upcoming weekend, there are going to be two keys to a great trip. The first key is going to be elevation," writes Salge in this week's edition on YankeeFoliage.com/Blog. "Anywhere in, through, near or overlooking any of the mountains in New England will provide landscapes filled with color. Great drives might include Smugglers' Notch in Vermont, Crawford Notch in New Hampshire, or Grafton Notch in Maine. For hikers, the area in and around Baxter State Park should be exceptional. Camel's Hump State Park and Groton State Forest offer varied hiking opportunities in Vermont, and in New Hampshire, the Appalachian Mountain Club is offering a free trial of their online White Mountain Guide with ten great foliage hikes hand selected for the season."