As the last warm days of summer fade, it’s time to start thinking about another spectacular fall in Brattleboro, Vermont. Fall foliage season is on its way, and soon the hillsides around town will be glowing with the reds, oranges, and yellows that have made Vermont fall foliage famous around the world. Whether you’d rather hike up to a mountain overlook or take a slow drive along a scenic byway, you won’t have to travel far to see some of the best fall colors in Vermont. Book your room at our Brattleboro bed and breakfast and plan your trip around the season’s best color.
Brattleboro sits at the southern edge of the state, which means our fall colors arrive a little later than they do up north, but they’re every bit as good. If you’re looking for things to do in Southern Vermont this fall, you’ve got hiking trails, covered bridges, working farms, and small towns that look like they were built specifically for leaf peeping.
Many visitors split their time between scenic drives and short hikes, since both give you a totally different perspective on the same colorful landscape. And once you’ve worked up an appetite from a morning on the trail, downtown Brattleboro’s restaurants and galleries are an easy walk away.
For a stay that puts you right in the middle of all of it, the Inn on Putney Road is hard to beat. Our Bed and Breakfast Brattleboro VT sits on the edge of the Retreat Meadow, just a short drive from downtown, with six beautifully appointed rooms and a gourmet breakfast made fresh every morning. The personal touches: knowing your name, your preferences, and the best spot for a foliage drive, keeps people coming back year after year. If you’re planning a fall getaway in Vermont, reserve your stay now!
Brilliant Fall Foliage in New England
Vermont’s fall foliage display is one of the best in the country, and for good reason. The state has one of the highest concentrations of sugar maples anywhere in the Northeast. That’s the tree responsible for most of the brilliant reds and oranges you’ll see covering the hillsides.
So when is peak fall foliage in Vermont? It varies a bit every year depending on temperature and rainfall, but the general pattern holds steady. Color typically starts at higher elevations and in the Northeast Kingdom in mid to late September, then moves south and downhill from there. Up north, peak fall foliage often hits by the first week of October. Down here in southern Vermont, where Brattleboro is located, peak fall colors usually arrive later, often landing somewhere in the back half of October. That later timing actually works in your favor if you’re trying to plan a trip, since you’ve got a longer window to catch southern Vermont at its best.
We always recommend checking a foliage report before locking in your travel dates, since conditions can shift the timeline by a week or two in either direction. But the general rule of thumb is reliable. When do the leaves change in Vermont? Cooler nights and shorter days trigger the shift, and that process moves from north to south and from high elevations down into the valleys, which is exactly why Brattleboro tends to hold onto its colors a bit longer than towns further north. It’s one of the nice perks of staying in southern Vermont for fall foliage in New England, you get a bit more flexibility without sacrificing any of the color.
One of our favorite ways to take in Brattleboro’s fall foliage is by hiking up into the surrounding hills, where the views open up across hillside after hillside of color. From downtown, you can reach several trailheads without much of a drive at all, including the Retreat Trails, Fort Dummer State Park, Wantastiquet Mountain, Hogback Mountain Conservation Area, Putney Mountain, and the Ledges Overlook Trail.
If you’d rather stay in the car and let the scenery come to you, Vermont’s scenic byways are tough to beat. Even on a day when the fall colors in Vermont haven’t fully peaked yet, these routes will still put you in the middle of plenty of color, along with covered bridges, working farms, and small towns that feel frozen in the best possible way.
Some of our favorite scenic drives for fall foliage include the Molly Stark Scenic Byway, the Connecticut River National Byway, Scenic Route 100, the Shires of Vermont Byway, and the stretch from Brattleboro to Mount Snow. If you’re up for a longer trip, Equinox Mountain, one of the most prominent peaks in southern Vermont, is well worth the drive for the views alone. Almost any backroad around here will reward you with a good view, so don’t be afraid to wander a little.
You don’t even need to leave the property at the Inn on Putney Road to enjoy the season. Our backyard is home to the largest Cut Leaf Japanese Maple tree in the country, and it overlooks the Retreat Meadow, ringed with trees that put on a real show every October. It’s one of the small details that guests mention again and again: a front-row seat to fall without having to go anywhere at all.
Stay at the Premier Bed and Breakfast Brattleboro VT
If you’re planning a trip built around Vermont’s fall colors, our Bed and Breakfast in Brattleboro, VT, is one of the best home bases for your getaway. Our 1938 French Baronial manor home has real character, and a gourmet breakfast sets the tone for a full day of leaf peeping.
Whether you’re hiking the Retreat Trails before breakfast or heading out on a scenic drive after, our Bed and Breakfast puts you right where you want to be for fall in New England. Let us help you plan the perfect foliage getaway this season. Reserve your room now!