Peak Foliage Arrives in the Green Mountains

It begins as a blush high on the ridgelines and spreads downhill over a week or two until the whole of the Green Mountains blazes red, orange, and gold. Peak foliage is Vermont's grand annual spectacle, and for a short window it draws travelers from around the world to stand on the same roadside overlooks and gasp.

The color is chemistry as much as scenery. As days shorten and nights cool, the trees stop producing the chlorophyll that keeps leaves green, revealing the yellows and oranges that were there all along — and, in the sugar maples, brewing brilliant reds. A run of warm sunny days and cool nights produces the most vivid display.

Timing is everything and never guaranteed. Peak sweeps from the higher, northern elevations south and downhill over several weeks, so a well-planned trip can chase the color for a good while. Locals track it with an almost sporting intensity, trading reports on which passes have turned. Then, as fast as it came, a hard rain and wind strip the branches bare, and the mountains settle toward winter — the show over for another year.