10 Best Places to See Vermont Fall Foliage in 2024

Although finding amazing places to see Vermont fall foliage is pretty easy (it’s basically everywhere in the state), I want to share with you 10 locations where you can find some of the best views of it and that includes parks, hikes, towns, lakes and even an amazing train ride. Out of all the states I’ve seen fall foliage in, Vermont is arguably one of the top 3 ones and if you’ve been wanting to plan a day or weekend trip to this state, I’ll also be listing when the best times to see fall foliage in each area is. 

10 best places to see fall foliage in Vermont in 2024:

1. Lake Willoughby
2. Stowe
3. Waterbury Center State Park
4. Camel’s Hump Peak
5. Smugglers Notch
6. Lake Champlain
7. Jay Peak
8. Killington Peak
9. Lake Groton
10. Green Mountain Railroad

Bonus: Top places to see Vermont Fall foliage based on user reviews.

Lake Willoughby:

Lake Willoughby is located in north central Vermont (East Burke) and it’s one of the most scenic spots on the whole list for the best Vermont fall foliage spots. At the same time, because fall foliage in Vermont is so popular and it gets crowded in many places (some of which are listed here), Lake Willoughby is likely to be far less crowded because of it’s remote location in the state. Besides seeing the fall colors here, there’s other areas to check out like the Willoughby State Forest and hiking trails there (Wheeler Mountain is the most popular there) and you can also kayak on this lake as well (you can find rentals at the south beach region of Lake Willoghby).

• Best time to go: First 2 weeks of October
• Where to stay: Best hotels near Lake Willoughby (check prices)
• Other: Most popular things to do near Lake Willoughby

Stowe:

Stowe is located about 1 hour east from Burlington Vermont and it’s likely one of the most popular places in the state for fall foliage views. I’ve personally stayed in Stowe several times throughout most seasons including autumn and besides the views, the town itself is amazing with awesome restaurants, great hotels and hikes in the area. Just walking or driving through Stowe during fall season is an amazing experience too and I highly recommend it. Also a highly recommended peak and drive you can do is to Mount Mansfield which will give you more fall foliage views.

• Best time to go: Also 2 weeks of October
• Where to stay: Stowe (check hotel prices)
• Other: Most popular things to do in Stowe

Waterbury Center State Park:

Waterbury Center Park is actually pretty close to Stowe but what makes it an amazing destination to visit during fall foliage is the lake (it’s actually a reservoir) and the views itself. You can also go boating around this lake and though it isn’t as large as Lake Willoughby that I mentioned earlier, because of the amazing views and the fact that it’s already close to Stowe and the next destination on this list, you can easily visit it alongside the 2 other spots to get even more amazing views of the fall colors.

• Best time to go: Also 2 weeks of October
• Where to stay: Stowe, Waterbury or Burlington (1 hour away). See best hotels in Stowe.

Camel’s Hump Trail:

This is a very popular hike in a place called Camel’s Hump State Park. Although it’s about 6 miles in and out and difficult, if you do it in the fall, not only will the experience of hiking it be incredible for the views, but the actual peak of Camel’s Hump which you’ll reach at the end is where you’ll see one of the best overlooks in the state and just as well some of the best Vermont fall foliage in addition to that.  

• Best time to go: First 2 weeks of October
• Where to stay: Also Stowe or Waterbury

Smugglers Notch:

Smugglers Notch is a famous area next to Stowe and after going there at least 7 times (including during autumn) I cannot say enough good things about how amazing this place is and while I have an article on Smugglers Notch Vermont to check out, what I will say about this place in this post is that it’s a combination of an incredibly beautiful scenic drive, several great hikes to high Vermont peaks and of course the fall foliage in Smugglers Notch is 5 out of 5.

• • Best time to go: First 2 weeks of October (note that this place is very busy then).
  • Where to stay: Stowe hotels (check prices)

 

Lake Champlain:

Lake Champlain is basically located all throughout the west end of Vermont and because its so long, there isn’t any one best spot on it that I can recommend to see fall foliage, so I’m just going to recommend you see as much of this area as possible during autumn season and here are some specific areas and roads where you can do that:

1. Road 2 from the north western tip of Vermont to Sand Bar State Park.
2. Causeway Park.
3. Shelburne Farms.
4. And I also have a post on Lake Champlain where I include more recommendations of spots to see as well as some in the New York park of it.

Other info:

• Best time to go: First 3 weeks of October
• Where to stay: Best Burlington hotels (check prices)
• Other: Best things to do in Burlington Vermont

Jay’s Peak:

Jay’s Peak is a popular mountain and ski resort in the northern middle end of Vermont and when it comes to fall foliage, it’s also a great spot to spend time at. There’s a bunch of great hikes like the Long Trail there (the greater forest there is called Jay’s State Forest) and ski lifts you can use to get to the top sections of the mountain. At the same time the resort in the area is a great place to stay at for a few days or just one if you plan to visit some of the other spots on this list.

• • Best time to go: Last week of September through first week of October
  • Where to stay: Jay’s Peak Resort (check prices)

 

Killington Peak:

Killington Peak is another popular ski spot in Vermont, but it’s further southwest of Jay’s Peak. But it doesn’t change that the fall foliage views here are equally incredible and worth checking out. Other than checking out the ski resort and area as a whole (there’s at least 3 lodges to stay at), there is a popular hike here known as the Bucklin Trail which takes you to the top of Killington Peak for a great overlook area, but that hike is over 7 miles long. I will also add that further south and north of this area is the amazing Green Mountain National Forest which as a whole is highly recommended to check out not just in autumn but during the other seasons.

• • Best time to go: First 2 weeks of October
  • Where to stay: Killington Resort (check prices)

 

Lake Elmore:

Lake Elmore is located not too far from Stowe and the Waterbury Park area (it’s east of those locations) and just like the other lake locations on this list, it’s worth coming to this spot to see fall foliage in Vermont but the great news is that it’s a pretty small area so it’s usually not that crowded during the peak fall season, but at the same time it’s easy to make a quick stop here so you can have more time to see the others in the area (in this case Stowe, Waterbury and Camel’s Hump).

• Best time to go: First 2 weeks of October
• Where to stay: Stowe, Waterbury or Camel’s Hump Resort

Green Mountain Railroad:

Green Mountain Railroad (aka the Champlain Valley Dinner Train) is a scenic train ride that has several options for attractions, including a dinnfer train ride and also an option to see fall foliage in Vermont. The station area is located in Burlington Vermont and you can also get tickets for it online. The train attraction is is about 3 hours long and highly recommended for anyone who doesn’t want to drive anywhere or explore places outside too much, but rather just stay in a train, have good food options and enjoy the ride and fall views. It’s also one of many scenic train rides in the state.

• Best time to go: First 2 weeks of October
• Where to stay: Burlington (check hotel prices)

Vermont fall foliage map of all the locations:

Related:

• Best places to see New England fall foliage 
• Best places to catch Catskills fall foliage
• Best places to see New Hampshire fall foliage

Things to keep in mind:

Keep in mind that tourism is massive during fall foliage in Vermont so if you wish to stay in hotels that are anywhere near the spots listed above, know that it will be pretty expensive, but if you’re ready to go then you’ll want to reserve them at least 1-2 months beforehand (this is the case every single year). I’ve added links above so you can do that way ahead of time. I hope you have an awesome trip to Vermont this year and enjoy the fall foliage colors!