Fall foliage in Vermont

Vermont’s color begins on the highest ground and moves down and south in under three weeks. Mount Mansfield, Killington, Jay Peak and the Northeast Kingdom lead at the end of September and in the first days of October; the mid-elevation towns along Route 100 and the Green Mountain valleys follow in the first and second weeks; the Champlain and Connecticut river valleys finish in the middle of the month. Sugar maple supplies the reds and oranges, with beech and yellow birch for gold.

Those are the months when color is present somewhere in Vermont, from its highest ground to its lowest. Any one location changes over a much shorter period than that.

Why the timing shifts from year to year

Shortening days start the process, so most places in Vermont change at close to their usual time each year. Within the state, elevation and latitude account for most of the difference: higher and more northern ground generally changes first, and lower, sheltered ground last. Weather has more effect on how strong the color is than on when it appears. Cool nights and sunny days favor the reds, a dry summer mutes them, and a hard freeze or a windstorm can strip a slope in a day. What determines the timing goes through this in detail.

Nearby states

Fall color does not follow state lines. Vermont borders:

• Massachusetts fall foliage
• New Hampshire fall foliage
• New York fall foliage

Timing for a specific place

This page describes a whole state, which is about as precise as a season can be described in words. Conditions at one overlook on one weekend are a narrower question, and that is the one Fallcast answers: an expected period of color for a specific location, with a confidence attached, updated through the season as the trees change. It is coming to iPhone this fall.

Questions, or somewhere in Vermont you would like covered? Write to fallcastapp@gmail.com.