Pomfret, Vermont: The fall foliage town that banned influencers

As hordes of photographers began descending on a small, rural community to capture its vibrant autumnal colours, local residents have been fighting back – and winning.

To enter the town of Pomfret, located in the US state of Vermont, is to be instantly struck by its bucolic beauty. From the north, Howe Hill Road winds downhill in a series of gentle curves, each sweep revealing verdant farm fields dotted with sheep, or swaths of forest in which the red and orange autumn leaves cling to boughs. At one home, a tree heavy with apples bends over a meticulously maintained stone wall, its slate top filled with decaying fruit. 

But come early autumn, more than half of the cars driving through this 900-person town will sport out-of-state license plates, coming to abrupt stops on a road with a 45-mile-per-hour speed limit, blocking one of two lanes. The reason? To take a picture of a farm's silo against a backdrop of autumn leaves.

With a mere handful of businesses – a general mercantile store, an art centre with a gallery and a theatre and a few pick-your-own apple or pumpkin farms – Pomfret is generally a quiet, unassuming place. But in autumn as "leaf-peepers" from around the world descend on the region's rolling hills and fetching small towns to witness its kaleidoscopic foliage, that all changes.

Until recently, the number of leaf-peepers visiting Pomfret was more trickle than torrent. But ever since images of Sleepy Hollow Farm, a 115-acre private property set on a rustic road, began going viral on social media a few years ago, locals say things have gotten out of hand. A quick look on Instagram reveals thousands of images of the farm's winding earthen road lined by stately maple trees lit up in autumnal reds and jack-o-lantern oranges leading toward an elegant 1700s Cape Farmhouse on Cloudland Road. It's no wonder then, that this unlikely farm has become known as one of "the most photographed places in the state". 

"It's a beautiful spot. It's too bad it's been ruined for everybody," said Deborah Goodwin, the exhibits coordinator at Pomfret's Artistree Community Arts Center. "[For] the past couple years it's been out of control. Tour buses were just dumping... people out there."

Goodwin says social media influencers would regularly climb over a gate plastered with "No Trespassing" signs, set up changing booths to accommodate their many costume swaps, get their "city cars" stuck on the narrow dirt road, and leave bodily waste by the roadside. "It was bad," she recalled. "The residents went to the [local government] and said, 'We can't have this anymore.'" 

During the 2022 leaf-peeping season, law enforcement temporarily turned the road past Sleepy Hollow into a one-way thoroughfare. It wasn't enough to deter tourists from behaving badly. In 2023, local residents tried a different approach: crowdsourced funding.

In a plea on GoFundMe, a team of organisers wrote: "[We have] experienced an unprecedented surge in Instagram and TikTok-fuelled tourist 'influencers'... [who] have damaged roads, had accidents, required towing out of ditches, trampled gardens, defecated on private property… and verbally assaulted residents." To date, the request has garnered 125 donations, and raised more than $22,058. 

As a result, town officials voted to close the roads leading to the farm during the peak fall foliage season (23 September to 15 October) to non-residents, spurring the ire of travellers who had driven to the area in hopes of capturing a perfectly curated autumn photo. 

"It's a hotel and amusement park," scoffed one Instagrammer with 153,000 followers. "Bring all your friends and RVs." 

Most Pomfret residents stressed that they're not anti-tourist; they simply want people to treat their hometown with respect. Even more concerning than issues of private property, several mentioned, are safety concerns for the residents of Cloudland Road, as well as the tourists themselves.

According to Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer, "This is not a road that's designed to have multiple vehicles on it. [In 2021 and 2022] there were lines of traffic parked up and down the roadway, and you couldn't get fire apparatus or an ambulance through. It was just overwhelming the infrastructure in the area." 

Things were different in the buzzy neighbouring town of Woodstock, where Cloudland Road ends. There, throngs of visitors dipped in and out of cute boutiques, their storefronts decorated with pots of chrysanthemums and warty winter squash. Outside Au Comptoir cocktail bar, patrons waiting for tables draped themselves over stone walls. On the town's sidewalks, people paused mid-step to capture scenic photographs of stately buildings erected by the Rockefellers. The town's eateries were jam-packed, too. At the Woodstock Inn & Resort – whose executive chef, Matthew McClure, is a seven-time James Beard Award semi-finalist – there was only enough room in the property's restaurants for those who were staying at the inn.    

Unlike Pomfret, Woodstock is a town that thrives on tourism and is equipped to handle it. Lori Crowningshield, retail manager at The Vermont Flannel Co's flagship store on Elm Street, reported that 2023's shockingly rainy summer was "really hard on everyone. We really, really need the tourists here."

But what's good for Woodstock isn't necessarily good for Pomfret. At a time when cities like Venice are so inundated with travellers that officials have imposed a tourist tax to visitors, and when trendy restaurants are banning influencers and their phones from dining, Pomfret is just one of many places around the world trying to curb overtourism and fight back against the hashtaggers – but it's come with a cost.

According to Palmer, Pomfret's road closures aren't just time consuming for law enforcement to maintain; they're expensive too. Palmer guesses that Cloudland Road residents footed a bill upwards of $10,000 so officials could post road closure signs and enforce patrols – all of which inadvertently raised the town's profile as word got out. 

Palmer hopes that the Pomfret drama is a "one-and-done" deal. Residents have floated the idea of creating a reservation or ticketing system for visits to Sleepy Hollow to help manage the tourist rush in a more responsible way, but as far as he knows, that option isn't under serious consideration. In fact: feedback on the traffic pattern changes implemented in 2023 has been largely positive, leading to the Pomfret Selectboard's decision to implement similar road closures for the imminent 2024 foliage season.

 "We enjoy having tourists here, it's a big part of the Vermont economy, and we want people to enjoy the natural beauty, visit the vendors and the shops, and drive around," he said. "The big thing is having respect for people's homes and their property… Please come visit, just be respectful."

This is an updated article first published on 12 October 2023

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