Photographing Vermont in the Fall – Route 100
Route 100 is one of the most frequently traveled roads by “leaf peepers” in Vermont during the fall season. The best advice that I can give photographers is to leave the busy main road and explore the back roads around Route 100. In this post, I will tell you about some of my favorite back roads to photograph off of Route 100 between Waitsfield and Route 4.
Waitsfield, Vermont
Take a left turn off of Route 100 onto Bridge Street. In a few hundred feet there is a covered bridge. Take a few photos of the bridge from the other side. You will need to do some work in Photoshop to remove the traffic lights and power lines.
A few miles down the road the name changes to East Warren Road. There are a few farms and views to take some photos of along the way. Keep going down to Sherman Road. Turn left on to Sherman Road. There is a horse farm on the right with nice autumn colors in the background and also a scenic farm on the left. The GPS coordinates are: 44.148178, -72.807877.
Route 17
There are two ski areas off of Route 17 where you can take some nice landscapes of the trees surrounding the slopes in fall color. Take a left turn onto German Flats road to Mount Ellen ski area. The route is well marked. Mad River Glen Ski Area is right on Route 17. They may also have the lifts running to take you to the top for a view.
Route 17 also crosses the Appalachian Gap. At the top there is a pull off on the right where the Appalachian Gap information sign is located. If you carefully walk inside the guardrail at the pull off close to the road there is a beautiful view overlooking a pond with the mountains in the background.
Bragg Hill Road
Bragg Hill Road is very scenic with a couple of picturesque farms and some very cooperative cows along Number 9 Road. Bragg Hill Road Runs from Route 100 (just south of Waitsfield) to Number 9 Road that connects into Route 17. If you visit Route 17 first, you can turn onto Number 9 Road. It will run into Bragg Hill Road and you can follow it back to Route 100.
I found some black and white dairy cows with mountains full of fall color as a background on Number 9 Road. The two scenic farms were both on Bragg Hill Road.
Moss Glen Falls is located right on Route 100 near Granville. If plan to visit Moss Glen Falls, come early. We arrived in early afternoon and the pullout was packed, complete with a cart selling maple syrup. The falls are picturesque if you can avoid the people in your composition. The best shot is from the stream below the falls.
Related Posts
Photographing Vermont in the Fall – Shelburne
Photographing Vermont in the Fall – Woodstock Area
Photographing Vermont in the Fall – Groton State Forest Area
Visit my photo destinations page for more great photography locations
4 Comments
Tami
Looks like it was a gorgeous trip, Martin! I can almost smell the leaves in these beautiful photos…
Martin Belan
Tami,
Vermont was definitely beautiful. These photos were from day 1. More photos and blogs for days 2 – 4 to come.
Erika Kilborn
Gorgeous pictures! I live vicariously through work such as this because I can't be where I want to be, which is roaming Route 100.
Martin Belan
Erika,
Vermont is a wonderfully beautiful place. The backroads off of Route 100 are a blast to explore and photograph. Thanks for the feedback!