Photographing Vermont in the Fall – Woodstock Area

Wood stock is a popular destination in the fall for both leaf peeping and fall photography. We started out early in the morning on the back roads around Woodstock, Vermont to photograph the fall colors.  Below was our itinerary for the day.

Woodstock, Vermont Area Fall Photography Itinerary

• Drive the back roads during the morning light.  Our route was Cloudland Road to Galaxy Hill Road Road to Pomfret Road to Howe Hill Road.
• Photograph the quaint little towns of Sharon and Strafford, Vermont.
• Return to Woodstock to hike and photograph Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Memorial Park.
• Walk and photograph the picturesque but busy town of Woodstock, Vermont.

Read on for more details and photographs of each Vermont destination along with the GPS coordinates of these locations.

Cloudland Road and Galaxy Hill Road

Cloudland road and Galaxy Hill Road are dirt roads with several nice compositions of farm buildings with the fall colors.  The classic shot is of a brown wood farm house with a pond near the south end of the road.  There is also a white farm house at the “T” where Cloudland road begins in the south.  The land on either side of the road is well posted so you will be limited to photos along the road.  The GPS Coordinates for the south end of Cloudland Road are: N 43.6391666,  W 72.503888.

Pomfret Road and Howe Hill Road are paved roads where it is not as easy to pull off to take photos.  But, keep your camera handy as you drive as there are several nice compositions along these roads as well.

Sharon, Vermont

The main composition that I saw in Sharon was a white church across from the general store.  The church has a large front lawn with big maple trees and a gazebo.  The best compositions are from the front yard using the maples to frame the church.  GPS Coordinates: N 43.7847222, W 72.453333.

Strafford, Vermont

Strafford is a quaint little village with a large green that is a perfect location to photograph the stately white meeting house.  There are several large trees to use in your  compositions.  There are several other interesting buildings along the green that you also may want to photograph.  GPS Coordinates:  N 43.866388, W 72.377777.

There are also some nice views on Justin Morrill Memorial Highway as you are heading toward Strafford from the south.  I particularly liked the yellow barn on the left hand side of the road.  There is a road right past the yellow barn that can be taken for additional compositions.

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Memorial Park

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Memorial Park has 20 miles of wooded trails and carriage roads to explore.  The main reason that I visited the park was to get the shot overlooking the town of Woodstock from Mount Tom. It is about a 2.4 mile hike to the South Peek Overlook of Mount Tom for a composition of Woodstock from the mountain. Here is the link for more information on the park.

There are also plenty of forest scenes with fall colors and macro shots along the trails in the park.  There is a pond in the park called the Pogue that can be checked for wildlife and other photo opportunities.  The parking lot is shared with the Billings Farm & Museum that you can also tour.

Woodstock

Woodstock is a picturesque town with many New England style buildings, churches, and a covered bridge to photograph.  However, Woodstock appears to be on the tourist circuit and can be crowded during the fall season.  You’ll have to be patient if you don’t want tourists in your photos.  We also found that there were not many restaurants in town that  were open for lunch.  They just opened for dinner.  We ended up leaving town to get lunch.

Related Posts
Photographing Vermont in the Fall – Route 100
Photographing Vermont in the Fall – Groton State Forest Area
Photographing Vermont in the Fall – Shelburne

Visit my photo destinations page for more great photography locations