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Two Stowes, two dates
Stowe is really two foliage destinations stacked on top of each other. The village sits at about 720 feet, in the valley of the West Branch River, and its maples typically peak between October 3 and October 12. Above it, Mount Mansfield rises to 4,395 feet, the highest ground in Vermont, and the high slopes around the summit and through Smugglers' Notch turn far earlier, from late September into the first days of October. In a typical year the mountain can be at peak a full ten days to two weeks before the village floor. A trip timed for the village will find the Notch already past its best; a trip timed for the Notch finds the village still green at the edges. Both are good trips. They are not the same weekend.
Stowe is also the premium market of Vermont foliage, with a Columbus Day weekend, October 9 to 11 in 2027, that books out well ahead. In season, Vermont's weekly foliage report is the live word for this corridor.
Bookable now
The guided day, for the car-free or the clock-watching
Most Stowe visitors drive themselves. The exception is a visitor without a car, or with one day and no appetite for navigating it: the small group tour below covers the Notch, the Trapp Family Lodge grounds, the cider mill and the Ben and Jerry's factory, with the driving handled. It is priced like what it is, a six person guided day, and for the right trip it earns it.
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Small group guided day · Book on Viator
The whole Stowe circuit in one driven day
A local guide, a maximum of six travelers, and the loop you would drive yourself if you had the days: Smugglers' Notch, the Trapp Family Lodge, Cold Hollow Cider Mill and the Ben and Jerry's factory in Waterbury, with hotel pickup in Stowe. Book it if you are car-free, or if your trip is short and you would rather watch the Notch than steer through it.
On Viator: Small Group Tour in Stowe, Vermont · Rated 5.0 from 78 reviews · From $359
Check dates and book the Stowe day tourThe window
How the color moves through Stowe
| Band | Typical peak | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| High slopes, Mount Mansfield and Smugglers' Notch, above roughly 2,500 feet | Late September to October 5 | The first real color in the corridor: birch and maple turning against the evergreen high forest, seen from the Notch road and the gondola |
| The village and valley floor, about 720 feet | October 3 to 12 | The postcard version: the white church, Main Street maples and the valley farms at full color |
| South on Route 100, toward Waterbury and the Mad River Valley | Days later than the village | The escape valve: if Stowe itself has peaked and dropped, the color is still working down the corridor to the south |
The pattern to plan around: color arrives high and north, and leaves low and south. If you arrive a touch early, go up and through the Notch. If you arrive a touch late, drive Route 100 south. Stowe's geography gives you about a two week working season if you are willing to move through it.
The drives
Route 100, the Notch, and the gondola
Vermont Route 100 is the spine drive of the state, running the length of the Green Mountains, and Stowe sits on its best-known stretch. North it climbs toward Morrisville and the Northeast Kingdom, which turns earlier; south it drops through Waterbury to the Mad River Valley. Smugglers' Notch, Vermont Route 108 over the shoulder of Mansfield, is the dramatic short drive: a winding pass between cliffs and boulders that closes for the winter and cannot take trailers or long vehicles. Drive it early in the day on peak weekends, when the pullouts still have room. The third leg is vertical: the gondola at Stowe Mountain Resort rides up Mansfield itself, which puts you inside the high band without a hike, on the resort's own ticket. In the village, park once and walk; Main Street in peak week is not a street to circle for parking.
Where to stay
Three zones, one warning
The village is the premium choice and the one that books first: the inns and small hotels on and just off Main Street, where the church, the shops and the best of the walking are. Mountain Road, Route 108 running from the village up toward the resort, holds the larger lodges and resorts, more rooms and more parking, a short drive from the village center. The Smugglers' Notch side, over the pass in Jeffersonville, is the quieter and usually cheaper base, with the trade that the Notch road is your commute and it closes for the season when winter comes.
The warning is simple: of all the towns on this tracker, Stowe's peak weekends carry the highest rates and the earliest sellouts. For Columbus Day weekend 2027, treat rooms as a late spring decision, not a September one, and take refundable terms while they are offered, because the exact peak week is a weather call nobody can make in spring.
Sources and basis
Where this window comes from
The Stowe windows above follow the pattern in Vermont's weekly foliage reports, published each season by the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, and typical-peak datasets compiled from them: central Vermont and the Stowe corridor at peak in the first half of October, the high country and the Northeast Kingdom ahead of it. Elevations are the commonly published figures for the village and Mount Mansfield's summit. In season, follow the state's weekly report for the live call; this page is the planning record, not a 2027 forecast.
Back to the tracker: all seven towns and the season at a glance. South from here: Woodstock, a few days later and a valley away.