The famous Sleepy Hollow Farm on Cloudland Road, Vermont. Photo / Getty
The famous Sleepy Hollow Farm on Cloudland Road, Vermont. Photo / Getty
The US fall season brings a flurry of picture-perfect autumn leaves and, with it, a mass influx of tourists and influencers. But one small town has had enough.
Right about now in certain parts of the US, autumn brings the most picturesque views, notably due to the kaleidoscope of fall foliage, with many travellers looking for that perfect Instagram photo to welcome the season.
Typically known as “leaf peeping”, the autumn months bring a stream of visitors to places such as northern New England, the Pacific Northwest and the upper Midwest, all gagging to admire the scenery.
Pomfret, a small rural town in the state of Vermont, is one of many local towns boasting beautiful flora. Its rolling farm fields, forests, and changing leaves prove irresistible to autumn-loving tourists.
In recent years, the town has also gained popularity for its Instagram-worthy views.
In an article by the BBC, it’s reported the enthusiastic tourists were - at first - met with a warm welcome by Pomfret residents, but as more and more visitors caused disruptions to the small, 900-person community, locals have since called for a ban to save their peaceful town.
The BBC described Pomfret as a “quiet, unassuming place” with “a mere handful of businesses”.
However, this all changes when the new season comes into play, bringing with it hordes of out-of-towners and their cameras.
While the bijou town has been catering to tourists for years, the BBC publication states that its popularity increased two-fold after the images of a 115-acre private property renowned as the Sleepy Hollow Farm went viral on social media a few years back.
The photos show the red, orange and brown foliage decorating the elegant 1700s Cape Farmhouse on Cloudland Road. Since its viral moment, the scene of the farm and road has been dubbed one of the “most photographed places in the state”.
Residents pinpoint this spike in social media presence as the start of the seasonal influx of visitors, telling the BBC “things have gotten out of hand”.
Groups of tourists arrive in Pomfret by bus or car, causing overcrowding and traffic. Photo / 123RF
Every autuml, residents report the number of visitors increases. These crowds, despite their excitement and adoration for Pomfret, seemingly bring more hassle than happiness to the community, with reports of multiple incidents where tourists have brought chaos to the town, such as traffic problems.
The BBC notes that come early autumn, cars are witnessed “coming to abrupt stops on a road with a 45-mile-per-hour speed limit, blocking one of two lanes.”
Pomfret Artistree Community Arts Centre exhibits co-ordinator Deborah Goodwin also shared her disappointment with the BBC, saying “It’s a beautiful spot. It’s too bad it’s been ruined for everybody.”
Goodwin recalls the past couple of years being out of control as tour buses “dump” people in the town. Worse, Goodwin told the BBC there have been multiple incidents where social media influencers have climbed over property boundaries with “no trespassing” signs, set up changing booths, got cars stranded in the road, and left bodily waste by the roadside.
To combat the budding issues of overtourism, a team of organisers set up a GoFundMe petition to call for government action. “[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.”
According to the BBC, the petition raised US$22,093 ($35,641) and because of the support, the local government decided to close the roads leading to the iconic farm for tourists during the peak of the autumn season (September 25 to October 16, 2024). This limits travellers’ opportunity to capture the perfect photo and better ensures the safety of locals and tourists alike.
Despite their pushback, the BBC reports the locals insist they are not “anti-tourist”. Instead, they are simply asking visitors to “treat their hometown with respect”.
