Vermont Town Closes Roads Due to Autumn 'Leaf-peepers'
2023-09-28
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1"Leaf-peepers" are tourists who visit the countryside in the northeastern United States each autumn.
2"Peeper" means looker, someone who looks.
3The leaf-peepers travel to see the seasonal changes to the trees.
4Their leaves turn color from green to deep red, bright yellow and rich orange before finally falling to the ground.
5Many leaf-peepers head to Vermont. They like to take photos of the trees, the hills, old farm buildings and houses in the state.
6They often stop their vehicles on the side of the road to take pictures.
7The visitors are good for the local economy because they spend money on hotels, restaurants and other business.
8But, the flood of tourists can also cause problems in small, usually quiet country towns.
9They create too much vehicle traffic, pollution and other trouble.
10One small town has taken surprising action to deal with the leaf-peepers.
11Pomfret, Vermont has closed roads to non-residents through the middle of October.
12Pomfret officials said the restrictions were carried out in reaction to what they called "poorly behaved tourists."
13Visitors often seek out Sleepy Hollow Farm in Promfret. They like to take pictures there.
14Police now are guarding the road from all but locals.
15The colorful hillside behind the farm is famous from the many images of it posted to social media services such as Facebook and Instagram.
16People who live in central Vermont say they understand how the land's beauty appeals to visitors.
17But they say the traffic slowdowns, blocked roads and bad behavior by visitors is a major problem.
18Nancy Bassett lives in the area.
19"It's just a shame," she said about the bad behavior, which includes some people trying to move beyond barriers to get better views.
20"It spoils it for a lot of people," Bassett added.
21Vermont is not the only pretty place that some argue has been ruined by social media.
22People have crowded into small streets in Paris and wilderness areas in California just to take a photo like the ones they see on Instagram.
23In the small city of Lake Elsinore, California, people stopped to take photos of a "superbloom" of wildflowers caused by a rainy winter in 2019.
24Locals said the visitors "trampled" the very flowers they came to photograph.
25In some places, such as the famous Zion National Park in the western state of Utah, visitors need a permit to enter some areas.
26The news of the Vermont closures prompted many to write about it on social media.
27One person asked: "Why in the world would you want to visit somewhere with a crowd of people? There are beautiful spots ... you can have all to yourself."
28One road, Cloudland Road, is now closed to visitors. There are "no-parking" and "no-photo" signs along the way.
29Residents say there are areas visitors can go that have parking and places to eat.
30Linda Arbuckle works at a store nearby.
31She said "people love the leaves ... and it brings people here and we don't want that to stop. Unfortunately," she added,
32"some people have taken it to the next step."
33Arbuckle said there have been homeowners who have come home to see tourists eating a meal on their front porch.
34I'm Caty Weaver.