A New England Scenic Autumn Road

A New England scenic autumn road, it could be anywhere…

No, I mean really this shot below could be anywhere… I know where it is but not exactly… So read on faithful traveler.

Peacham farm road in late afternoon during October — A farmer’s back road in Peacham Vermont during a New England autumn. View in my gallery.

Peacham Vermont around 2-8 October

Pull out your Vermont Gazetteer and open to any page and you will see thousands of roads but I’ll tell you about just one of my favorite finds. When you get here there more dirt roads to explore and I have only hit some of them.

Basically, once you arrive in Peacham you can start to explore. You can stop and get a drink or snack and ask questions or just break out your Gazetteer and start exploring.

Peacham Vermont settled in 1776 with Peacham Store in the background

You will need to find the intersection of Route 1 and Academy Hill. (map link further in this article) Head South by west up the dirt hill road by the old general store pictured here to the left (now closed) but there is now a deli on the other end of the building where you can pick up some snacks/drinks.

Before we continue, here is a *special scenic stop*. I always tell people about the “Peacham View”

A fall day with a view of the church and red farm buildings in Peacham Vermont — Peacham, Vermont is a small town located in the northeastern part of the United States, known for its scenic beauty and charming rural atmosphere. View in my gallery.

At the “closed” Peacham Store you head up the hill next to the store. You don’t want to go too fast as you will quickly come to the Volunteer Firehouse on the right. Pull in there, and if you park to the right at the far edge of the field, you should be ok.

You will probably see a path that heads toward the bottom of the hill ahead on the left. Walk out into the field along the bottom of this hill and when you get out there, stop. Now turn to your right with the hill to your back, you can look down the gentle slope of the field towards the town church in white and the barn buildings in red. You will see what I mean… Late afternoon is a good time to view this scene.

I call this the Peacham View.

Ok, once you are done here, head back to the car and you can head a hundred feet further up the road, and at the top, you will find the cemetery. (another nice spot to photograph in and seen below)

View from the Peacham Cemetery on a fall afternoon.

This road that leads you past the cemetery should take you to the first picture at the top of this article. I believe it’s a right on Town Road 5, but it may have been a left turn. Also Check this Google map link to get an idea, as you can also walk the road with Google’s street view. ***Can we say couch potato leaf peeping? Ok, so the leaves aren’t turning, but we can dream!***

The best time to photograph should be in the late afternoon (3 PM or later and I was there at 5:41 PM). I often get up to an area not knowing what I’m going to find there and to me, that is half the enjoyment, “The thrill of the chase” and hopefully not “the agony of defeat”. 🙂

A long-distance view of Peacham Vermont

If you go back down the hill to the four-way stop and proceed straight through onto Old Cemetery Road which takes you over to East Peacham. Keep going straight onto Thaddeus Stevens Road and you follow this up the hill. Pull over where you see an opening on the right to the farmer’s fields. DO NOT DRIVE OUT THERE!!! Merely pull over and walk out and look down the hill.

Peacham at Dawn in the Northeast Kingdom — The village of Peacham Vermont at Dawn in the Northeast Kingdom. Peacham is one of the 300 or so small villages that make up the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. View in my gallery.

I did the above image with a 400mm lens on a tripod and you can see the Peacham church spire sticking up through the trees in the distance. I was in the field at 6:05 AM and shot a couple of dozen shots before a farmer in his tractor came up the dirt road and I had to run back to my car, throw everything in the back seat and get out of his way. He did not yell or anything, he just patiently waited for me to get out of his way… Farmers’ dirt roads are just that FARMER’S ROADS… They are not yours or mine, so keep this in mind.

If you get up there and you’re not seeing what you are looking for then go back down the road and ask directions as the people are usually happy to make suggestions. There used to be a general store on the corner but they closed and as of my last visit and no one had reopened it. But there is a store on the other end of the buildings but they had limited hours…

Also, you can shoot this from the air

I got there a bit early last fall and I went out to the “Peacham View” and launched my drone. There were only a few trees showing color on this day in late September. but it will show up.

Peacham Vermont on 30 September on a beautiful fall day. View in my gallery.

Dates for this Scenic Autumn Town

If you haven’t guessed, the image up top that was your first view of Peacham Vermont is the one I’m trying to get you to. But I didn’t always keep the best notes when I drove this by myself. But if you follow my “directions”, you should find it or you may find something totally better!

I would say the first week of Oct is the best bet. But as always keep checking my blog and FB to see how the current season is progressing… The images in this article are from between 29 September to 8 October in various years. The image of the church is 1 October so I would shoot for 2-8 October for the best color. (barring storms and what have you).

Jeff Foliage Folger

Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage

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