Vermont Scenic Drive to Hildene

A Vermont scenic drive to Hildene

This Vermont scenic drive will reveal the historic home of Robert Todd Lincoln. It’s hidden away near Manchester Vermont. He was the eldest son of President and Mary Todd Lincoln. He loved his summer home in Vermont getting away from the heat of the summer in the cooler Battenkill Mountains.

Apparently, like many of you, he loved to visit during the summer into the grand autumn colors and then beat feet before the snow made an appearance.

As you can see in this image, our fall foliage trip to Vermont was not very sunny. Lisa will open a Vermont Gazetteer and see what is in the area.

There is a tour of the home and you can wander the grounds and gardens. There is also an observatory there since Robert Lincoln held a passion for exploring the heavens.

The house is located on a 300-foot promontory that overlooks the Battenkill Valley. This means much of the view in the fall is of the surrounding hills and in a few cases, I saw low-hanging clouds obscuring the top of the hills.

We then took the tour down to the goat farm where we got to see the new baby goats that were jumping all over the place, they will tell you that the farm is there to make the property self-sufficient.

But in the end, it comes down to the views. As we looked out of the Hoyt Formal Garden and over the Battenkill Valley, we could see why Robert Lincoln enjoyed this property so much.

I hope you enjoyed this historical tour through the fall colors of Vermont and my brief look at Hildene. I don’t want to tell you everything about Hildene because I want you to visit it for yourself…

Best time to visit
Being closer to southern Vermont you will find really good fall colors between 10 to 15 October (later in some years) and you have the restriction of having to have the property being open, so times are between 9 to 4 pm (check the website for current times). I had the benefit of the clouds being broken and allowing some sun to splash over the hills to make it interesting. But we were there from 11:30 AM – 3 PM.

Planning your visit
Visit the Hildene website for current info. Below is a Map that you can download, print out and take with you. Here is the link in Google Maps. Here is a link to the Hildene-Home of Todd Lincoln map so you can download and print it.

<br />You can reach Hildene by traveling from Manchester Center (a beautiful college town) and travel south on 7A.

Questions? Let me know.

Jeff Foliage Folger

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

Visit my Amazon affiliate store for items that Lisa and I have curated for you. These items are either New England-made or things we think will make your fall foliage trip more successful.