You've heard of New England's fall foliage. Science has explained it. Poets have described it. Photos have captured it. Now you can experience it. You see, Vermont has endured four months of winter, a muddy spring and a short hot summer. Vermont deserves the most beautiful six weeks in North America. And so do you.
Days 1-2 Admire the Falls of Lana en route to Rattlesnake Cliffs, which offer exquisite views of Lake Dunmore and the Adirondacks | Taste maple syrup and learn the fine art of sugarmaking at Havoc Hill Sugar House | A stroll through the Merck Forest & Farmland Center reveals sweeping vistas of the Taconic Mountains | Explore the historic village of Manchester.
Day 3 Walk through a fern-laced hardwood forest below Mount Equinox | Opt to visit century-old Hildene Mansion, a Georgian Revival beauty built by Abraham Lincoln's son | Browse in the famous Vermont Country Store on our way to Woodstock, where The Prince & The Pauper's gourmet cuisine awaits.
Days 4-5 Watch for wild turkeys while walking on historic carriage roads in Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park | Sugar maples, 400-year-old hemlocks, bridges and wide-open pastureland make it a superb place to meander on foot | Gentle switchbacks lead to the top of Mount Tom and Mount Peg, with views of Woodstock below you as the Green Mountains rise in the distance | Take a gander at the sprawling gardens and enjoy a farm-to-table dinner | Just like magic! Molten forms crystallize right before your eyes at a Simon Pearce demonstration—classic glassblowing craftsmanship is alive, well and stunning to behold.
Walking among the colors of autumn in Vermont will warm the heart and comfort the soul. You'll hike through the stunning Green and White Mountains, past sparkling lakes, verdant evergreen forests and beautiful historic villages. We crest high points that offer jaw-dropping views of blazing oranges, golds and reds for as far as the eye can see. Premiere historic inns, impeccable service and incredible cuisine are a constant. It's the right place to be in autumn.- North America
Sign up with NO RISK Your deposit is fully refundable or transferable
Stay up to date on the latest Backroads news. You're free to opt out at any time.
Sign up with NO RISK Your deposit is fully refundable or transferable
A Zagat favorite, this sophisticated boutique hotel tucked in the mountains features a restaurant wine selection recognized by Wine Spectator. A Small Luxury Hotels of the World member.
An "imposing landmark resort hotel facing the village green in a beautifully preserved village noted for its restored 18th-century homes," according to Andrew Harper. (pool, spa)
There's no better way to find out about Backroads than by hearing it from the people who have traveled with us. For more about the Backroads Experience, read our Guest Testimonials.
Sign up with NO RISK Your deposit is fully refundable or transferable
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviews(based on 1 review)
Ratings Distribution
Reviewed by 1 customer
Displaying review 1
Comments about Vermont Walking & Hiking Tour:
Walking among the colors of autumn in Vermont will warm the heart and comfort the soul. You'll hike through the stunning Green and White Mountains, past sparkling lakes, verdant evergreen forests and beautiful historic villages. We crest high points that offer jaw-dropping views of blazing oranges, golds and reds for as far as the eye can see. Premiere historic inns, impeccable service and incredible cuisine are a constant. It's the right place to be in autumn.
Displaying review 1
The earlier you book, the more choice you'll have and the lower your price. And you can always change your mind—you won't be charged to transfer to a different trip before your final payment is due.
Please click on a date below for specific pricing and possible itinerary variations.
Sign up with NO RISK Your deposit is fully refundable or transferable
AVAILABLE TO BOOKi GOING FASTi CONTACT USi PRIVATE TRIP - RESERVEDi
Interested in a Private Trip? Check out the Make It Private tab for private dates available, or call us at 800-462-2848.
Every Backroads trip is designed to appeal to a wide variety of interests and fitness levels. We know your pace may vary from one day to the next—and your traveling companion's may differ somewhat from yours. So we present a range of mileage options, and each day you decide exactly what and how much you want to do.
Sign up with NO RISK Your deposit is fully refundable or transferable
| Daily Route Options | ||||||||||
| Day | EASYGOING | ACTIVE | AVID | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 | ||||||
| miles | feet gain | miles | feet gain | miles | feet gain | miles | feet gain | miles | feet gain | |
| 1 | 4 | 1200 | 6 | 1600 | ||||||
| 5 | 700 | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 300 | 6 | 1200 | 8 | 1700 | ||||
| 5 | 800 | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 300 | 4 | 500 | 5 | 800 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 400 | 5 | 600 | 6 | 700 | ||||
| 5 | 1 | 200 | ||||||||
| 2 | 400 | |||||||||
Note: The terrain on this trip includes well-maintained forest trails, paved paths and dirt roads. Vermont's landscape is characterized by constant rises and valleys and the continuously rolling terrain can make the routes feel more challenging than the mileage may suggest.
Learn more about how we determine our activity levels and fully support a range of abilities and interests.
Please note that our distance and elevation figures come from Ride with GPS. Other sources (such as Map My Ride and Garmin devices) may give differing elevation figures due to different GPS and mapping technologies. Readings from a Garmin or a smart phone are influenced by other factors such as air pressure.
Backroads has been walking and hiking in Vermont for more than 20 years, and in that time we've naturally forged deep relationships. We offer you unique access to the best of the region – not just its great hotels and restaurants, but also friends like Doug and Melissa Zecher of Havoc Hill Sugar House, who welcome you to their farm near East Dorset for a private syrup-making tour and tasting.
Backroads has the best-qualified people to lead your trip in Vermont, and our guests back that up, rating our Trip Leaders an average of 9.75 out of 10 for all-around quality of performance. Get the facts (and no fluff) on how we recruit and develop the very best people for your trip.
Since 1979, Backroads Founder and President Tom Hale has shown that staying #1 means constantly evaluating our performance using the best possible source of information: our guests. As we systematically analyze your feedback on our trip consultants, leaders, hotels, meals and on-trip activities, we never stop working to make a great company even better.
On this trip featuring Premiere Hotels, you can count on the best lodgings Vermont has to offer. In fact, the hotels we've chosen in this region have higher retail room rates than those offered by any other active travel company—even when their trips cost more.
We design and support our Vermont trips to suit mixed abilities and varied interests—so you can set your own pace, then change things up as the day unfolds. And all guests are free to do the same, traveling together or apart, with no one cramping anyone else's style. Which sounds easy in theory, but it's hard to pull off. Here's more on how we do it.
Backroads is the only active travel company providing two support vans in Vermont—because we know it's essential to ensure a truly great travel experience. It doubles our ability to be there when you need us to offer hydration, lighten your load or give you a lift if it's time to take a break. Read more on why two vans make all the difference.
Guests rave about our picnic spreads. Enjoy a welcome break in a scenic spot, or a quick refuel stop if you don't want to lose momentum. And because we have two vans, one can host lunch while the other is out providing support along the route.
On our Vermont trips we have an extra leader supporting you along the trail—for a total of three, compared to the industry standard two. So we can be in more places at once, giving personal attention to guests traveling at their own pace. Here's more on our Trip Leaders.
Under our Book with Confidence policy, your Backroads trip will run even for one or two people (or a family of three or four), subject to a nominal extra fee. Or transfer to another trip, and we'll give you a credit. It's all part of our trademark commitment to treating guests with integrity, transparency and total accountability. Read all the details.
Tom Hale has been keeping Backroads on track, with one eye on the horizon, since 1979. His passion for active travel, and for ensuring the highest-quality travel experience, is evident in every detail we add to make a guest's trip unforgettable—and the fact he's right there in the office, making it happen. To hear Tom describe his vision, watch our video.
With Backroads you won't end up with kids on what you thought was an adult trip; we have exclusive departures for families, so they're off having their own adventures. As you browse our unrivaled selection of trips and dates, you can count on finding a trip in Vermont that's geared exclusively to your choice of traveling companions.
Sign up with NO RISK Your deposit is fully refundable or transferable
Gather your favorite people to share a Backroads adventure on a ready-to-book Private Trip - featuring all the legendary Backroads hallmarks from expert leaders to unforgettable activities. You can pick from the selection of dates below for your group; some dates are only available for 16 or more guests while other dates are available for 8 or more guests. If your party has fewer than 8 guests, or your preferred date is not available, we'll create a departure just for you. Call or email us to reserve your date.
Click on a date below for specific pricing and possible itinerary variations.
8 AVAILABLE TO BOOK FOR 8 OR MORE GUESTS 16 AVAILABLE TO BOOK FOR 16 OR MORE GUESTS RESERVED
Don't see your ideal travel date? Make a Date! i
Invite your family and friends on an adventure that's entirely your own - for your group of 8 or more. Find out more
I simply can't imagine a better way to immerse yourself in the life of a region, to explore hidden corners and appreciate nuances while enjoying the benefits and enormous satisfaction of traveling under your own power. These are experiences you cannot have behind the wheel of a car, or on a train or a tour bus. Active travel is, at its heart, a way of connecting more authentically with the world. Sure, Backroads provides amazing leaders, superb accommodations and meals, and opportunities you could never arrange on your own. But all of our comprehensive planning and support is aimed at something far simpler: bringing you the immediate, highly personal satisfaction of discovering a new world on your own terms.
— Tom Hale, Founder & President
