As the leaves begin falling and foliage once again floods our social media feeds, one coveted hot spot for influencers is taking a stand by shutting down public access during the peak fall season.
Pomfret and Woodstock, Vermont jointly voted to revoke access to Cloudland Road from September 23 to October 15, which leads to Sleepy Hollow Farm, also known as the “most photographed” place in the state.
One search for the location on Instagram will garner hundreds of thousands of postcard-worthy fall landscapes and scenery.
On a GoFundMe page to “save” the road, locals wrote that an “unprecedented surge in Instagram and TikTok-fueled tourist influencers” has disrupted the peace of the area and changed the landscape to an “untenable” level.
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“During Fall foliage season, crowds commonly surge to hundreds of people at one time, and tour bus companies have even joined the fracas,” the page reads. “Cloudland and surrounding roads become impassable during the Fall, and roads and poorly behaved tourists have damaged roads, had accidents, required towing out of ditches, trampled gardens, defecated on private property, parked in fields and driveways, and verbally assaulted residents.”
The page has received over $14,600 in donations so far.
Parking on the road and its intersection with neighboring Barber Hill road has also been banned during the select time period, with exemptions for residents, service providers, delivery drivers, and emergency vehicles, local outlet The Vermont Standard reported.
“Foliage season traffic in this area has steadily increased during the last several years, causing significant safety, environmental, aesthetic, and quality of life issues,” the Pomfret Selectboard who voted for the closure said.
It’s estimated that Vermont welcomes over 13 million tourists each calendar year, with tourism accounting for $3 billion of the state’s spending on infrastructure.
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