Hotels near Vermont Route 100, Waterbury to Warren

Vermont Route 100 runs the entire length of the state, roughly 200 miles from Massachusetts to Canada, between the spine of the Green Mountains and the Connecticut River valley. You do not drive all of it. The section worth your day is the 30 miles from Waterbury south to Warren through Stowe and the Mad River Valley, which is dense sugar maple on both sides with working farms between. Northern and central Vermont peak earliest of anywhere on this list, from the last week of September into the first fortnight of October.

Three stops make the section. Moss Glen Falls off Randolph Road in Stowe is a short walk to a 125-foot cascade in hardwood. Granville Gulf Reserve, a six-mile protected stretch of Route 100 between Warren and Granville, has Moss Glen Falls Granville visible directly from a roadside boardwalk. The Warren Store at 284 Main Street, Warren, VT 05674 is the general store everyone stops at, and the covered bridge beside it is the classic Mad River Valley photograph.

Be straight about the trade-offs. At three hours each way this is an overnight rather than a day trip from Boston, and doing it as a single day means four hours in a car for three hours of light. Route 100 is two lanes with limited passing, so a slow vehicle sets the pace for everyone behind it. And lodging in Stowe and the Mad River Valley for peak-colour weekends books out months in advance at prices well above the rest of the year.

Pro Tip: Stay in Waterbury rather than Stowe. It sits at the northern end of the section with direct access to I-89, costs noticeably less on a peak weekend, and puts you on Route 100 heading south at sunrise while Stowe is still queueing to get out of the village.