It's October in New England, which means visitors from around the world are flocking to the region to view the beautiful fall foliage, but some locals say they are getting fed up with all the tourists.
The visitors are called leaf-peepers. While some locals welcome them, others want them off their streets.
In Vermont, the Department of Tourism says around 2.5 million people visit during autumn, boosting the state’s economy. A lot of the smaller towns, like Huntington, have beautiful views of the mountains and leaves but lack the infrastructure to deal with the influx of people.
"A lot of these people moved here, you know, because of the small town vibes," said Adam Argo, Huntington town administrator.
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Once fall rolls around, part of the small town can be anything but solitude, because tourists want to see Camel's Hump Mountain.
Argo said there is a parking lot at the top of the mountain that only holds 20 cars, but around a hundred people try to get a glimpse of the mountain at one time.
"And then all of a sudden every weekend now it's just like it's just a zoo. I mean, they just have people parking on their front lawn," Argo said.
The town has debated closing the road during peak tourist season, but hasn't officially done it yet. Argo said they tried to put "no parking" signs warning that vehicles would be towed, but it didn't work.
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"People just park in front of them anyways and so we started towing cars. But even that, you know, when there's that many cars coming, it's like the tow truck comes, the car is towed away, and then another car fills the space," he said.
The leaf-peepers have become so overwhelming that Alex Bonson, an artist in Burlington, started making collectibles inspired by the flood of tourists.
On his website, Suspicious Duck, he has collectibles called "Leaf Peepers Blocking Traffic" and "Influencer Trespassing on Private Road."
"Having been a Vermonter my whole life, the ideas for fall-inspired collectibles came pretty naturally. All you have to do is drive around and open up social media during the fall. Anything with #vermont or #fallvibes gives you the perfect material for satirical art," Bonson said in an email.
"Since most of my followers are fellow Vermonters, I received very positive and empathetic reactions. One customer actually lived on the road where the famous fall barn shown on my packaging is. She mentioned that, for them, the concern was more about emergency vehicles getting through if something were to happen to them or their neighbors."
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It’s a similar scene in Woodstock, Vermont, about 80 miles from Huntington.
"Over the last couple of years, we've had a huge influx of particularly like social media-type influencers," said Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer. "Some of the horror stories where people are swimming in someone's pond, knocking on their door asking where's the public bathroom, sitting on their front porch having a picnic in their yard."
Residents living on Cloudland Road asked to close the road for part of October.
"They're paying basically out of pocket for this. So I think for them it's made a difference. And honestly, this is not where we want to be devoting our time," Palmer said.
He added that residents want tourists to experience the beauty in Vermont, but to be respectful while visiting.
"We're hoping that just spreading the message of ‘hey, being kind, being courteous, come up here, enjoy it.’ It's a big part of our economy. We want to see you. We want you to come enjoy Vermont. But just kind of spreading that message that, hey, that whole golden rule thing. Treat this the way you would want to be treated," Palmer said.