Vermont town closing roads near Sleepy Hollow Farm after influx of social media leaf peepers
POMFRET, Vt. – A town in New England has had enough of all the Instagram and TikTok users who want to get a trendy photo of fall foliage.
Tourists will be banned from driving up to Sleepy Hollow Farm in Pomfret, Vermont.
You may have never heard of it, but you may have seen one of the hundreds of influencer photos in front of the small farmhouse.
It's been featured in magazines as one of the best spots for leaf peeping. Neighbors say they've spent weeks trying to get those articles taken down, because the crowds are out of control.
An online fundraising page created earlier this year called "Save Cloudland Road" aimed to raise $25,000 to hire sheriff deputies to manage temporary road closures and increase signage in the area. So far, over $14,000 of donations have poured in.
"Over the past several years, Cloudland Road (and the small roads leading to Cloudland Road) have experienced an unprecedented surge in Instagram and TikTok-fueled tourist 'influencers,' who earn money from sponsors and have monetized and turned a private home on Cloudland Road into a Social Media photo destination," the page said. "They, and me-too followers, have changed the neighborhood landscape to the point that it is untenable."
In August, the Pomfret Board of Selectmen announced temporary road closures in the area from September 23-October 15.
