A Vermont town fed up with annoying influencers has shut down a road beloved by Instagram and TikTok users.
Pomfret has been inundated with influencers over the past five years as the state’s fall foliage creates the perfect backdrop for their social media posts.
But Instagram and TikTok users have been accused of blocking roads and the passage of emergency vehicles, often leaving their cars stuck on uneven terrain and driving into residents’ driveways.
As a result, locals decided to close Cloudland Road (the single-lane road that runs through the town) on September 25 for three weeks in an effort to keep tourists away.
Locals say the Age of Influencers has brought a different kind of tourist to the area: one who doesn’t mind blocking traffic or sneaking into residents’ driveways to get the perfect photo.
A Vermont town fed up with annoying influencers has shut down a road beloved by Instagram and TikTok users
Locals say the age of influencers has brought a different kind of tourist to the area: one who doesn’t mind blocking traffic or sneaking into residents’ driveways to get that perfect photo.
“Having driven down that road during foliage, I’ve seen rows of cars parked on the side of the road, dozens long, 20, 30, 40 cars per row,” said Pomfret Select Board Chairman Benjamin Brickner. Fortune.
“This road is not meant for parking on the side of any number, so having three dozen cars on the side of the road is just astonishing.”
Brickner added that locals hope that as influencers stop promoting the road, the number of tourists flocking to it will organically decline.
“And as interest organically declines…we can begin to reduce the intervention that is required each year,” he added.
The waves of influencers have also hit the nearby town of Woodstock, with the chamber of commerce’s executive director saying it has made the road dangerous.
“During fall foliage season, crowds often reach hundreds of people at a time, and tour bus companies have even joined in on the commotion,” locals wrote last year.
An influencer visiting Pomfret in Vermont shows off a picturesque autumn view during a hike on a quiet trail
“It’s a very small, one-lane dirt road,” he told Fortune. “And people outside don’t understand that if there are two cars parked on it, an ambulance or a fire truck can’t get through.”
The town, home to about 900 people, also made the decision to close the road last year, raising $22,000 on GoFundMe to hire officials to oversee it and ensure only locals use it.
“During fall foliage season, crowds often reach hundreds of people at a time, and tour bus companies have even joined in the fray,” locals wrote last year.
‘Cloudland and surrounding roads become impassable during the fall, and ill-mannered road users and tourists have damaged roads, had accidents, had their vehicles towed out of ditches, trampled gardens, defecated on private property, parked in fields and driveways, and verbally assaulted residents.’
Sleepy Hollow Farm, another must-visit spot for influencers for its panoramic views, was also closed last fall.
Vermont residents shut down Cloudland Road in Pomfret (pictured) after upset influencers flocked to take selfies with the fall foliage.
A sign was posted on the gate of Sleepy Hollow Farm warning people to stay away.
“It was too much. Something had to be done,” Mike Doten, whose family has lived in the area and owned the farm since the late 1700s, told the Boston Globe.
Cloudland Road and Doten Farm had long been favorite spots among those looking to quietly take in the changing colors of the seasons and gaze at the rolling hills until a social media sensation took hold over the past five years.
The influencers parked haphazardly on the narrow unpaved street and brazenly walked onto private property, seemingly ignoring the no-trespassing signs conspicuously posted to ward off pesky imposters.
Vermont residents are accustomed to the influx of tourists, especially photographers, who are known for being “quiet” and “not bothering anyone,” Doten said.
Doten’s wife, Amy Robb, also says the hotel’s guests are tolerant, “both in terms of numbers and behavior.”
Neighbors Mike Doten and Amy Robb live at Sleepy Hollow Farm, whose picturesque view has attracted large crowds of tourists. The road has been closed to try to deal with the onslaught of pesky influencers.
“TikTok users started coming here in droves and just kept growing, year after year,” Doten added.
People drawn to the site on social media have visited the area under the impression it is a public park, residents said.
A few years ago, Doten and his wife were stunned when they saw a woman set up a portable changing table and frequently appear in a variety of outfits to take selfies.
“There’s no way a fire truck or an ambulance can get down this street in the middle of leaf season,” Doten said. “There are just too many people.”
