The next few weekends will be the height of the foliage season in northern New England, so we decided to scout out the best foliage drive in Vermont.

A foliage drive is all about seeing the turning leaves, but driving through endless corridors of trees can be frustrating; the best foliage drives include open space as well to offer vistas. We found a route that offers near and distant mountains, lakes, farms and fields, and corridors of trees, and farmstands, all along roads that wind left and right, up and down.

The foliage drive started on Route 9 in Brattleboro, VT. A few miles west of Brattleboro (and the locavore Chelsea Royal Diner and Dutton Farm), you cross the top of Hogback Mountain, where a scenic turnout offers glorious vistas southward to the Berkshires and the Connecticut River Valley.  On September 15th the leaves were just starting, and the hills were green-gold.

A few more miles brings you to pretty Wilmington, a tourist town at the southern end of VT100. Route 100 bisects Vermont along the Green Mountains all the way to Newport on the Canadian border; it is famous for foliage drives. Much of it has the "corridor of trees" look, but it passes many ski areas as is wends through the mountains, so you get some vistas, too. So take Route 100 north as far as Rawsonville.

Take Route 30 West for the rest of the trip, over the mountains and past the great view of Bromley Mountain to Manchester, another delightful tourist town with excellent shopping and restaurants.

From Manchester center, continue on Route 30 through Dorset and into the Mettowee Valley.

The Mettowee Valley is part of Vermont's Stone Valley Byway, a real scenic treasure for driving, with broad vistas, prosperous farms, and mountains on both sides that will soon be ablaze with color. Every turn shows another scene out of a Scenic Vermont calendar.

We stopped at Southwind Farm and bought some of their raclette cheese from the fridge by the honor box before continuing our trek northward to Lake Bomoseen.

The road winds its leisurely way along the Mettowee Valley, with farms on either side and mountains rising abruptly beyond, as far as Wells, when you come to the lake country. Lake St Catherine is the first big lake you come to, but press on! Further north, just beyond big Route 4, lies Lake Bomoseen, with a nice park at the northern end where you can stretch your legs and enjoy the view.

Just a short distance south of the park is the Lakehouse Restaurant. We had dinner there; this is the view from our table. It has outdoor dining, too, and the bar featured six Vermont microbrews out of 8 taps.

This could make a great stopping point for a two-day foliage weekend. There are plenty of motels in the area, which is not far from Rutland and Killington. The next day you could tour the Champlain Valley, especially along Route 22a and up through The Hero Islands in Lake Champlain.