'Just so breathtaking:' Fall foliage impresses hot-air balloon passengers
The autumn landscape is even more impressive from high above Vermont's Champlain Valley, as seen from the basket of a hot-air balloon
The autumn landscape is even more impressive from high above Vermont's Champlain Valley, as seen from the basket of a hot-air balloon
The autumn landscape is even more impressive from high above Vermont's Champlain Valley, as seen from the basket of a hot-air balloon
A Vermont sightseeing company offers leaf-peepers a memorable way to admire the fall foliage of the Champlain Valley. Jeff Snyder of Above Reality Hot Air Balloon Rides has been offering sightseeing adventures over Vermont for more than 20 years.
"People want to know when peak is," Snyder said. "It's right now here. That's a real-time update from someone who is literally 50 feet above it to 2,000 feet above it with these eyeballs."
Foliage season is by far the pilot's busiest stretch, he added.
Sister station WPTZ joined an approximately hour-long balloon flight the morning of Oct. 5. The trip met at the , then drove to Colchester for takeoff. The balloon ended up landing in Westford.
"Regardless of whatever pictures people take with their cameras, I always tell people, make sure you take them up here," Snyder said, pointing to his head to signify memories. "Those will stick with you for a long time. I've had people that have flown with other companies 40 years ago. I've had people who have flown with me 20 years ago, and they will come back and they will talk about the feeling that they had. No one comes and shows me a photo they took 25 years ago. That's not how it works."
The Oct. 5 flight featured yellows, oranges, browns, and some reds in the trees, but also plenty of green. Those colors appeared to become bright speckles when the balloon rose high enough above the ground that the individual trees were indistinct.
"The colors were amazing," said Cheryl Simpson, a traveler from Northern California.
Simpson and her husband, Matt, were on their first trip to New England to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
"I was terrified to go," Matt Simpson revealed. "I don't like to fly. And that was the most joyous experience I've had in a long, long time. I'll never forget it. Very peaceful."
Another first-time visitor to Vermont, Shannon Minor, had seen fall foliage elsewhere—but not in the way she did Sunday.
"Being from West Virginia, we get to see it quite a bit, but I've never seen it from the air," said Minor, who now lives in South Florida. "Just so breathtaking—beautiful."
After traveling about 14 miles, the balloon ride WPTZ took had a gentle landing in a hayfield. After returning to solid ground, Cheryl and Matt Simpson said they want to return to the skies.
"We're going to go do it in Napa now," Matt Simpson said, beaming.
According to the business's online booking system, a hot-air balloon ride in Oct. 2025 was priced at $475 per person for passengers ages 8 and older. Children younger than 8 may not ride, according to .
For more on visiting Vermont during fall foliage season, visit the website of the .
