Residents of a picturesque town in the United States have closed down the main road to stop influencers using it as a photoshoot spot. The beautiful road looks like a dream come true when the leaves turn orange, but social media stars have been causing havoc in the area.
Pomfret, in Vermont, United States, is a picture-perfect town for anyone who wants to get the ultimate autumn foliage snaps. Come September, the leaves go from green to orange and red and the wooden houses and roads look extra pretty. Unsurprisingly, it draws in tourists wanting Instagram-worthy photos, but residents have had enough and called for Cloudland Road – the most popular pathway for social media snaps – to be closed during autumn.
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Influencers have been spotted setting up portable changing rooms so they can conduct several photoshoots in the same day. One resident, Mike Doten, claims he’s had to use him tractor to haul people's cars out of ditches because they aren’t used to the rural roads. Residents claim that influencers park dangerously, and walk onto private property without asking. They apparently ignore signs and have become a nuisance for those who live in the area.
Now, the locals have called fro Cloudland Road to be shut off from September 23 to October 15. The local Sleepy Hollow Farm has also been shut off to visitors as so many influencers try and get a photo of the New England-style buildings, autumn leaves and sweeping hills. Mike, whose family has owned the farm since the 1700s, said: "It was too much. Something had to be done."
During the three-week road closure, Windsor County Deputy Sheriffs will staff checkpoints at the bottom and top of Cloudland Road. A new sign has been erected warning people against trespassing and warning that there is CCTV. Mike’s wife, Amy Robb, said that photographers and people who stay in the local inn are bearable a they are "quiet" and rarely "bother" anyone.
However, now that video influencers have made their presence known, Amy says the influx of tourists has become an issue. She told the Boston Globe: "Both from a numbers perspective, and how they behave. The TikTokers started flocking here and they kept growing, year after year."
Apparently, many influencers who turn up think that the area is a public park rather than a private farm. As such they’ve flown drones around the area, stolen tomatoes from vines for photos and even used a private garden house as a toilet.
One influencer, @sightseeingsenorita, shared the "reality" of the area by videoing herself strolling down the picturesque Cloudland Road. However, she then swung the camera around to show the dozens of other people waiting for their turn to make content.
In the comments people were shocked by the video. One person said: "You are the reason the road is now CLOSED" while another added: "I also love trespassing on private property for IG content."
It's not the first time that locals have fought back after the Instagram crowd turned a region into a tourist hotspot. The small town of Hallstatt, a village by Lake Hallstatt, is believed that the beautiful area was the inspiration for Disney’s Frozen, and earlier this year locals erected fences to put off visitors by blocking off some of the best views in the area.
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