I recently took a trip to Asheville, North Carolina. It was the perfect time of year to go. All the leaves on the trees were changing color. I stayed with my sisters and seven other women in a rented house named “Treetop” because it was built on a hillside nestled in a grove of trees. Every window of the house revealed an explosion of color. That magical experience repeated itself when we drove up Mount Pisgah where the road was lined with more multihued trees. The photo on the left shows the view from the car.
According to AFAR editors’ Sept. 17, 2020 article “The Best Places to See Fall Foliage in the U.S.” in AFAR magazine, with the glowing golds of aspens and hickories, the burnt orange of sumac and the vermilions and plums of oaks and maples, the turning of the leaves every autumn is one of nature’s most spectacular displays. Below are a few examples.
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Spanning both sides of the continental divide, Rocky Mountain National Park glows with quaking aspens, their gold and copper canopies contrasting elegantly with their silvery trunks. Aspens thrive at elevations between 7,000 and 9,500 feet, so head to the lush valleys of Hollowell Park, Beaver Meadows and Glacier Gorge, which are also home to pumpkin-orange cottonwoods. Nothing tops the hiking trail to Gem Lake, along which dense groves of aspen pop out against the red rock formations of Lumpy Ridge.
Fall is also rutting season for the park’s elk herds, which migrate down from the high peaks as the temperature drops; look for them along Bear Lake Road and in the Colorado River Valley on the west side. Don’t miss a photo op at Grand Lake, just outside the park boundary, with its deep green waters thickly haloed by fiery orange aspen.
Sequoia National Park, California
While the granite peaks and waterfalls of its northern neighbor Yosemite National Park may get all the press, the more dramatic fall colors can be found in Sequoia National Park. The area’s namesake evergreens don’t change color; instead, they provide contrast for the burnt orange and crimson blossoms that pop up on red dogwoods throughout most sections of the park.
Underneath the canopy of towering sequoias, fallen fern fronds blanket the forest floor with a bright lemon yellow. At lower elevations in the park’s foothills, blue oaks turn garnet and amber as if to spite their name. In the southern Mineral King Valley — one of the park’s least crowded areas, and perhaps its best-kept secret — warm hues of aspen, cottonwood and thimbleberry glow almost iridescent, framing the granitic basin of the glacial valley at 7,500 feet.
Glacier National Park, Montana
Another national park with a variety of deciduous trees, Glacier National Park is awash with color for several weeks between mid-September and mid-October. The park is particularly famous for its western larch, a deciduous pine, which bursts into brilliant yellows before losing its needles.
To see the larches, drive Highway 2 on the southwest side of the park or hike any of the trails around Lake McDonald. Higher up, Montana’s mountainsides flame with the hues of a Tiffany lamp; see them from Ptarmigan Pass or the Going-to-the-Sun Road — which is less crowded during fall than it is in peak summer months. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, try seeing the leaves on a rafting trip down the Flathead River.
Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan
Tahquamenon Falls State Park, on the Upper Peninsula, is best known for its Upper Falls: As one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi, it spans more than 200 feet and has a drop of over 50 feet. Downstream, you can find Lower Falls, which consists of five smaller waterfalls pooling around an island. Although hikers descend in summer to traverse the nearly 40 miles of trails, the park is resplendent in fall. Across its 46,000 acres, trees in practically all shades of yellow, orange and red frame the dramatic vistas.
Acadia National Park, Maine
In autumn, the thickly forested peaks that slope down to the Atlantic in Acadia National Park are a colorful contrast to the blue sea. Some of the most photogenic views of the park’s craggy coastline can only be appreciated from a boat, but you won’t see its blueberry bushes turn lipstick red or the sumac flame scarlet unless you hike one of the park’s more than 100 trails.
The area’s best view is from the Blue Hill Overlook atop Cadillac Mountain — which at 1,529 feet is the tallest peak on the East Coast — and it’s worth the seven-mile round-trip hike for a look. Toward the base of the mountain just off Park Loop Road, the 187-acre Jordan Pond provides a wash of color against two rounded hills known as the Bubbles, which offer a spectacular view of a multi-hued treeline in the backdrop. For a truly classic fall color experience, take a horse-drawn carriage ride through the park and listen to the hooves clop over fallen leaves.
Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire
In the midst of White Mountain National Forest, along eight miles of I-93, are all the activities you could dream of, packed into one state park: Echo Lake at the northern end of the park; a two-mile, waterfall-dotted walk through Flume Gorge at the southern end; and a hike along the Appalachian Trail in between. Conveniently, the park is a short jaunt north off of the epic Kancamagus Highway, a scenic byway that curves 56 miles through dense foliage.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee and North Carolina
With more than 100 species of trees, most of them deciduous, Great Smoky Mountains National Park has an impressive variety of fall color — and one of the longest fall foliage seasons as well. Yellow birches, beeches and hobblebushes show flashes of color as early as mid-September in higher elevations — like those along the Sugarland Mountain and Appalachian Trails — and autumn wildflowers like coreopsis, goldenrods, asters and black-eyed Susans add layers of other colors.
But the most spectacular show comes in October, with the deep plum and garnet hues of the hickories, sweet gums and red and sugar maples. To get away from the crush of fall color fans at popular spots like Cades Cove, head east to drive the Roaring Fork nature loop and walk along little-visited Big Creek, or take in the sweeping panoramas from Balsam Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway on the park’s southeastern edge.
According to 10Best Editors’ Sept. 22, 2020 article “Your Guide to the Best Places for Fall Colors This Year” in USA Today, below are a few more examples.
Finger Lakes, New York
Many Finger Lakes communities celebrate the fall arrival of color with seasonal festivals and events, including the Bristol Mountain Fall Festival and the Naples Grape Festival. Though many of these events have been canceled for 2020, the gorgeous scenery can still be enjoyed.
Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania
The Pocono Mountains are ablaze with hues of red, orange and yellow come autumn, thanks to the area’s 127 species of indigenous trees, plants and shrubs. Leaf peepers can hop in the car for a scenic cruise along Route 507 near Lake Wallenpaupack or climb aboard a fall foliage train.
Ozark Mountain Region, Arkansas
A variety of different tree species, including maple, hickory, sycamore and oak, paint the landscape of the Arkansas Ozarks in warm fall colors each September and October. This mountainous landscape attracts leaf peepers who want to get outdoors for an autumn hike in the mountains.
Stowe, Vermont
Vermont is well-known for its fall foliage, particularly in the Green Mountains. For the best leaf peeping, make the drive along the Green Mountain Byway between the towns of Waterbury and Stowe. Mount Mansfield, the state’s highest peak, sits along the way.
Door County, Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s best fall foliage can often be found in Door County. Leaves reach their peak of color between late September and mid-October, when visitors from around the country come to drive its tree-lined roads or hike its trails.
Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania
Fall foliage in the Laurel Highlands usually peaks in mid-October, making the Pennsylvania region an ideal fall getaway destination. Go for a drive along Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway with a stop to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater framed by colorful leaves or take a scenic hike in Ohiopyle State Park.
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