Summer is officially over and ’em leaves have begun to peep! If you love the sweater season, as I do, you are probably so dang excited right now about all things fall. Travel is especially fun during this season and I, for one, always have a long list of places that I want to go to in October when the fall foliage is at its peak and I eagerly await for these few weeks all year! After all,
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
– Albert Camus
Here are some foliage photos from my trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire last year.
A scenic byway for sure
Just a no-name parking lot on our way
I will take that in all shades
Fireworks along the Kancamagus highway
Some moody tones
Misty on the top of the Cannon mountain. We took a cable car to get to the top.
Tips for planning your own fall foliage trip
- Monitor the foliage tracker maps for the place that you are interested in and time your trip accordingly. Here’s the New England fall foliage map for 2018.
- High elevation regions turn color first steadily moving down to coastal regions. So you have a 3 to 4-week window, in the month of October to plan something.
- The scenic areas you want to drive and explore are the Kancamangus Scenic Byway, Franconia Notch State Park and Crawford Notch State Park. Take it slow and stop at the many beautiful turnouts, check out a few waterfalls and spend time by the gurgling Saco river. There is no wrong turn, really.
- New England is full of many quaint inns and romantic hideouts. So book yourself a couple of nights in one of those B&Bs and just enjoy the spectacular scenery. North Conway is a good place to base yourself in.
- There’s also a cute old-style train ride that you can take from North Conway. I’ll admit it was a bit touristy for my liking but my parents enjoyed the experience.
How cute is that railway station
And we are ready for Halloween!
Other fall foliage destinations around US
Folks who are not from the east coast, do not fret if you are unable to make a trip all the way to New England to catch the foliage. Washington, Oregon and some parts of California also put on a glorious display and so do the central states of Colorado and Michigan making them some of the best places to travel in October in the US. I am sure you can find something pretty close to you. My first autumn season in the US was in Indiana and the sights in the Brown County state park was as spectacular as any other I have since experienced. For this year Arkansas is on my mind, let’s see!
What’s your favorite fall destination? I would love to know where you are headed this year for your fix.
