While doing some research for my tourism blog about how to use photos from Twitter to update fall foliage reports, I found that there are a lot of places to be a happy leaf-peeper besides the US New England region (traditionally the color champ in autumn.)
Here are some suggestions:
- Oregon — The Oregon tourism folks have a fall foliage blog and they also update with color reports from @ORFallFoliage on Twitter; the latest tweet I saw said, “Driving north on I-5 from Eugene this morning. Just a hint of gold and yellow…”
- Tennessee — Lots of ideas here for fall color scenic drives in the Volunteer State, including obvious places like the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (2009 is the Park’s 75th anniversary) but also the intriguing Appalachian Quilt Trail. Don’t miss the Chattanooga area fall festivals – Perceptive Travel‘s editor Tim Leffel is a big fan of the city for family travel.
- Wisconsin — Besides the turning leaves in places like charming Door County, how can you miss with a corn maze like this one? Or craft beer breweries?
- Pennsylvania — Browse through the Fall in PA page, then figure out how to combine foliage with perhaps a Civil War trail like the Road to Gettysburg or a “libation vacation” on the Pennsylvania Wine Trails.
- Arkansas — The state tourism site has a whole Web page devoted to fall foliage travel planning. Find dramatic forested vistas on north-south Arkansas Scenic Highway 7 and the wonderfully-named Pig Trail in the Ozark National Forest. Soo-eee.
If you do end up in the New England area, take a look at Yankee magazine’s New England Foliage Blog or color tweets from the man himself, photographer Jeff “Foliage” Folger on @Foliage_Reports.
Where do you like to watch the leaves turn? Please tell us your favorites in the comments – thanks!
Sheila – Great tips but how could fail to mention the Blue Ridge Parkway. With nearly 500 miles of scenic road covering a handful of states withing its run, its literally the spine of mid-atlantic to mid-south leaf peeping.
Hi babs,
I wanted to highlight lesser-known places; I’m a fan of the Blue Ridge Parkway (and Skyline Drive, too) but the Parkway can become a “Parking Lot” this time of year with foliage rubber-neckers. Can you recommend any stretches that are less crowded? Thanks!
Sheila, don’t forget about our awesome autumn offerings in Ohio! (pretty good alliteration, huh) We have beautiful colors perfect for viewing/photographing, wonderful hiking and some incredible corn mazes and haunted houses – including theme parks and an old state penitentiary you won’t believe.
Thanks, Roger!
For readers who want more, follow the “Discover Ohio” tourism folks on Twitter at @DiscoverOhio and here is the Autumn Adventures page on their state tourism Web site.
Sheila – We just added our fall link to our site. It has industry insider tips on locations for great leaf viewing, weekly foliage color updates from DNR, list of fall events and link to scenic byways information.
Thanks for coming by from Iowa, Jessica – readers, just click her name to go to the Travel Iowa site and find that fall info.
My first exposure to true fall foliage was going to college in the Twin Cities (St. Paul). If you walk down to the Mississippi River, the trees along the plunging riverbanks can give New England a run for its money.
What an amazing house!
The fall colors all around it make it look like something from a story book.
Hi Sheila, saw your post that mentioned me and Yankee magazine fall foliage blog and thought I’d stop in and say hi..
I’ve already started blogging for the 2010 season and while I’m not blogging weekly (yet..) I am answering planning questions and helping out visitors who have plans to come to New England for the fall.
We’re having a real summer up here in New England and if everything works out good with the rainfall (not too much or too little) then we should be in for a great fall viewing autumn..
Jeff Foliage
Thanks for the mention… It was a challenging year for foliage in New England. We hit the perfect storm of weather events. From Irene to salt damage to warm temps and extended rain. People still got good shots but they couldn’t do it from the car window as easy as they usually would do it.
This was the year that leaf peepers had to get out of the car to really find good color. Keep up the good work.
Jeff Foliage…
Got Foliage?