Foliage Trip, Greenville Maine
The temps for this Maine fall foliage weekend have risen to a very comfortable 75 or so degrees, depending on what part of New England you are visiting. Lisa and I started our 2014 fall foliage vacation in Greenville Maine and are closing it out in Rangeley Maine.
Saturday night I sat out on the balcony of our room at the Kineo Lodge which provides an expansive view down into Greenville and Moosehead Lake. (But it’s off in the distance)
This night was warm enough on the balcony to be comfortable in bare feet and a t-shirt (11 PM) and we had billions of stars above to keep us company.
Day 1, Traveling to Greenville.
(We started the trip around 28 Sept and in a slow burn year you might get better colors between 1-5 Oct.)
We traveled up 95 from MA to NH and as we traveled north we found the color along 95 to be very nice. It wasn’t 100% but when it showed up, it was bright with reds standing out. Once we left I-95 and proceeded on the back roads to Greenville we saw very nice colors but not peak. If you arrive on the 2-3rd it will/should be “closer” to peak in Greenville.
Maine’s Golden Road is not paved in gold (or paved at all)
The next morning we drove up to Lily Bay Park and then followed the dirt road to Maine’s Golden Road (a rough logging dirt road) continuing up to the south gate of Baxter State Park. We didn’t get there until almost 4 PM so we went no further than the ranger station.
We stopped at Lazy Tom Bog which is a popular spot to see moose, but we arrived at mid-morning, All I found was a HUGE hoof print.
We arrived at the Abol River Bridge (West Branch of the Penobscot River and Abol Stream), and we pulled over after passing the bridge. I walked back for a fabulous view of Mount Katahdin from the middle of the bridge.
The Northern Restaurant is next to the Abol Bridge so we stopped for lunch and I now have found my third moose of the day. It was a female moose catching a nap in the back of a hunter’s truck. 🙁 And these creatures are so huge that they cut them in quarters. Yeah, I’d never make a good hunter…
We then started to drive back to Greenville, and we saw a turnoff for the Katahdin Iron Works. Lisa said, according to the Gazetteer, this would be a shortcut to Greenville. We drove in until we came to a registration building. Apparently, its 12$ per person to go through, but being cheap, we decided to go the long way back. So I snapped a picture of the Ironworks and we headed back the way we came. We had dinner in Greenville and called it a night.
The Unplanned Nightmare
We explored a few stores in downtown Greenville and then started to head towards home. We had just gotten on 15 and then over onto Route 16 when we got the tire low-pressure alarm that diverted us from the search for peak fall color for the rest of the day, sort of…
You see, while we were driving all over trying to find someone who was open and had our tire (note to self make sure your tires are mainstream). Even the Mitsubishi dealer didn’t carry one for us, (NEVER buying Mitsubishi again)
So, we finished the trip on the donut tire, my mood went downhill from there… 😞
We found that route 16 from Guilford West to Rangeley was somewhere between 50% and peak. So for late September, I would say take a look at Route 16 between Rangeley to Greenville. This will depend on the year we are having, but I think in most years you will find really nice fall colors, fairly early.
But! remember that flat tire, that kept us from really exploring so we stayed at the Rangeley Inn that night and the next day we continued our way back to Salem. I was not… a happy camper. Jeff likes to explore and can get… crabby if I don’t get out on dirt roads. If you want to know more about the Rangeley Inn, check this link to Lisa’s write-up on the Inn.
Jeff Foliage Folger
Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage
- Visit my Fine Art America Gallery
- Visit my Amazon store to pick up New England-related materials
- Visit my Pictorem Gallery (Free shipping in the US and Canada)
- My Facebook foliage page
- Threads.net/@Jeff_Foliage
- Follow our new Fall Foliage FB Group!
- You can visit Lisa’s Artist Facebook Page by clicking here
Jeff, we will be staying 3 nights in Stowe from Oct.16 to Oct 19. I sure hope it won’t be too late to see the colors! What do you think?
Well the colors haven’t hit peak there yet at least no one has reported it yet but they should be fading by this time. we have rain due in this next weekend and that can affect many things. We’ll see what that does to it..
Hi, my name is LeoPaule Fortin, on the 7th I will be coming from Idaho to travel to Trois Pistoles to meet family I never knew existed until last yr. My father Roland who died from injuries firefighting just a yr after I returned from my 2 yrs in the Vietnam war. My family never knew of any relatives but knew where his family came from Trois Pistoles. Last year at TP I found a ancestory center, the 2 very nice ladies helped me with my little understanding of French and their English ability. When they finished they traced my dads family to 1640 in Northren France. Then Julie the youngest said I am your cousin and the older lady said so am I but more distant. So this yr I fly into New Hampshire at Manchester. I’ve never driven little in New Brunswick, what do you think the colors would be like this time of year. Paul
7 Oct should be very good in Manchester and as you will be driving north to Quebec, you will drive right through the fall colors and then the further north you go the more the colors will fade. Depending on when you come back south you may have to drive south of Manchester to see more colors. It all depends on the schedule.
Thanks Jeff, great hunting to you also.
How about Lincoln/loon? Is it perfect this weekend or Next weekend?
Hell leave right now! 🙂 Heavy rain tomorrow could erase all the leaves. If we get a light rain and no wind then you are ok for Sunday. But apparently the colors have been showing up this week in spades in the white mountains…. It all depends on the rain received.
Thanks wish I could but my house and my great sitter for both the house and my collie King George doesn’t work till Monday when I fly out at 12pm and get in Manchester at 2am on Tuesday
Well Paul, we all have to work within the schedules that we have. So this coming week is so-so but not terrible. More rain the following weekend. This is the enemy of fall foliage. I think a coastal trip up to Canada will be better but any direction will see short lived fall colors. This year the weather is working against us. You can keep up on the foliage reports as you get here and check in with me on Facebook also. Things tend flow out of there faster due to many other eyes making post with pictures.
Thanks for help, I will email you if I find some great colors. Paul