Found the best New England Fall Foliage in my own backyard pt2

I will say right now, finding gorgeous peak color is more of an ART than a science. Most people are just a little disappointed if they can’t pinpoint a place to be during their weekend travels. This is why I ALWAYS tell you to schedule things to do and find the colors on your way to or from those things. Also, sometimes the shorter trips near home will provide a bigger bang for your foliage buck.

If you missed part 1 of this series, please click here, and there is a Part 3 as well, where you can see a few other local spots for scenic fall photo opportunities.

A shorter drive is sometimes the better trip

The nice thing about late October drives is that instead of spending hours getting to somewhere, then shooting for 30 minutes, and heading home, the ratio is reversed. Saugus Ironworks is about 20 minutes from my house, and I spent an hour plus taking pictures (and I could have spent hours). The National Historic Site can be toured with an NPS Ranger to tell you about what you are seeing or you can wander on your own.

Saugus Ironworks in Saugus Massachusetts

After Leaving Forrest Street, I was driving around wondering where else to search, and I remembered that I had never made it out to the Saugus Iron Works. So today became the day to visit. The Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site illustrates the critical role of iron making in a 17th-century settlement and its legacy in shaping the early history of the nation, and it’s run by the National Park Service.

Saugus Ironworks in autumn — Leaf Covered Path at Saugus NHS. This ironwork was one of the earliest in the British colony and enabled the Young country to grow and prosper and send their own American-made iron around the world. View in my Gallery

I first visited the Saugus Ironworks in 2010 but I started working as a National Park Ranger in Salem Maritime (the sister park to Saugus) in 2014 and I visited here several times during the following years.

View of the Saugus Ironworks on the Saugus River in Autumn — The Saugus Iron Works is a National Historic site due to its being considered the birthplace of the steel and iron industry in colonial America. View in my Gallery.

When I arrived at the park and for the second time this day my jaw dropped open and I had to remind myself to close it. As you can see the day was pretty much overcast but that just didn’t matter. The bright soft light, filled in the shadows everywhere around the old buildings and the fast-falling foliage, I was in seventh foliage heaven.

Birch Pond in Lynn Massachusetts

I started heading towards home but didn’t know any good routes, so I looked at my GPS and it showed a body of water. I may have “thought” I was heading home but I noticed on the GPS that I was one street over from Walnut Street in Lynn, and something called Birch Pond.

I decided to take the crossover road and take a look… I mean even if there was no color I had already found a lot of great foliage color this day, and I was feeling lucky. When I stopped across the street from the pond I immediately knew that my luck was holding. I could see that the far shore of the pond was *crazy with color*.

Definition: Crazy with color, subjective but generally elicits a WOW! or ahhhh, or ohhhh, your choice
by Jeff Foliage

Birch Pond is a small “J” shaped pond and I would love to drop a kayak into the water and explore the shorelines. It wouldn’t take too long, given its size but could be interesting.

Either way, the reflection of the fall foliage color on the surface of the pond was something to behold. I took a path along the shore and found a huge boulder sitting in the water. The surface of the rock was painted and it sort of looked like a giant frog sitting in the water.

Frog rock in Birch pond with fall colors — Frog Rock in Birch Pond with Fall Colors. View in my gallery.

My Part 3 article can be accessed by clicking here and will close out with some other locations in my “backyard”. Also, check my archives for previous years by clicking here. You can also do a search at the top of the page on the right. Click the magnifying glass and type in what you are looking for.

OH! And the backyard I’m referring to is relevant. It can be your backyard or if you pick a location on the map for your place to stay on a vacation, draw a circle around it. Then look at all the roads for interesting names. Look in the gazetteer and in Google Maps. Look for little ponds and things you would otherwise miss if you were driving past in the car.

Happy Foliage Trails my friends!

Jeff Foliage Folger

Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage

Visit my Amazon affiliate store for items that Lisa and I have curated for you. These items are either New England-made or things we think will make your fall foliage trip more successful.