Rules for Predicting Fall Foliage

Attention leaf peepers, the First day of fall is in 172 Days!

Back Road in Levant Maine — Exploring the fall colors on Tay Road in Levant Maine

(This was originally written on 4 April 2012)

Does that get your attention? Do you all of a sudden have a strange urge to go wander through a pumpkin patch? Are you looking at the palm tree in the neighbor’s yard and swear you see a hint of red as the morning light comes through the leaves?

Well, maybe you don’t have any of these thoughts since we’re barely into April and the maples haven’t even put leaves on yet! But 172 days till the first day of the greatest show in New England, better known as New England’s fall foliage season!

Do you need a fall foliage fix to hold you over until September, check my fall foliage galleries and enjoy?

Here’s a fall foliage question from a reader

One of my readers wrote to me with their itinerary saying they just got an extra 3 to 4 days on the front end of their trip. They plan to be in Vermont on October 1 and want to explore Stowe but their first reservation doesn’t start until October 5, where should they go?

My answer is pretty simple on this one. I told them to head over to Lincoln New Hampshire and plan to find a B&B/hotel/motel to stay at. They could go all the way up to Lancaster, or even Pittsfield, but in my opinion, any place in the vicinity of Lincoln would be good between the first and fifth of October.

Fall foliage rules for when the fall colors first show

Remember the fall color proceeds from North to South
Higher elevation to lower (top of the hills down to the valleys)
And in swampy areas, where the maples have their feet in water
The earlier in the season, the farther north you need to be

Planning to fail (yes, it happens)

Let’s say you only have the last weekend in September for your vacation and you pick Bennington, Vermont for your fall foliage vacation. This is where I say you’re planning to fail.

Fall foliage rule number #4 states: “The earlier in the season, the further north you need to be“. You may have Bennington on your bucket list but wishing for the fall colors to be there when YOU want to be there will NOT make it happen.

This map on the left is good for a general rule of thumb for late September to early November. I think they are a bit early and I would make the late September “Peak” area much smaller based on the past 5 years

Remember! If you arrive here and its been raining for the past week, or the evenings have been in the 60s and you can’t find peak fall color, all isn’t lost.

If you read all my articles you will know to have a backup plan. This way, you can still have a great vacation and enjoy what fall color you find.

Search for plan B’s in my articles and see what I think will make good Plan B’s.