How to plan for where the fall colors may show with Zone Planning

Zone Planning is a simple idea and is more reliable when you compare it to timing the peak fall foliage. It doesn’t matter where you or I “THINK” Peak fall foliage may show up as Mother Nature usually has other plans. I choose a “Zone” or area on the map that I think will be near to the middle of the wave of fall color.

This map comes from my friends at Yankee Magazine. You can see that the approximate dates say 8-10 Oct (Columbus Day Weekend). Also a huge swath of red indicates peak fall color across much of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. This area is what you want to shoot for.

Well, I hate to break it to you, but the way it usually happens is that a bunch of trees in that area are very likely to be at peak but never! will every tree in the red zone, be actually, AT PEAK! Disappointed? read on below

In the image above, you find Dixville Notch on Route 26 and that was taken on 19 Sept. This is one of those spots that turn early but even look like it is near peak, but would you be complaining?

Your SHOULD say to yourself,  “I’m not trying to arrive at peak!” (No, I’m not crazy). But instead by Zone Planning, you will say that on 1 October “I’m going to find lodging where I think… Think the leading edge of the fall colors will be”. (or be close by)

How is this different from searching for the elusive peak?

This is a game of hand grenades and not darts where a near miss is as good as a bulls-eye. People often tell me that on 1-2 October, “I want to find Peak”. Instead what I tell them is be in an area that in the past “should” be close.

What if you are like me, a photographer and you have to be in Stowe (or name your place) when it’s at Peak? Well, you’re back to timing it, and in over 10 years, I’ve not caught Stowe at what I felt was the peak. I’ve caught it good as seen to the right but is it peak? I see green trees so by MY definition, not really. BUT!!! Would you be happy with this? I am and I bet you would too, so set your clock for 2-7 October and you may get close in this coming year…

So, what happens if you “guess” wrong as to where the leading edge is? By aiming to be close, then you should only have a little drive to find great color. (This is the goal). You make your reservations as to where you will be close. For instance in New Hampshire on 2-6 October I would be in the northern White Mountains.

If we have a year like 2011 where the start of the season was delayed until Columbus Day weekend, then nothing I tell you will help.

But in a good year, you should only have to drive 30-40 minutes to find good color.  If I get within a 30-minute drive of finding peak, I consider myself fully successful! Some days I drive for 12+ hours or more and don’t find anything closely resembling peak autumn colors.

But as I hear in the blog comments you’re impressed with my photography, (Thank You, by the way). But some years I only find “Nice” color. So if you think, because I live here, I find peak every year, well you’d be wrong!

I usually find very nice colors or a new scenic location that I haven’t seen before and I’m pretty happy with that. Remember anything over 50% of the trees in an area turning colors are “very nice“. I’m betting “very nice” would make you “very happy” all the same.

So if we use Zone planning and we get within 30 minutes of drive time (or an hour) of the leading edge of color OR the trailing edge of fall color, what now?

Refer back to the map above for a second

Exploring is the name of the game. The dates associated with that map are the 7th and 8th of October. As I look at the map I see that the Kancamagus (Kanc) Highway should be in the “peak” zone. But I know from recent years, the “Kanc” is looking pretty good on the 1st of Oct! Will it still be looking good a week later? Probably and here’s why.

You see, if you drive the “Kanc” over enough years, you learn a trick. The “Kanc” is mostly an East/West running road and the Western facing hills turn earlier! So on the 1st/2nd, I travel from Lincoln eastward to view the western side of the hills. The next week I’ll drive it from Tamworth, west, to get views of the Eastern side of the hills. One side turns earlier than the other…

I hate to say it but It matters that much! Over in New Hampshire’s Sugar Hill area, you could be driving Route 116 North toward Sugar Hill Road and then get off on Toad Hill Rd. There is a 2,000′ hill abutted by Toad Hill, Lafayette, and Easton Rd. (it may be called Ore Hill).

But as you drive these three roads you will get three different views of this hill and the sun hits this 2,000′ hill at different angles AND for different lengths of time each day. so the western side from Easton Rd will receive a certain amount of sun while the Eastern side from Toad Hill a different amount. Add in rainfall variations and soil makeup and you come away with a headache trying to figure out why one side of this hill is blazing red from all the sugar maples and the other side is maybe 35% – 50% towards fully turning…

(look at the image above, under the lifting clouds. That’s a hill ALL in red).

How do we win this game?

First, we talk to local people and get, “on-the-ground intelligence” from folks who live and work in that area. They will know whether it’s arrived and gone by or if it hasn’t shown up yet.

If I get to my B&B and they say you should have been here 2 days ago!!! (How many times have I heard that) Well, this means you start looking south (or SE or SW) for finding your fall colors.

If you get there and they say the color just hasn’t shown up yet, well tomorrow morning, head North by NE or NW.

If you are really lucky the owner/shopkeeper/waitress will tell you, “Tomorrow is the day and the colors are the best seen in decades…” (In this case, if you hear that, call me ASAP! 🙂

So these are my takeaways from Zone Planning.

• First, you don’t aim for the bulls-eye of peak fall foliage, because we usually miss. Instead, you throw that dart and you do your happy dance with a near-miss.
• Because a short drive to being in the thick of it is so much better of putting all your hopes on being in the bulls-eye, only to hear, “You should have seen it a week ago!” 🙂

Does this mean Zone Planning is a 100% foolproof answer? Unfortunately not, but I think it gives you a higher chance of success, rather than driving for days. Of course, if we get weeks of rain before your arrival… Well then, read my posts on what to do if the color doesn’t show up. (besides crying that is).

Jeff Foliage Folger

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

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