Break the “Peak” Mindset
In 2017, we had a heatwave from the last week of Sept through early October. The journey in this article started out in frustration and even had me ready to turn my Arboreal Oracle badge in. If you ever wonder if Jeff can get in a funk over not finding any fall colors, you can just ask Lisa…
Don’t get locked into the search for “Peak”!
I know it happens to all of you because as I said, it happens to me. We all want to find the glorious peak fall colors so our expensive trip isn’t in vain. One way to make your search successful is to put other things on your radar. What I mean is, before you ever get to New England make a to-do list of primary things you want to see and do. Now, make a secondary list of “other things” that are nearby those things.
Lisa has 6 documents (one for each state) in the “cloud”. Both she and I list places we want to explore that we have yet to do. (one note, if you keep yours in the cloud like us, you also need internet for your phone). Most times if she doesn’t have internet service she will go to the Gazetteer to find something for me to photograph. Or print the list before you go.
I’ve told you a million times if you are not finding hillsides of fall color, then go look for something else, until you do find the fall colors!
On this trip, We explored down some farm roads and I suddenly pulled over to photograph a farmers hay bales, and then Lisa directed us towards a new covered bridge with a bright yellow ash tree over it, and next we found the 2nd Twistiest Road in Vermont (click to read about it).
Explore what we found this day
We left the Swiss Farm Inn in Pittsfield Vermont (near Killington) and headed up Route 100 and then back down again. The heatwave had broken, but it had really delayed any serious fall color that year. We went over Route 125 to Route 7 and we saw a little fall color near Middlebury but not what I was hoping for.
Lisa came up with a plan for heading up on Route 7 to Bristol VT and then over to New Haven on Route 17 and then taking it over the Green Mountains to come out to Mad River Valley (Ski resort). We had never been on this road before, so away we went.
Well, to start off, Route 17 was flat (farmland flat), and there wasn’t any real color, but as we gained elevation there were some bright trees here and there. I started to see more bright colors on the hills above. At one point I could see through a clearing, and there was an entire hillside in bright peak colors, but it wasn’t something I could capture. We came to a crossroad which was Lafayette and then, another which was Robert Young Road.
You know me, just like you, we all love a farmer’s dirt road leading through colorful trees. Looking down this road was a farm with gray barn buildings. A wall of peak fall color rose up behind the farm for us to enjoy. From here we drove back to Route 17 and onward to Route 100.
I’d say, Route 17 is the second most, twisty road in Vermont, as far as I’m concerned. It also leads up to Molly Stark Mountain and Little Molly Stark which are connected by a low notch to pass through.
I will state for the record that we saw limited instances of peak fall colors several times on this day except for this one time on Route 17, it was mostly dark reds and yellows. Folks, I hate to tell you, but this is still peak.
On the way home, we saw this image below and I stopped to capture it. I found it when I stopped at the Jenne Farm and across from it on a far hill, we could see this farm amid the fall colors. I think most of you would quite happy with this color. As I said, some years are tough, and you have to keep traveling to find the fall colors.
So, get out there and enjoy what you do find! Thanks to my lovely wife, I did find some really nice scenes. Remember you just never know what you will find when you least expect it.
Where to look on or about 13 October (any average year)
In New Hampshire, I would hit Conway New Hampshire, and down Route 16 (read this article on Route 16) to Tamworth and into the Lakes Region in New Hampshire. Depending on the year that should be a sweet spot.
In Vermont, I would obviously check Route 17 between Bristol and Waitsfield. I would also travel along Route 7 and nearer to Lake Champlain as those colors have yet to turn fully. If you haven’t visited the Shelburne Museum, it’s well worth your time. Central Vermont should yield some bright fall colors along Route 4 near Woodstock and points South.
In Maine, I think Rangeley “should” be the most northerly you should be considering. But with that said, in 2017 we found this kind of fall color right behind the Rangeley Inn. coloring up and over to Mexico and maybe points south. Check this article from that magical morning…
In Massachusetts, I think it might be a nice time to ride the Mohawk Trail (Route 2 between Concord and North Adams). Also, a ride through the Pioneer Valley a week later can present many higher elevations to find some early fall color, check this article for ideas.
Jeff Foliage Folger
Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage
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Was at Mr. Washington thru Pinkham Notch on Wednesday, did the auto road and colors were Beautiful!
Your posts are great, keep up the good work.
I’m like you I get a little depressed when the fall foliage comes in late. It appears that you persevered and got some great pictures. Keep the pictures as I sign off as
Living through you vicariously yours,
Danni Armstrong
Yesterday 10/12 I drove from my home in Massachusetts to photograph sunrise at the Hogback Overlook near Wilmington Vt. The color at the overlook was near peak, and may only last a few days more with all the wind yesterday. I then drove west to Wilmington and the Harriman Reservoir. The color there was past peak, and fairly unattractive. The Connecticut River Valley between Brattleboro and Bernardston , MA was mostly green, but the trees that had turned were not vibrant in color. I drove east along Rt. 2 from Erving, MA to Concord, and saw a very mixed bag. There was still a lot of green in places, trees that had turned color and were dull brown, and many trees that were already bare. The area around Petersham, MA was almost past peak, yet the Quabbin Overlook north of New Salem was almost all green. A very bizarre foliage year indeed. Some of the best color along Rt. 2 was in the swampy areas between Concord and Rt. 495.
thanks!
what is the color at Jenne Farm / woodstock area look like. I have never been to the area but if it is real good i can be there 10/14/17….if not i will try another time
thanksrodney
The picture of the farm surrounded by fall foliage is from the Jenne Farm from on their hill. It’s as close to peak as we will get but it’s a little dark but pleasing.
Yesterday I was so excited. We arrive on Tuesday. Can’t figure what happened overnight.
Maybe I’ll settle for recommendations of what to see/eat/expect while traveling from Boston/Logan to Woodstock Vt.
Once you leave Boston and head north you will start to see color as you hit the MA border. In White River Junction you can catch a meal or in Quechee or in Woodstock. Depends on your taste buds
We were up in Lake Placid area last weekend. There were beautiful colors up there, on the way back we took 73 south, and it was even more beautiful. The first stay of our stay, we took car ferry over to VT, and saw nice colors but not as intense as there are right now in NY side.
We just returned to West Virginia from our annual trip to NY,VT,NH,and Maine…Our observation was that the colors were definitely off in Vermont but were really bright red at Sugar Hill on the Kancamagus highway and around Mount Washington and Pinkham Notch…. The colors in Vermont appeared to be muted .We were well pleased with our trip…Your post helped us stay on our planed time frame to visit as many had said that the peak would be much earlier..Good job!!! We do appreciate your insight…
Thanks,
Gorgeous photos, Jeff! We must have come within a few miles of each other! Staying in Williamstown MA I drove north into Vermont, just looking around, until I discovered the Armstrong Farm and stopped there. Lots of color — orange — pumpkins, plenty of them! So I photographed for around an hour and also bought lots of goodies.
The colors were muted on Mt. Greylock (my son thought from the photo I sent that it looked as if the top had lost its leaves already), hard to tell at what stage of peak it was, first time I’ve ever been in that area in foliage season.
Thank you. Hoping your post tomorrow is more hopeful.:)
Jeff, This is a delayed report, but last Sat/Sun (Oct 7 & 8) we traveled the I-89 corridor between Lebanon, NH, and Concord, NH, and the colors were *staggering* along the highway. In just a few days, the colors went from almost nothing around here (I really thought we were having “the autumn that wasn’t”) to startlingly brilliant *along that route* after finally getting some rain last week. I live in the White River Junction, VT, along the central VT/NH border and the colors are still quite muted around here, getting better but definitely late this year. Today I was up in Bradford/Newbury/Wells River VT and along the other side of the river opposite those towns and again, it’s muted. NH seems more promising for this weekend, looked like the hills further east had some nice color.
Hoping that corridor is still good on the 17th
Well June I have no way of knowing if it will still be good. This year is one of the tougher ones, that I’ve seen since Katrina in 2011 came up and swatted us in August that year. I’m just hearing about hogback mountain on Route 9 is looking great but as you head into Massachusetts it’s gone again and the leaves are dropping down in Mass… So keep your chin up and stay tuned for updates. Also be ready to head over to New Hampshire instead of Vermont.
Gotcha. Thanks
October 11 & 12 2017. Traveled to Athol, MA to Photo Doane’s Falls. Not a lot of color but the falls made up for that short coming. Then to the Mohawk, diverting to S. Deerfield and the top of Sugarloaf Mt. Views terrific, but foliage not, just beginning to turn. Colors along the Mohawk dull with a few bright spots. Visited Mt. Williams Reservoir in N Adams and a run down pump house that is quite photogenic when the clouds, dew and sunrise cooperate, which they did not on my short visit. The foliage not worth mentioning. Then to 7A making my way to Guildhall, VT. Guildhall was mid plus, on its way to peak and got some good photos to and from and of the gristmill. Then back down RT93 through the Kancamagus to RT16 to RT95 and home in Peabody. Franconia Notch was peak and a beautiful drive passing through. RT16 disappointing, for me. Found several, not many, areas along rivers and small ponds, throughout the 700+ miles I traveled, that produced wonderful images along with old buildings on their way to collapse that helped save the day(s). PS. Thanks for your efforts and dedication to producing your foliage reports. I hope I can add to them by posting all that I bear witness to as I travel along.
Thanks for the report
We decided to come to the Berkshires for something different this year, having been ri VT and NH many times. Very disappointing. Very little foliage. Lots of brown and bare trees. Still lots of green.We’re thinking of driving up the 7 into VT. Has anyone seen any good foliage within a hour or so north of the southern VT border along route 7?
Route 9 and hogback mountain are reported at peak as of yesterday
Don’t bother with MA. I was down there today. Not good, lots of leaf drop and a mix of brown trees and green with some muted color on whatever else had turned. I went down rt. 112 to Shelburne Falls then continued on. Took a little detour on Bear Swamp Road, but nothing to write home about. Continued on 112 to the Bryant Homestead, it had some color, but muted. Took 9 West to Notch View, but not much there. Two tress with decent color, but not great. There were a couple of mountains that had some color, but muted. A few that were still green one that was green the top and bottom 1/3 and color in the middle, but a bit muted again. I went North on 8A and then eventually 8 through North Adams. Stopped at Clarksburg State park, took some snaps of the pond. It had some color, but still some green. Took 8 up to Rt 9 in VT went east on 9. Hogback Overlook was good. Then it was on to 91 up to Springfield VT, then Rt. 106. Didn’t find anything worth shooting everything looks past it or not turned. Ended up in Woodstock, not much there. Not much in Quechee, either. Best color I saw all day was on Rt. 9 in VT around the Marlborough vicinity and Hogback. A couple of spots on the norther part of 112. While in MA I asked several people about where to find good color around there and they either said there wasn’t much this year or that peak was last weekend. All in all a fairly disappointing day.
Thanks for the report, that is about what I am hearing also. I will be heading to Maine this week so we’ll see what I find up there.
Were you in Concord, MA itself? Just wondered how it looked around there.
I’m in Lebanon, NH. I’m worried our season may be over after tomorrow. Going to have a lot of wind all the way across the state. VT, too it looks like.
I drove up to Pownal VT on Wednesday from Williamstown MA along Rt 7 and found it more promising. If nothing else, there’s a lovely farm with lots of colorful pumpkins on the left going NB. Must have spent an hour there.
Yesterday I bicycled in the White Mountains of NH. Went from the town of Franconia up and over the notch, then South on Route 3 to North Woodstock, New Hampshire, then West on Route 112 to Benton, then up to Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, then down Route 117 into the river valley, and finally East back into the town of Franconia, New Hampshire. We also drove up and down the Connecticut River from Hanover New Hampshire to Route 116 in Haverhill, New Hampshire.
The summary is that the color was not particularly good anywhere, it is past or passing in some areas. This is coming from someone who is very experienced with Fall Foliage in this area. Keeping things in perspective, if you have never seen the foliage change, you can have a wonderful time enjoying the many oranges and yellows in particular that, while muted this year so far, are still a remarkable experience, and perhaps you will find pockets as we did, more below about that. One recommendation is that, if you find Pockets of color that are lovely, stay in that area and deepen your experience by hiking in or or viewing up close, e.g. picnics, rather than chasing the broad swaths of spectacular color in years past. Also don’t miss the wonderful smells of Autumn, and the auditory pleasures of crunching along in the leaves.
That said, the river valley (route 117 where i was, coming down from Sugar Hill, then on to 302 East into Franconia) was completely past. All the other areas had Peak or past Peak color, and while there were many yellows and oranges, they were all muted & the lack of Reds was striking. We did not go to the height of Sugar Hill, where it may have been slightly better due to the elevation; I am guessing this because the best color we saw was halfway up from the town of Franconia up to Franconia notch which is where the cannon ski tram is. The river valley, routes 5 and 10 along the Connecticut River in the areas I described, are even less colorful than the White Mountain areas I described.
There may have been only a handful of trees in the entire day that made me say wow.
Because of what I saw this weekend and the comments I have read here, I am even more amazed to have had the experience I had last weekend, which I sent earlier to this same comment list, where the i-89 corridor from about exit 16 or so in New Hampshire, down to about Concord, New Hampshire, had truly spectacular Fall Foliage colors with remarkable Reds and all the rest. I cannot possibly explain why that area was so different from all the other reports coming in and everything else I’ve seen. I expect it is past Peak now, but I don’t know and I’m curious ifanyone else noticed the same thing.
That said, it was still absolutely lovely yesterday, with expectations set appropriately by this website and the comments.
P.S. we are getting our first hard Frost tomorrow, (Monday) night in this area (the White River Junction, Vermont, area which is across the river from Hanover, New Hampshire, which is the home of Dartmouth College). Since there is still some green on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River near White River Junction, I will be curious to see whether the colder temperatures cause a color spike.
Thanks Jo, Have you taken a look at Route 5? This route is usually green till late due to it’s proximity to the river. If we get good cool temps then it also could finally start to turn.
On 14th October, we traveled from Boston to Brattleboro,VT via towns of Monadnock region like Jaffrey, Troy and Keene, NH. The color was disappointing to say the least. Yellows got heavy brown tinge and many trees shaded a lot of leaves appearing dull grey. On 15th we took Route 100 and traveled through Wilmington, West Dover, Rawsonville, Townshend , Newfane and Dummerstone. The foliage looked very dull indeed
Any thoughts on how the foliage will look at Mt. Greylock on Sat. Oct. 30th? Thanks.
Other than a view into New York State I’m not too sure how much is left there. I had a word that what was there peaked a week or so back. The temps in Mass are just starting to drop but there has been a lot of leaf drop and and short lived color. There is bound to be a little but I just can’t swear how much this year. The Connecticut valley of VT and the Champlain valley are better bets still for late color in VT
Last Wednesday (Oct 11) I drove I-93 to N. Woodstock then 112 to Benton to 116 to an apple orchard in Haverhill then reverse back home. Just like you reported, nothing impressive. It went from green skipping to past peak. I chose this option instead of going to the Hanover farmer’s market which would have taken me through the I-89 area that you had enjoyed. Many years ago there was an amazing foliage view NB after exit 12.
That is the good part next year has to be better than this year! Yes, I’m a card-carrying Pollyanna!
Leaving tomorrow. Praying for at least one good find so the couples we’re dragging up there won’t think we’re crazy,
We were up there yesterday. Color not great and a lot of leaf drop. Probably not much left by then.
up where?
Hi Jeff, We are Leaf Peeping for the first time and coming from South Africa. I would like to give the following comments:
1. We stared off from Stowe VT because of the “Sound of Music” thing and I must say that the foliage is at its peek at the moment in this area. It can not get better. The Toll Road up Mount Mansfield on Sunday Aug 15 was stunning. It may have closed after the week-end.
2. Kancamagus Hwy 112 was fabulous! The trees next to the road all the way was glorious! I attach 2 photo’s : sorry for the power cables.
Tomorrow we go to Mt Washington and I shall report back them.
Regards, Johann #JohannS #photography #thephotowalkers #autumnfall
We’re headed to Boston tomorrow from Lenox, MA. any good places for foliage along the route (i-90)? We can stray a little while off the interstate.
Well no one has reported any. But I would head east towards Hadley Mass. There is a grist mill (I believe on Route 9) Then I would head up Route 47 to Amherst and just across the river is Old Deerfield and the Yankee Candle showroom.
You see if I can’t find the fall colors, my motto is to go find some picturesque things that I want to see and make pictures of.
Also staying along the CT river, will give you the best chance of finding fall colors
just got back from finger lakes region, sodus point, hudson valley, and gore mountain areas saturday the 14th. absolute waste of time. green and past peak. went all over rhode island today the 16th and it’s the same. i really wouldnt value reports on any website. beauty is in the eye of the beholder. from what ive seen this year the colors are terrible in most areas and doesnt look like its going to get any better.
Thank you Jay, you are right that the beauty is in the eye of the beholder or leaf peeper.
Most all of my photographer friends have been posting how hard it is to find anything worth shooting but first timers are tell ing me they are finding peak and over joyed.
Do you know what the difference is between you, me and all those happy folks?
You and I are jaded. The first timers don’t know that it can be better so they are happy with what they found you and me are disappointed and have to wait till next year to try again.
I’m ever optimistic that it will be great next year, that is what keeps me going.
Note You are probably way to far south. Have you been reading my reports? I have not once in the past month sent anyone into MA, CT, TO. Vermont and Route 5 or 7 MAY have some fall colors but no guarantees. See you next season.
Mount greylock.