Tools for Finding Fall Colors in New England
What tools for finding the fall colors do you use?
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Greetings Fall Foliage Peepers!
I have to say that I have a big bunch of tools for this. Some of these are websites that do similar things as I do, telling the progress of New England’s fall colors. Sometimes they will tell you all of the United States. Some of them give me weather forecasts or when the sun is rising or setting in a particular spot.
Other tools are books written by many authors over the years with locations, and places to eat or to sleep. Some tell me about lesser-known scenic locations. Some are just picture books that are sometimes called “Art Books”. These show me some beautiful iconic spots and if I’m lucky the photographer will let slip the approximate locations.
Maybe for all of you, I’m your tool for finding the fall colors for all these same reasons. What follows are some suggestions on what I have lying around the house, that inspire me to write about both what I have found and those things I have yet to find.
Inspiration is where you find it
Where I find some of my inspiration, is all of you who write to me. I call it crowdsourcing the fall colors. I’m just one person and I simply can’t think of everything. So we’ll start with the email that started this article…
Today’s email is from a family from Belgium who is coming here to be 1st-time leaf peepers, they have a great itinerary but they asked me a stumper, yes I can be stumped. They want to stop at a bunch of small country stores! Now you may ask how that could be a stumper. Well unless you live near one can you tell me exactly (street address for directions) where 5 or more are?
General Stores in New England
In my fall travels, I stop at general stores whenever possible. Usually, it’s for a sandwich or a cup of coffee or the call of nature that follows the 3+ cups of coffee. 🙂 For me, this is a tool that encourages me to explore but also stop and savor the local community.
I started looking for a good link to a listing of general stores and I turned up a list for the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association. Lisa and I have started keeping track of general stores here on Jeff-Foliage.com when we run into them during our travels. You can find them on our General Store page. Our listing provides a rating based on sit-down eating, restroom quality, and whether or not it is a destination in and of itself, as the Vermont Country store.
Helpful books in locating iconic locations.
Autumn Rambles
I have many back issues of various magazines and several books that I’ll pick up during the year for inspiration. One such book is Autumn Rambles of New England. (this and the following links are affiliate links on Amazon)
The book has detailed routes with notes on how to find the roads, towns, village greens, and of course the local general store. Even today I’m still working through all the routes in there but I’m close. I like the descriptions that talk about different locations.
The artwork paired with the descriptions and directions gives you a feel for the scenic locations that they are describing. Many of the routes I have taken already and now I have to go back since I found out I missed a few things. Amazon does get a few paperbacks from time to time so you can also try your local used book store as well.
Finding the photo scenics in Vermont
Arnold was a great photographer whom I happened to interview some years ago and he told me about his book, “How to Find and Photograph photo-scenics in Vermont”.
Back when I interviewed him, I immediately went out and bought his booklet at Amazon and I carry it around today. I use this mostly for planning purposes. He has hand-drawn maps in there and they are sometimes a little hard to follow. So I use this in conjunction with my Vermont Gazetteers. Also, he warns the reader that a few of the places are either not there anymore or overgrown and the same shot is not available. But I find once I’m in that location, I will find something else to photograph.
Moon Handbooks – Vermont
The Moon Handbook of Vermont that I have was done by Michael Blanding & Alexandra Hall. I was interviewed by Mike some years back when Yankee Magazine wanted to do an article on me (The Leaf Seeker) And the brave soul spent the day with Jeff Foliage on the road. This was 10 years ago so I spent a lot more time on the road. I took him through Massachusetts and Connecticut from morning till evening.
Mike has broken the state down into manageable bites. You can choose Southern, Northern, the Northeast Kingdom, or along Route 4. They hit a lot of the highlights in Vermont from Smuggler’s Notch to Cold Hollow Cider Mill but I went looking for Sleepy Hollow and Cloudland Road and there is nothing in the index. I guess their book won’t replace me quite yet.
The book even goes into history, climate, and local information. I consider this to be another fact-filled book that should be in your carry-on when you come to Vermont.
Please check my blog several times over the spring and summer to get ready for the fall foliage in New England. I will be traveling all over New England during Sept & Oct, making reports on what foliage I’m seeing or hearing about.
Autumn is here or will be soon so sign up to get my articles and forecasts/foliage reports from Jeff Foliage.com.
Delorme Gazetteers
Gazetteers are state-by-state topographical map books. They are also not “small” pocket-sized books. The Dimensions are 15.5″ x 11″.
They have an incredible wealth of detail, it’s the perfect companion for exploring the New England outdoors. Extensively indexed, full-color topographic maps provide information on everything from cities and towns to historic sites, scenic drives, covered bridges, trailheads, boat ramps, and even prime fishing spots. They have 60 or more map pages, the Atlas & Gazetteer is your most comprehensive navigational guide to New England.
They have extensively indexed latitude/longitude overlay grids for each map which allows you to navigate with GPS. Dimensions: 15.5″ x 11″.
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
What a beautiful picture, I miss Washington. Have you tried Google maps? Even better local papers, like neighborhood papers often have ads for these kind of tours.
Well the problem with those suggestions (and they are good ones) is that for maps to work you have to know the name of the store or the address. For the local papers.. I’m not local… 🙂 I might be able to find some of the papers online and locate some advertisements that way…
Thanks and I’m glad you liked the picture.
What a beautiful picture, I miss Washington. Have you tried Google maps? Even better local papers, like neighborhood papers often have ads for these kind of tours.
Well the problem with those suggestions (and they are good ones) is that for maps to work you have to know the name of the store or the address. For the local papers.. I’m not local… 🙂 I might be able to find some of the papers online and locate some advertisements that way…
Thanks and I’m glad you liked the picture.