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Home » Foliage Articles » Fall Foliage Report 20 Sept 2024, Early Color?

Fall Foliage Report 20 Sept 2024, Early Color?

New England Fall Foliage Posted on by

Greetings leaf peepers far and wide!

My photographer friends have been posting pictures from around Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine which combined with my webcam views of New England gives me a pretty good idea of what is going on.

Lisa and I drove up to Vermont on the 14/15th and just yesterday we drove an exhausting 460 miles (round trip) up through Western Maine (Evan’s Notch, Screw Auger Falls) and then into Errol and Dixville Notch to head home on Route 3 to Route 93. ONLY when we got to Dixville Notch did I feel we saw “Moderate” color. More on this below…

Martin Covered Bridge in Marshfield Vermont on 14 September 2024, limited early fall color.

What has been seen in the past few days…

Lisa and I drove up to Saint Albans Vermont and back to Salem (630 miles) over last weekend (14/15th). and for the MOST PART, What we saw was a lot of roadside color. But at higher elevations, some trees are getting some color already. But before you change your reservations see below, because early color does NOT mean early peak. It means the trees are shifting from solid green to a yellowish tint or a darker red…

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New Hampshire

Jeff Folger

View more of Jeff’s work in his Gallery. (There is a discount code using code Autumn2024 and free shipping to US addresses through 5 October)
(14/15 September) We came up through Franconia Notch and while the west-facing hillsides were showing 15-30% of the trees had started to turn, there was not a lot of bright color. Even the roadside color needs a bit more cooking (cool to cold temps) to brighten the colors.

Franconia Notch on I-93 – 14 Sept
Franconia Notch on I-93 – 14 Sept

Then we crossed over from Vermont at Groveton and ALL the way down Route 3 it was just a little here or there showing turned trees and there are some very bright trees that were stress-turning. But no area along Route 3 is ready for a drive as of yet. Maybe by the 25th but I’m leaning toward the 25th to the 1st of October for the best colors in the northern White Mtns.

On 19 September, Lisa and I went out again driving 460 miles roundtrip, and nowhere in New Hampshire did I find a bright fully colored hillside. But when we got to Dixville Notch I did stop and launch my drone because the hills above the hotel were the best so far at “Moderate” color. I would say 75-80% have started to turn and they are 30-50% toward being fully turned

Dixville Notch in Mid-September

This amount of color is about 4-7 days early when compared to other years that were on the early side. Normally Dixville is like this between 25-29 September in an average year. It was a pretty day and while the color is very nice, I expect the fall colors to get even better over the next 7-10 days. But rain and clouds are in the forecast… So we will see what we have on the 1st of October. You can Find Jeff on Facebook at New England Fall Foliage and on Instagram by clicking here.

Chris Whiton

Chris’s Website is White Mount Images. and this week he shared some images that he shot on 19 September, in and around the White Mountains. He drove the Kancamagus (Route 112) and Route 302 (Crawford Notch)

Chris says “Mostly green on the interior of Franconia Notch – colors about 50% just north of the [Franconia] notch”. and on the Kanc “Mostly green over on the Conway side“. We still have a ways to go as far as seeing meaningful fall colors. You can find Chris Whiton on Facebook at White Mountain Images. Follow him on Instagram by clicking here.

Vermont

John Rowe

Visit John Rowe’s Photography to view more of his work. John Submitted images of Newark Pond and Bald Pond on the 17th of September and they are getting close to 40% but this is hard to call because drone shots look better because they focus on the crowns of trees which turn first.

Newark Pond by John Rowe
Bald Pond by John Rowe

Photographer and Drone pilot, John Rowe has been a contributor here for several years and you can find more of his work in his gallery. You can find John on Facebook here. You can follow him on Instagram by Clicking here.

Jeff and Lisa Folger

Well like I said above Lisa and I crossed into Vermont on the 14th at St. Johnsbury crossing the state to Montpelier. We stopped at Marshfield VT at the Martin Covered Bridge. The reason I stopped is that there are 6 red (stripped) maples around the front of the bridge and I had to stop and get a few pictures. A couple of the trees were red but the other four were a mixture of red and green.

The Martin Covered Bridge in Marshfield, Vermont, seen in my gallery

We continued our drive to St. Albans. On the 15th we headed home through Richford to Jay Peak on Route 105, we only saw decent color (not good) but a fair amount of roadside color heading to Jay Peak in north Troy Vermont. Route 105 is a wonderful drive with a smooth blacktop that winds through the Vermont countryside.

heading up Jay Peak on Route 105
Jay Peak ski area parking lot, going to be lots of reds

Due to elevation, Jay Peak had the greatest amount of color showing and it appears Red will be the most evident color this year. As we came down in elevation we saw fewer colors than on Jay. This would be the same all the way to the New Hampshire border. Single roadside trees show promise but a promise that we have yet to collect on.

Maine

Photography by Stephen Beckwith (Scenes Of Maine)

Stephen was up at Chimney Pond Trail on September 19th (2024) and this pano which shows Mount Katahdin in the background

Stephen drove the gold road (brave soul that he is) and overall, even that far north the colors are still not quite there yet. It’s really pretty country up that way but there are still patchy fall colors so far. The low temps are in the 40s for the next ten days so that “should” move the fall colors along. Visit Stephen’s Facebook page here.

Images by Jeff “Foliage” Folger.
I apologize that I didn’t get up to Rangeley but it was a long day of driving on the 19th for Lisa and me. (I’m also not as young as I used to be). As it was 460 miles translates to 10 hours of driving and something had to give so we drove through Fryeburg and took Route 113 north. This took us through Evan’s Notch. I didn’t stop until the Notch viewing spot because we had seen no good color at that time. In fact, I hate to say this but I was driving through a lot of dead brown leaves on the road. But the Notch still looked nice, if not very green so far.

looking down the ravine in Evan's Notch
Looking down Evan’s Notch 19 Sept
looking across at the far wall in Evan's Notch
Looking across Evan’s Notch 19 Sept
On the 19th of September this was the only fall colors to be found.
The only color in Evan’s Notch 19 Sept
Looking up Evan's Notch 19 Sept with no color in the birch trees
Looking up Evan’s Notch 19 Sept

After Leaving the Notch we cut up Route 26 which took us up through Grafton Notch State Park and Screw Auger Falls. We again found limited colors so we pressed on to Errol and stopped at L.L. Cote for gas and some snacks. Today’s trip took a tank and a half of gas and gas was $3.03 in Salem and $3.29 up in Errol. Visit Jeff’s gallery to view his work for sale.

For the New Hampshire part, look above in my write-up there.

Jeff’s Take on This week in the fall colors.

This season started out with great promise but as I tell you every year… Every year is different and the ACTUAL weather will determine what the fall colors are going to do. We all thought based on the spring and summer that this “Could” be a season, unlike many others with beautiful bright colors that stayed on the trees much longer than normal.
I just didn’t I was going to be so right and it would be so unlike others with almost 30 days with little to no rain across New England…

So, the long-range forecast shows that the next 7-10 days are going to be cloudy with low chances of rain during Tuesday-Friday. (It depends on where you look) But for the most part, the following weekend is looking partly cloudy to sunny in many parts of New England (again it depends on where you look). Temps across northern Vermont are lows in the low 50s and that means slower change in that area.
But in Northern New Hampshire from Bethlehem north to Pittsburg, the temps are in the 40s and a couple of the nights are forecasted to be 41-43F. This “could” signal a faster change but it will depend on the weather we receive in this area. Cloudy days and light rain in the forecast are not looking good… But as I’ve said before… Time will tell.
Over in Maine, across the board, Stratton/Eustis, Augusta, Millinocket, and Bangor are all showing lows in the 50s over the next 10 days so slow going there as well.

My Final Word of Advice…
Do Not Change your reservations based on what you are seeing out on Social Media. People are posting single bright red and orange trees and they are correct there are these single spots of color and some of the hills we passed by yesterday (19th Sept) did look close to bursting with colors but until we get the lower temps, they will be slow to change…

Remember where I said “Slow-Burn” (fall colors slow to develop) well this is still holding For much of New England. Northern New Hampshire is likely to see a greater amount of change from the Kancamagus north to the border of Canada. NOW, let’s see what Mother Nature gives us in reality and see what happens. If you want my sure and accurate forecast, check back with me in November, and THEN! I will know for sure.

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.

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Comments

Fall Foliage Report 20 Sept 2024, Early Color? — 29 Comments

  1. We have Woodstock, VT booked for Sep 28-Oct 2. Too early? We don’t know the area at all. These are the okay dates we can travel so don’t want to mess it up. 🥲

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    • This is a tough one. Historically that is early for woodstock (normally 7-10 Oct) but we’ve had 30 days of no rain so the trees overall are all a bit stressed so more are turning early that normal. Since you are able to travel, you have all of the Northeast Kingdom to explore. You can also head over to New Hampshire and hit the Kanc (kancamagus highway Route 112) or Route 16 and Route 302. Those places are only an hour or two depending on your route to get there.
      Groton State Park in Vermont is a great place to visit and the Burke VT festival is on the 28th and there are others, Starting on the 28th through the fifth you have these towns holding one day festivals in the NEK Marshfield(28th), Walden(29), Cabot(30), Plainfield(2nd), Peacham(3rd), Barnet(4th) & Groton(5th) Yes they skipped the 1st of Oct… Don’t ask me…

      Reply ↓

  2. Hi. I’m making my first trip to see fall colors October 10 – 20. We’ll be flying into Boston then heading through New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. Reading your reports I’m wondering if we will have missed the fall colors. Am I reading your reports correctly? Thank you for your reports and the ton of information you share. It is appreciated!

    Reply ↓

    • Well we have had some early colors due to an unprecedented drought. Raining today but the damage is done. the colors are a week early at the moment but the temps are going to control the speed of things and I think White Mtns are going to be turning a bit faster than Vermont. This means if you have no luck in NH then you will be able to head to VT and find some beautiful colors there. The question is what will the temps in October???
      Right now the Nothern White Mtns may be past by the time you get here So southern White mtns/Lakes region and Stowe VT south to Killington/Manchester/Weston VT as well… I hope that helps but it is my guess based on lows are going to be in the low 40s and this will be cold enough over the next 10 days to make the colors continue turning

      Reply ↓

  3. Hi! We’re near Providence visiting and want to do a foliage trip this coming weekend or next week. Do you have any top stops to recommend checking out? We came up last year but didn’t get to see much color and are really hoping to see some this year!! Thank you!!

    Reply ↓

    • You have a long drive in front of you because the best color is up in Maine (and that is so-so, not peak) or over in Route 26 between Errol and Dixville New Hampshire.
      As of the 28/29th there are no strong areas of color… Yet

      Reply ↓

      • Thank you so much for your reply! We were able to push our trip off a little more so hopefully we’ll be able to find some color between 10/3-6! Will take note of what you mentioned above as well as in other comments. Thanks again so much for your help!

        Reply ↓

  4. Hi! Heading up to NEK tomorrow possibly. I lived there a couple years ago and cant wait to get back! How are the leaves looking for this week? Thinking to camp at Burke mountain and hit up lake willobhy area (terrible spelling).

    Reply ↓

  5. Hi. Planning a trip to the Berkshires Oct 16-18. With the earlier than usual color, will this likely be too late? Would it be best to shift our plans further south or east? Thanks for all of your reports and helpful information!

    Reply ↓

  6. Hi Jeff – thank you for all your tireless efforts each year! We are traveling 09/27 – 10/05 based out of Lincoln, NH. We have a car to travel. Planning on Dixville Notch, Northern Whites (Kanc, etc) for first of the week and then one day in Vermont later in the trip. Does this sound ok? Should we try to include Maine based on color and current weather?

    Reply ↓

  7. Hello Jeff! Thank you for all your updates. I will be in woodstock vermont 11-13, eastern Mass 14-17 and southern maine 18-21. As you’ve mentioned talks of early color have been a little worrisome for my dates, but i’m hoping it will be okay. What do you think about the dates for these areas in hopes of seeing some color?

    Reply ↓

  8. Hi. We’re making a trip to Sugarbush Resort from 10/3 to 10/6 and planning to visit Stowe and nearby fall attractions. Would we be able to find a good amount of fall peak colors? What do you think?

    Reply ↓

  9. Hi Jeff, I’m enjoying your website and information! We’re making our first trip ever up to Vermont next month from NC. We’re driving to Lancaster, PA on the 14-15, then up to Rutledge and Weston are the 16-18 and starting back down. I’m hoping I’m not too late on the fall colors you hear about from Vt? I’m not certain of the route north yet from Lancaster. Any suggestions to just enjoy the leaves the most?

    Reply ↓

  10. Hi Jeff,
    We have booked Oct10-13 in NH white mountains and lake region. Stay by little squam lake. Planning to see Franconia Notch, Kancagus Hwy, and Crawford Notch. Considering the temperature, will that be too late for the white mountain but just right time for the Lake region?
    Thank you!!

    Reply ↓

  11. Hi Jeff! My boyfriend and I are planning on taking a trip to the Berkshires (specifically Williamstown/Mt. Greylock) October 11-14th. Do you think this will be a good time for us to travel there? We appreciate all that you do you’re always very helpful 🙂

    Reply ↓

  12. Hi Jeff!
    My husband and I are planning our first (I hope of many) trips up there for the foliage. We’re doing the Berkshires (around Great Barrington, MA area) Oct 11-13th; Stowe, VT area Oct 13-15th; Lincoln, NH Oct 15-17th; and finally, back down to Salem/Boston/lower coastal ME Oct 17-20th.
    Do you think it might be too late for some of the areas given how the weather has been recently (and possible rain in the near future)?

    Reply ↓

  13. Hey Jeff,

    Really appreciate your work! Going to be in North Adams from October 2nd-6th. Is this too early to see any color? Planning on making a drive up through VT one of the days that we are there as well. Thanks!

    Reply ↓

    • The higher elevations should have some color, but things are moving slow right now the colors are still way north (north of the White Mountains) The Massachusetts temps are dropping this week into the 40s so Mass is still on track for mid-Oct 10-15ish

      Reply ↓

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