A Beginner’s Guide to Exploring Fall in New England

Welcome to my Fall foliage Guide for Leaf Peepers. This page will take you through the basics and you will find links to other subjects that I write about. You can also sign up for my fall foliage newsletter by subscribing, Click this link to go and sign up as well

In picking dates for finding Autumn colors Where = When

First, I have written many articles over the past years and maybe you don’t know where to find them! Or maybe you have found them under Foliage Articles above but where do you begin?

So let’s start simple. WHEN = WHERE. (the inverse is just as true) Pretty simple right? Either you pick a set of dates OR you pick places you really want to visit. So if you first pick the when (dates of your vacation), that will dictate the location.

If you start with your favorite location, that will choose the dates for you. (in a general sort of way) I have several articles that cover this subject, like this one on how Lisa and I plan our vacations. Then there is this one where I talk about the formula as well.

The Hard Reality…

Most people pick their vacation dates and then hope that those dates will also be at “Peak” for all the locations they want to visit. These folks will probably be disappointed. The fall colors have a natural progression that no amount of wishing will alter. Stowe will not be at peak on 15 September, no matter how hard they wish for it. (I know, I’ve tried)

Average Dates In New England

First, every New Englander has their own opinion on when the fall colors begin to show. Some will point to stressed trees that start turning in late July or August. This is VERY limited and we are only talking about a branch or IF it’s a whole tree, this tree only has a handful of branches that still have leaves. So let’s talk about Meaningful Color.

Meaningful Color

Meaningful color arrives in LATE September. Usually around the 25th and meaningful color is NOT Peak color! This meaningful color will show up in northern New England (VT, NH, and ME) and only in limited spots in those states. So you can get your Gazetteer out for each state (if you don’t have one click here). So between 25 September and 1 October for instance you are not looking at ALL of New Hampshire but really just the portion that is north of the White Mountains up to the Canadian border.

In Vermont, you are looking in the NEK also known as the Northeast Kingdom, and up to the Canadian border. In Maine, you will look at the North Western portion and north to the Canadian border. So basically the northern parts of the three northern New England states. In the following week, 1 Oct – 5 Oct the area of meaningful color will move into the Central northern New England states. and here is where peak “Should” starts to appear where it was meaningful color just a week prior.

This flow of fall colors continues to the south over the rest of October and basically, in just 30-40 days you have all the fall color change that New England will give to you, and then it is done till next year.

Harder than it looks, Or is it?

The hardest part for me is to tell leaf peepers where to go based on their dates. Not because the fall color won’t be there, but because it may not be “perfect”. If you read my article on finding peak fall foliage, the one thing to remember is that every year is different. The fall colors may be at a glorious crescendo of fall color on one stretch of road but around the bend, it’s only halfway there…

Sometimes the full color is late or maybe the leaves start to drop early but either way, there will be fall colors before you get there and after you leave. From August to September, Sumacs will start to turn red but most of you will be disappointed to see the canopy of mostly green above and just a scattering of scarlet and orange bushes below.

Maybe you noticed I said Full, in the previous paragraph? Full sort of equals Peak, sort of… This is because the full fall colors don’t just turn on. They will start with a few tiny baby steps, and then progress day by day.

Also, as you notice in this picture of a glorious red and orange maple tree, the trees around it were still green. For some reason, this tree jumped out ahead of the rest of its neighbors.

This is the way of the fall colors and I have no explanation for it. You can either rejoice in the glorious fall color you have found or curse your bad luck and be grumpy. Me I will be happy that found this wonderful example of Mapledom… 🙂

Fall Color Progression, How It Starts

First, as the nighttime temps start to get frosty, lows in the 40s down into the 30s. If this continues for a few days, then a few leaves will begin to turn, then a full branch will begin. Then, a few days later the entire crown of the tree is turning orange, and further down you will see the green leaves are more yellow than green.

A few days later, the orange leaves are edged with red and the yellow leaves that are down below are rainbows of orange mixed with yellow and if you are lucky a bit of red. All this has happened in the space of five to 10 days.

This is the true story of a sugar maple tree (seen above) at the end of my street. Every day in October as I drive to work, I observe the changes in the colors. These trees turn yellow and orange and just up the block are a few Linden-type trees that won’t begin turning until the end of October. This is the way of the fall colors and different trees turn at different times.

Jeff Foliage’s Leaf Peeping Tips for a Columbus Day Weekend (CDW)

• Do come here on Columbus Day weekend! I’ve heard people say don’t be here this weekend but you can survive it if you plan accordingly.
• First, if you hear me say “Avoid the Columbus Day weekend”, it doesn’t mean don’t be here. It means don’t arrive on the Friday before in Boston and expect to get on Route 93 out of Logan and “quickly” drive up into Franconia Notch. On Friday afternoon/evening you will be sharing the road with over 150,000 other Leaf Peepers. So the journey that would normally take a couple of hours can take 4 -10 hours depending on how far north you plan to go.
•  DO: Arrive on the Thursday before CDW, WITH your reservations, and plan to stay off the highways. If you read my articles and find you plan to explore those out-of-the-way places like Jefferson Notch Rd or Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, you won’t see anyone. Well, maybe a few people, because they read my blog and will be out looking for the same secluded farm/notch roads.
•  On the Friday before Columbus Day, the majority of the traffic is heading into Northern New England. Just make sure you are already in place or going in the opposite direction.
• Do stay OFF the Highways or near the highways leading up into Northern New England.
• Can you travel on the big day… Columbus Day? Sure! I left the house at 3 AM on Columbus Day morning and drove up to Stowe VT and I didn’t have an issue. The secret is to travel early and be there in place waiting for sunrise, especially if the spot is popular (like Smugglers Notch or the Jenne Farm). I then spent the rest of the day on back roads and avoided the heavy traffic. I even drove to another iconic location in Eastern Vermont. The church at Waits River is a very small iconic town on Route 25 South East of Montpelier. If you head down it and arrive in Bradford without seeing it, it means you sneezed and missed it.
• Not an early riser? Do you have children that don’t wake early or maybe you are not an early riser, then sleep in and get breakfast when you wake, you can travel during the late mornings and get to many places without seeing too much traffic.
• Do pick up a Gazetteer for any of the states you are traveling in. In my book they are invaluable!

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Three of New England’s Iconic locations

What makes a location Iconic? This is a great question. I have photographed many locations in New England and yet only some of them would I consider “iconic”. A lot of this is our own interpretation of what iconic means to us. The definition of iconic comes in several flavors. “Having a conventional formulaic style.” is also “a prominent or conspicuous object on land that serves as a … Or a distinguishing landscape feature marking a site or location“. There is no single definition so I go with my own.

[Jeff’s definition] A building or geographical feature that lends itself to creating beautiful photographs/artwork and generally distinguishes itself as something photographers and artists want to capture.

If you are wondering if there are only 3? There are thousands in my opinion. There are so many iconic locations that this article would be a book. Also, everyone has their favorites. We could even discuss what constitutes an “iconic” location but for now, I will list these three locations and you can tell me if you agree.

The Kancamagus Highway: The grand dame of scenic routes in New England. A very easy and beautiful drive anytime during the first half of October. BUT! If you HAVE to do the Kancamagus Highway better known as the “Kanc” on the Columbus Day Weekend then try to do it very early in the morning. (Be the first on it and the first off of it)

I try to NEVER do the Kanc on Columbus Day Weekend. I usually do the Kanc mid-week to avoid most of the tourists who decide to do it on the weekends. If you have to do it on the weekend do it early because everybody else may be sleeping in. But the Kanc is usually very pretty by the 1st of October and if the season is late then maybe the 5th to the 15th of Oct.

Smuggler’s Notch Vermont: I like to get here before most others. Arriving at 6 AM is usually good. There are a few spots where a car may pull off the road and not get hit but the best spots are at the welcome area before going in and at the top parking lot where the hikers pick up the trails up Mount Mansfield. I got there at 6 AM on a bright and sunny morning and I spent 2 hours walking (carefully) up and down the twisty turns of Smuggler’s Notch.

Let the walker/hiker beware… There are no sidewalks and there are a few paths that go behind the boulders but for the most part, you have to walk on the road with the cars and the boulders come right down to the edge of the road. If you try to bring an RV or a really large truck into the Notch… Be prepared to piss off thousands of people as you try to back out.

Sudbury Gristmill, Massachusetts: It’s also known as the Longfellow’s Wayside Inn grist mill. Some of you may ask, what makes this an iconic scenic location? I will merely say, why not? I mean its history doesn’t go back to the 17 or 1800s, it was built in 1929 by Henry Ford. He owned the nearby Longfellow Inn and surrounding property and these buildings date back 300+ years. So the grist mill is not without its historic significance just by being a part of the property. Mid-Oct is usually the best time and in the early morning when the leaves have a frost on them can be cold but nice.

Some of you will go, “What about this one or that one”? Well, literally there are hundreds and many may even disagree with what I put down here. But you can search on this page (upper right magnifying glass) for the Jenne Farm, The Sleepy Hollow Farm, The Beaver Pond, Franconia Notch Covered Bridge, And Moss Glenn Falls.

These two articles are must-reads!

After you read these let me know what questions you have now… Yes, I expect you to write back… there are always more questions…

Jeff Foliage Folger

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

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