New England may be small, but it’s diverse. From architecture to natural landmarks, the six-state region boasts a wealth of variety. That is especially true when the weather cools down, the darkness of night creeps in earlier and earlier and the kids are once again tackling homework. That is when the leaves on the trees in the New England hills turn their myriad colorful shades.
Why does this happen every fall? In the warmth of summer, chlorophyll, a pigment in the leaf’s body, absorbs the sun’s energy and emits a green tone. When the temperatures turn chilly, the leaf receives less nourishment and the chlorophyll breaks down. The results are the appearances of previously hidden pigments–and the best free outdoor show of the year.
Sugar maples, with their vivid red leaves, provide the brightest hues. Oaks turn an intense shade of reddish brown, while elms, birches and beeches become yellow and gold.
Like anything dependent on the moods of nature, the quality of a fall foliage show can vary from year to year. Clear, sunny days and chilly nights are the recipe for the most dramatic vistas. An inferior year will be sparse on reds and heavy on yellows. But New England’s fall foliage show is like pizza. When it’s good it’s great. When it’s not so good, it’s still pretty good.
The earliest you can find peak colors is usually the last week of September in the extreme northern fringes of New England. The farther south you go, the later the foliage peaks. Central New England–southern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine and northern Massachusetts–peaks around Columbus Day weekend, when there is an abundance of apple pie fests, yard sales and craft shows. (It’s also the toughest weekend in terms of finding reservations.) Expect southern New England to peak mid- to late October.
Here are my picks for the 10 best New England fall foliage trips–trips that offer ways to explore the region’s character and as well as see the radiance of its leaves:
1. Vermont: Smugglers Notch. To many fall foliage fans, there is no place they’d rather be during peak season than northern Vermont. The name, Smugglers Notch, is no misnomer. The pass was used for smuggling goods to Canada from the early 1800s through Prohibition.
Vermont Highway 108 winds through the notch, from the resort village of Stowe to Jeffersonville, taking you up and down hills past some of the best works of nature including the jagged peak of massive Mt. Mansfield backed by reds, oranges and yellows. Packed a picnic? Consider stopping for lunch at Smugglers Notch State Park, across from Stowe Mountain Resort. From Jeffersonville, head south onto Pleasant Valley Road. As you cross through Pleasant Valley, look to your left to see a less abrupt and more gently sloping side of Mt. Mansfield.
2. New Hampshire/Vermont: Connecticut River Upper Valley. With Mt. Ascutney poking up over the rows and rows of thick forest, it’s hard to believe this area was once called “Little New York.” But when the 2Oth Century was young, the woods around Cornish Mills, N.H., were home to some of the best known names from New York’s literary and artistic set.
They included renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, poet William Vaughn Moody, actress Ethel Barrymore, illustrator Charles Dana Gibson (of Gibson Girl fame) and artist Maxfield Parrish. Parrish was drawn here by the region’s dizzying blue skies, which inspired him to create his own shade of blue–his deep, mystical Parrish blue. Imagine Parrish’s delight when he first saw the reds and yellows of autumn fronting those skies of blue.
The whitewashed home of Saint-Gaudens is operated by the National Park Service and open to the public. You can tour his house as well as two sculpture studios, a sculpture garden, the family burial site and a brookside walking path.
Connecting Cornish with Windsor, Vt., across the Connecticut River is the longest covered bridge in the United States, built in 1870. One of nature’s gems, Quechee Gorge is straddled by U.S. Highway 4 on the Vermont side of the river and can be explored by hiking or just peering over the U.S. 4 overpass.
From Quechee it’s a short jaunt to Woodstock, Vt. No mudcaked concertgoers here. This Woodstock is a pristine town with immaculately manicured green, clapboard homes, the stately Woodstock Inn, an abundance of shops and the gentle pace people in big cities savor. If Universal Studios built a New England back lot, Woodstock would be the model.
3. New Hampshire: Kancamagus Highway. No roadway in New England is as synonymous with fall as is New Hampshire Highway 112, the rambling two-lane byway informally known as the Kanc that cuts like a ribbon through White Mountain National Forest. Though heavily touristed, it is ice cream for the eyes.
Kancamagus Pass is the highest point on the road, with an elevation of 2,890 feet. From the west, it is about a third of the way into the drive. From here you can see the entire Presidential Range, as well as Mt. Huntington, Mt. Hancock and Mt. Harrigan. The Swift River parallels much of the eastern half of the Kanc, and there are many places to park and explore a closeup wonderland of fall magic. North of the eastern terminus is outlet heaven, better known as North Conway, a fine place to remove wrinkles from your wallet.
4. Maine: The White Mountains. Yes, a chunk of White Mountain National Forest spills over from New Hampshire into Maine. The thick woodlands and languid lakes surrounding the mountains draw skiers in winter, but during fall they merit ambling trips that might otherwise seem extravagant.
Fryeburg, at the junction of Maine Highway 113 and U.S. Highway 302 south of the national forest, is a town of white clapboard buildings best known for the agricultural bonanza called the Fryeburg Fair (this year: Sept. 28-Oct. 5). A bit east on U.S. 302 is the brick Fryeburg Academy, dating from 1791. Maine 113 takes you through the thick of the national forest, affording sights of water, fall color and mountains. Usually, the maples and birches and oaks do their jobs well.
At Gilead, turn right onto U.S. Highway 2, skirting the northern edge of the forest and paralleling the Androscoggin River, until you reach Bethel, an appetizing place to take out the camera and stretch your legs. The base for the Sunday River and Mt. Abrams ski areas, Bethel is also the home of the Broad Street Historic District. The Moses Mason House, built in 1813, has nine rooms of period furnishings and an array of foliage and seascape murals. It is open sporadically; to set an appointment for a fall visit, call 207-824-2908.
5. Vermont: Molly Stark Trail (Vermont Highway 9). Legend has it that just before the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Bennington, Molly’s husband, Gen. John Stark, said, “There stand the redcoats, and they are ours or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow.” The colonists won the fight and Vermont 9, the road from Brattleboro to Bennington, had a nickname.
In West Brattleboro at the eastern end of the trail is the stoplight-red Creamery Covered Bridge, well kept and brightly painted in a way belying its 1879 construction date. Molly Stark State Park in Marlboro is the perfect place to see the trees up close and unpack the red-checkered tablecloth.
Wilmington, base for the Mt. Snow ski area, the midway point, is filled with shops and inns. Many feel the area around Searsburg, the next village west, with hills in the distance and Lake Woodford in the foreground, is the trail’s most inspiring stretch. Bennington is home to the Bennington Battle Monument, the Bennington Museum with its Grandma Moses gallery and the Old Burying Ground behind the Old First Church where lies the grave of poet Robert Frost.
6. New Hampshire: Monadnock Region. The towns in southwestern New Hampshire have grown since Thornton Wilder first introduced them in his play “Our Town,” nearly 60 years ago. But the feel of this region hasn’t changed much.
To see what we mean, visit Hancock, where a bandstand sits on the town green and the John Hancock Inn has been offering room and board since 1789. The buildings in the center of the former mill village of Harrisville are of industrial red brick, not familiar white wood. Their reflection in the mill pond is a classic photo shot.
Jaffrey is home to ever popular Mt. Monadnock State Park. The climb to the 3,165-foot-high peak takes two to three hours, and you won’t be lonely climbing it in the fall. An alternative for non-climbers is Miller State Park, east of Peterborough off New Hampshire Highway 101, where you can drive to the summit of 2,288-foot-high Pack Monadnock Mountain. We’ve seen the skyscrapers of Boston from the top on more than one occasion.
7. Massachusetts: The Mohawk Trail (Massachusetts Highway 2). Don’t be put off by critics who say you can’t see the forest for the cars. This western Massachusetts highway is crowded on weekends, but worth the sea of humanity. Greenfield, at the eastern end, is the home of the Poet’s Seat, a tower on a hilltop where a long-forgotten 19th Century poet came to find his muse. The short climb affords a stellar view of reds and oranges and golds way below.
To the west is Shelburne Falls, home of the Bridge of Flowers, a 1908 trolley bridge turned floral garden. Farther west on the left side of Massachusetts 2 is “Hail to the Sunrise,” an 8-foot-high bronze statue of a Mohawk, arms outstretched, lovingly greeting the morning sun. From the village of Florida you will ascend, wind and swerve until you reach Whitcomb Summit, 2,200 feet above sea level and the highest point on the trail. Watch for the sneaky hairpin turn as you wind down toward trail’s end in North Adams.
8. Massachusetts: Foliage by the Quabbin Reservoir. The setting is often-ignored central Massachusetts. Barre is a masterpiece of a village. A huge green is home to a war memorial and a bandstand. Across the street is the First Parish Church with a Paul Revere bell dating from 1814. The local historical society, housed in a Federal-style building dating from 1834, contains mostly old photographs and documents related to Barre; call 508-355-2298 to arrange a visit. About 12 miles south along Massachusetts Highway 32 is Gilbertville, where an 1886 covered bridge spans the Ware River.
Between Ware and Belchertown are three entrances to the park section of the Quabbin Reservoir, where picnicking is welcome. U.S. Highway 202 is known as the Daniel Shays Highway, in memory of the Revolutionary era insurrectionist. There is nothing revolting about the scenery, however, along this road paralleling the western shore of the Quabbin. Miles of color-filled woods front ranges of blue hills.
9. Connecticut: Litchfield Hills. Litchfield, in northwestern Connecticut, can thank its preserved status to a snubbing by the railroad. Tracks were placed elsewhere, and the village failed to grow and prosper. The National Park Service has called it “probably the finest example of a typical late-18th Century New England town.”
Goshen, to the north, is another colonial village, smaller and less polished than Litchfield, and therefore a little more real. Take a left onto Connecticut Highway 4 and pass Tyler Lake and Mohawk State Forest with its foliage-smothered hills on the left. At the junction of routes Connecticut Highway 128 and U.S. Highway 7 is one of Connecticut’s few surviving covered bridges.
Head about 20 miles northwest and you’ll find a verdant triangular village green in Norfolk bordered by some dazzling buildings.
10. Connecticut’s Quiet Corner. The northeastern corner is likely the least touristed part of Connecticut. Pomfret is highly regarded for the brick campus of the Pomfret School (founded in 1894), although the medieval-styled Clark Memorial Chapel looks like a transplant from the Rhine River Valley. To the north is yet another Woodstock, this one home to a village green, apple orchards, an academy and the candy-colored Roseland Cottage, built in 1846 as a summer retreat. The prettiest view of the town is with your back to the Woodstock Academy, looking across the green toward the Congregational Church.
For an inviting picnic spot, follow Connecticut Highway 169 north to Connecticut Highway 197, a serpentine, narrow road hemmed in by stone fences, barns and woods, then west to Bigelow Hollow State Park where you can also take a walk on a tree-fringed path.
A half hour to the east, meanwhile, a pine needle across the border with Rhode Island is Little Rhody’s highest point, Jerimoth Hill. (Don’t brag to your friends in Colorado–it’s only 812 feet high.)
DETAILS ON NEW ENGLAND’S FALL COLOR
Here are addresses and phone numbers for general tourism information for the New England states; except for Rhode Island, each state also maintains a fall foliage hot line.
– Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of Tourism, 505 Hudson St., Hartford, Conn. 06106; 800-282-6863. The hot line, scheduled to open in early September, can be accessed through the 800 number.
– Maine Publicity Bureau, P.O. Box 2300, Hallowell, Maine 04347; 800-533-9595. The hot line, which will open no later than Sept. 17, is 800-932-3419.
– Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, 100 Cambridge St., 13th Floor, Boston, Mass. 02202; 800-227-6277. The hot line, scheduled to be in service by now, can be accessed through the 800 number. There is also a Web site for fall information: www.mass-vacation.com
– New Hampshire Office of Travel and Tourism, P.O. Box 1856, Concord, N.H. 03302-1856; 800-386-4664 (ext. 100). The hot line, in service by mid-September, is 800-258-3608.
– Rhode Island, 1 W. Exchange St., Providence, R.I. 02903; 800-250-7384. This number will have foliage information by Oct. 1.
– Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, 134 State St., Montpelier, Vt. 05602; 800-837-6668. The hot line, in service around Sept. 15, is 802-828-3239.
