A Fall foliage tour of New England
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
In New England Nature & Outdoors
01 September 2010 | By Dan Eldridge, Lonely Planet
Fall, New England, United States
Leaves turn striking shades of crimson and yellow, glowing against the azure sky. (Izzet Kerribar/LPI)
Touring through small-town New England in search of autumn’s changing colours has become such a popular activity, it has sprouted its own enthusiastic subculture of “leaf-peepers”. But this trip is about much more than just flora and fauna: become immersed in the bountiful harvest spirit that envelops the entire region each fall.
Connecticut
Peak fall foliage season starts at the beginning of September and runs through to the end of October. To get in an appropriately autumnal frame of mind then, plan a trip to Clyde's Cider Mill (
www.bfclydescidermill.com) in Old Mystic. Visitors can watch the cider mill in action - this is the only such mill in the country still powered by steam - and then purchase alcoholic or non-alcoholic cider in plastic jugs. As soon as you are properly hydrated and fortified at the mill, head west to the town of Essex where Connecticut River Expeditions runs a Fall Foliage Cruise (
www.ctriverexpeditions.org) aboard the RiverQuest.
About 30 miles north of Mystic, the Blue Slope Country Museum (
www.blueslope.com) in Franklin is essentially a celebration of all things bucolic. During the fall season, life at the museum gets even more interesting: how about pie-eating contests and Amish outdoor furniture for sale?
On the opposite end of Connecticut, the Litchfield Hills region is the state's other major destination for serious leaf-peeping. Incidentally, it is also a popular region in which to visit one of Connecticut's sugar houses, producing Connecticut's famous maple syrup. Tours are given daily at Lamothe's Sugar House (
www.lamothesugarhouse.com) in Burlington.
About a half-hour drive to the west is the fifth-generation Bunnell Farm (
www.bunnellfarm.org) where you can pick your own flowers or embark on horse-drawn hay and tractor rides. Both these trips lead to a PYO pumpkin farm, which is naturally at its peak during fall foliage. And like many PYO farms, Bunnell is solidly in on the corn-maze craze as well - if you happen to arrive after sunset, they will even loan you a flashlight and let you stumble around in the dark.
Before venturing north into Massachusetts, stop by one more of Litchfield County's PYO farms, the Ellsworth Hill Orchard & Berry Farm (
www.ellsworthfarm.com). This farm is home to a particularly challenging six-acre corn maze. And naturally, berries, plums, peaches and apples can be snapped right off the vine by your very own hands.
Massachusetts
Continue heading north, and cross the state border to reach this trip's next stop, which is in the northern Massachusetts town of Deerfield. The historic Deerfield village (
www.historic-deerfield.org) itself is a collection of 14 houses, all decorated in the popular styles of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Visitors are led from house to house by a well-informed guide, and for those without a strong grounding in American history, a larger building known as the Flynt Center for the Study of Early American Life does a decent job of explaining it all in smaller and more easily digestible chunks.
Vermont
Travel north for about 90 miles along I-91 to reach the town of Woodstock, Vt, and the Billings Farm and Museum (
www.billingsfarm.org). Billings is a working dairy farm, and visitors who tour the grounds here are taken to a horse barn and a calf nursery before going on a self-guided tour through a series of 19th Century barns.
From Woodstock, hop right on I-89 north and take it all the way to Burlington, which sits directly on the shores of Lake Champlain; the Adirondack Mountains of New York are located on the opposite side of the lake.
Burlington is home to a wealth of indoor and outdoor activities, so if you would like to briefly get off the cycle of country farm- and fall foliage-specific activities, the Lake Champlain Valley, as this area is known, is a great place to do that.
One of Vermont's most unusual and most visited attractions, the Shelburne Museum (
www.rustlingwind.com), is seven miles south of Burlington and right in the heart of Lake Champlain valley. Founded in 1947 by Electra Havemeyer Webb, a woman with a truly unique artistic vision and a serious shopping compulsion, the museum is home to nearly 200,000 pieces of distinctive American folk art and crafts. But Webb also collected buildings and historic structures, and her art is now housed in literally dozens of them, including a jail and a 220ft-long steamship.
Drive east - I-89 south, then Rte 100 - to Stowe, where anyone in search of a truly unforgettable culinary experience should run directly to the Trapp Family Lodge (
www.trappfamily.com). This Austrian-style alpine mountain resort is still operated by the same von Trapp family that inspired the musical and movie The Sound of Music.
New Hampshire
You're now about 120 miles away from this trip's next stop, which happens to sit atop New Hampshire's Wildcat Mountain: the zip cable ride known as the Wildcat Express Gondola (
www.skiwildcat.com) is well worth it, and the views of Mt Washington will blow your mind. And no, you will not be hanging on with your fingers: the Wildcat is essentially a cross between a hammock and a chair. It does soar at speeds of up to 45 mph, though, and the trip is a half mile long.
Hiking or driving to Mount Washington State Park (
www.nhstateparks.org) is a popular activity, and reaching the peak via the 7.6-mile Mt Washington Auto Road (
www.mountwashingtonautoroad.com) makes for one of the most remarkable drives in New Hampshire.
The article ‘A fall foliage tour of New England’ was published in partnership with
www.lonelyplanet.com.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20100823-a-fall-foliage-tour-of-new-england