New England
2018 New England Fall Foliage Recap | Still Plenty of Color to Be Found
How did this year’s foliage season stack up? Where can you still find peak color? Read on for our 2018 fall foliage recap, in our final post of the season.
By Jim Salge|Nov 01 2018|
Classic Autumn Reflections Captured at Peak Over Zealand Pond in Late September
Credit: Jim Salge
A surprising amount of fall color remains on the trees across New England this Halloween.
Credit: Jim SalgeCredit: Jim Salge
Where to Find Peak Foliage
There’s still really strong color in southern New England. Peak foliage hangs on along the coastline of Rhode Island and Connecticut, as well as on the Cape and Islands. And if the oaks along the coast of Maine into Massachusetts are only just now turning, those trees down south have a long way to go!
Peak Conditions Are Holding Across Southern and Coastal New England Into November
Credit: Mark TrumanCredit: Mark Truman Boston Common and the Esplanade are usually among the last areas in New England to turn. If you want to catch those trees at their most beautiful, we’d recommend aiming for mid-November. As usual, far northern New England is a different world. Most trees are bare in the northern reaches of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Color now is confined to the young beech trees and the larches. Snow has fallen, even in the valleys, and ski resorts have opened. The window for the fall cleanup there is closing fast.
2018 Fall Foliage Recap
Reflecting on the overall fall color this year, we just can’t describe it in a single, simple summary. How you perceived it was very much a function of where you lived and how much traveling you did during the season. Some areas were epic; others were quite disappointing. And as we mentioned, the verdict is still out in some places.Highlights
The areas up north were beautiful but extremely short-lived: The leaves turned late and left early. We heard plenty of people remark that Vermont in particular had one of the most vibrant years in recent memory. The White Mountains were equally bright, but they lacked the bold reds of their neighboring state to the west. Northern and Downeast Maine were spectacular as well.
Four Wednesdays in October Captured By Ryan Knapp in Pinkham Notch
Credit: Ryan KnappCredit: Ryan Knapp In these northern areas, it was a bit drier through the summer, and the humidity was less of a persistent factor. Cooler weather was slow to emerge across the region, but it was at least cool enough up north to kick-start the colors by early October and save the show.
Challenges
In central New England, heat lingered and clouds were omnipresent — and we honestly failed to consider just how much the summer humidity would spur the growth of late fungus and tar spot in some areas. Early color came in nicely in parts of central New England, and then a storm knocked all of it down. The late color was tremendously gapped and is only now showing again in late maples, beeches, and oaks.
Late autumn color hanging on around the neighborhoods of Greenfield from Poet’s Seat Tower Near the Connecticut River
Credit: John Burk
We are planning our trip to a resort in Francestown, NH for the fall of 2019. We will fly into and out of Boston driving to Francestown. Could you recommend prime time for the fall foliage?
We are planning a tour in USA North East for the fall of 2019 and we would chose the best period for the foliage. I know it could be hard to foresee now, but, maybe, it could be useful to know what happened last year. Many thanks. Best regards. Gabriele – Italy