Peak Foliage Awaits Visitors For the Holiday Weekend | Best Bets for Columbus Day Foliage
Peak is spreading fast across New England, just in time for the holiday weekend! See our best bets for Columbus Day foliage this year.
By Jim Salge|Oct 06 2016|
The Hills Of Western New Hampshire Along Rt. 4A Are Beginning To Show Great Color.
Credit: Jim Block
Beautiful, Peak Colors In The Great North Woods This Past Week Should Hold Through The Holiday Weekend
Credit: Chris WhitonCredit: Chris Whiton We’ve been hopeful since our initial forecast in August that the moderate drought in northern New England might bring out a strong year for bright reds IF we had supportive conditions leading up to the colors. We also believed that things might progress quickly in the dry conditions, and with the Columbus Day holiday earlier in the month than usual, the timing and conditions are aligning perfectly. Some are calling the intensity the best in years. Others, just a good New England show. Either way, it’s beautiful right now! The region truly rolls out the red foliage carpet during Columbus weekend, with fairs, festivals and fun events along with our usual fall activities, and locals are joined by visitors from all over the world to take in the show. The weekend usually ranks among the top tourism weekends of the year for the northern states, challenging the big summer weekends for top billing. It’s certainly the most beautiful. Where are leaves likely to be the best over the course of the next week?
Stunning Foliage Surrounds This Iconic Bridge Along The Kancamagus Highway
Credit: Rob CliffordCredit: Rob Clifford The areas that we’ve been highlighting for the past two weeks as having the best early color are definitely at peak as of this writing. In Vermont, these areas include the Northeast Kingdom, Groton State Forest, and the peaks around Stowe. In New Hampshire, these include the Great North Woods, Pemi and Zealand Valleys, and western Kancamagus Highway. In Maine, peak right now is across the mountains of western Maine, Rangeley, and the Carabasset Valley.
Bright Fall Colors Over Zealand Road This Past Weekend!
Credit: Jim SalgeCredit: Jim Salge The question in these areas of course is how long after peak will they hold on to their bright colors. Drought tends to compress the season, and the fear is we are one good windstorm away from stripping away the strongest colors. While it looks like New England will dodge the hurricane this weekend, a cold front over the latter half might make quick work of the peak colors in these earliest areas, and then it’s on to the next wave, just south and east of these zones. In many cases, these next areas to reach peak are just a few miles away from the brightest areas now. A change in elevation of a few hundred feet can result in strongly varied conditions, add in the changes found in notches and valleys and the act of exploration during leaf peeping becomes an important part of the adventure. Last weekend, moderate colors were seen across a very wide swath of northern New England, and cool mornings and bright warm days will continue the trend towards more rapid emergence.
While color is peaking in Pinkham Notch, the foliage is just coming in at lower elevations.
Credit: John Compton
