New England By the Numbers: Leaf Peepers

$331.9 million: average annual value of foliage tourists to Vermont’s economy

16,000 number of apple-cider doughnuts sold each weekend day in October at Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury Center, VT

30,560 number of foliage pictures that Yankee photo contributor Susan Cole Kelly has taken since 1989

1,400 average number of cars per hour passing through NH’s Franconia Notch on Columbus Day

$280 price for a day-and-a-half fall class in CT with the New England Tree Climbing Association

30,500 Columbus Day tourists in Lincoln, NH; year-round population is 1,250

2 hours: wait during peak times at 65-seat Polly’s Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill, NH, serving 600 customers a day in early October

10/22/1914 day that western Mass.’s Mohawk Trail, considered New England’s first scenic road, was officially opened to cars

Ian Aldrich

Ian Aldrich is the executive editor at Yankee, where he has worked for more for two decades. As the magazine’s staff feature writer, he writes stories that delve deep into issues facing communities throughout New England. In 2019 he received gold in the reporting category at the annual City-Regional Magazine conference for his story on New England’s opioid crisis. Ian’s work has been recognized by both the Best American Sports and Best American Travel Writing anthologies. He lives with his family in Dublin, New Hampshire.

More by Ian Aldrich