Travel experts share their ultimate New England foliage spots

Journey

It's time to plan your fall road trips.

The problem with fall in New England is choosing among the countless options for enjoying it.

As the region eagerly waits for the trees to burst with color, we asked local travel experts about their ultimate leaf-viewing destinations – the places they return to again and again.

“Look where you least expect it,” said Ellen Carlson, legislative affairs specialist for the National Park Service's Northeast region. “Everyone goes to Acadia (Bar Harbor National Park, Maine), and it’s beautiful. But there are also all these other places that people don't think about when it's time to look for fall foliage.

Take, for example, Cape Town, Carlson said.

“People don’t think of the beach when they think of fall foliage,” said Carlson, who lives in Cape Town. “But there are some lovely forest trails.”

Carlson enjoys colorful fall walks along two Cape Cod National Seashore Trails: Beech Forest Trail and Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail.

She also enjoys walking along the Concord River in the Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Lexington and Lincoln.

“I’ve been going to Minute Man since I was a kid,” she said. “It was really one of my first experiences with my future husband: paddling the Concord River and really enjoying the scenery.”

When heading north to New Hampshire, Carlson can't help but stop at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, the home of American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

“The views from the porch of this house are simply stunning, overlooking the rolling hills down to the river valley,” she said.

The view of foliage from the Table Rock Trail in Dixville Notch State Park in New Hampshire.

Kris Neilsen is no stranger to fall foliage in New Hampshire. The communications manager for the New Hampshire Travel and Tourism Office is on a mission to find him.

One of its drop spots is Weeks State Park in Lancaster, where you can hike or drive to the summit of Prospect Mountain for 360-degree views of the White Mountain National Forest's Presidential Range and Vermont's Green Mountains. Visitors can climb the old stone fire tower for an even higher vantage point, she said.

Another place that attracts him is Table Rock Trail in Dixville Notch State Park in Colebrook. It's a 20-minute hike to the summit, she said, and you're rewarded with a 360-degree view of the notch. The breathtaking site includes colorful trees, of course, but also Gloriette Lake and Balsams Resort.

“You see the beautiful reflections on the water,” Neilsen said. “When the foliage is perfect, you can look through the trees and the whole area and there are little pops of color.”

A tree at Quabbin Reservoir on a fall day in 2014.

George Ellmore, a botanist and biology professor at Tufts University, said there's a reason the combination of water and mountains results in spectacular foliage.

“The colors won’t change just because of the tree’s genetics,” Ellmore said. “Color appears when trees are slammed by a sudden change in temperature.”

Cold air from the tops of hills and mountains will “pour down and land on the lakes,” he said.

For this reason, his favorite places all include water and hills or mountains. He said he was going to Quabbin Reservoir in Belchertown for its superb foliage.

“It’s my favorite, it’s never fooled me,” he said, “because there’s a lot of water and a lot of hills around it.”

Another of his choices is the Somerset Reservoir in Vermont, located in the towns of Somerset and Stratton, which he called “breathtakingly beautiful” in the fall.

“Somerset Reservoir has enough conifers to give you the color contrast of green,” Ellmore said. “The explosion of reds and oranges stands out all the more as they contrast with the greens. »

Hogback Mountain in Marlboro, Vermont.

Steven Cook, former deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Tourism, has many favorite foliages in Vermont, one of which is Willoughby Lake in the upstate town of Westmore.

“On a calm day, the reflection of the foliage on the lake is truly breathtaking,” Cook said. “It’s truly a beautiful place. This is where you'll find some of Vermont's early foliage, as it starts in the north and heads south.

THE Owl's Head Trail in Groton State Forest is another of Cook's choices. It's an easy hike to the top, he said, and there is a parking area halfway up.

“It gives you a nice, high vantage point to look out over the entire Groton State Forest,” he said. “And the view is incredible.”

Cook also likes a patch of foliage in Marlboro, Vermont, a southern town easily accessible to day-trippers from Massachusetts called Hogback Mountain. You can park your car in a scenic viewing area, he said.

“You get the most amazing view of the Deerfield Valley,” he said. “It’s one of those 360-degree views. It's simply magnificent.

Because it's in the southern part of the state, leaves peak later in the season, he said.

Fall foliage in Vermont's Mad River Valley.

Shannon Shipman, a New England Photographerloves taking photos of the fall season.

“Fall is what I love,” Shipman said. “It’s my favorite season. I feel like New England shines the brightest in the fall.

She goes to Camden Hills State Park in Camden, Maine, for fall foliage.

“You have this spectacular view of the harbor and the city, with the church steeples and all the trees full of color,” she said.

Shipman also goes to Mad River Valley in Vermont, which she says is like “looking at a painting” when you see Vermont’s combination of colorful trees and barns.

“It’s everything your fall foliage dreams are made of,” she said.