Round Trip
Fall Foliage Hot Spots
Nature knows how to change up her look for the season. We’re just following her lead.
Gorgeous fall foliage is Instagram gold. So grab your phone, take a hike & rack up the likes. Here are 7 top spots around the globe that take leaf-peeping up a notch:
Who needs roses when you can stop & smell the leaves?
Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, New Mexico
This 85-mile mountain loop is a kaleidoscope of color: red oak, yellow cottonwood, green pine, blue spruce, white fir & golden aspen. The loop is a less than 3 hour drive. But what’s the rush? Take a trail hike. Detour to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. Or spend a day in Taos, the historic pueblo & art colony.
Grab your phone, take a hike & rack up the likes!
Hoge Veluwe National Park, the Netherlands
It’s a fairytale landscape: 1000s of acres of heaths & grassland, sand drift & forest. Just hop on one of the 1,800 free white bicycles in the park. And don’t miss the deep-forest Kröller-Müller Museum. It’s got the largest private Van Gogh collection in the world & one of Europe’s most beautiful sculpture gardens.
Lake Placid, New York
The Adirondack Mountains are an alpine adventure for eyes & hearts. American beech, red & sugar maple, quaking aspen & yellow birch blaze over 2,000 miles of the trail system. Feeling ambitious (& have some skill)? Head to High Peaks, a 6-million-acre Forest Preserve at over 4,000 feet.
Panoramic views will take your breath away.
Stowe, Vermont
This whole New England town turns into a Bavarian village for the annual Oktoberfest. So you can drink up regional craft beers & mountains of color. Not into suds? Take a scenic boat ride along the Waterbury Reservoir. Look for locals: black bears & bald eagles!
The Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia, Canada
This 185-mile trail winds along rocky coastline & climbs into the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Panoramic views will take your breath away. Canadian kindness is for real. Ask a local for their fave farmers markets. Picnic on farm-fresh cheese, apples & bread. And don’t forget the maple sugar leaves!
Willamette Valley, Oregon
Along with red maple, white oak, cottonwood & Oregon ash, this 150-mile long Pacific Northwest valley is a garden of grape delights. Sip award-winning wines at one of 700 vineyards, & scope out the scenery. Or, bike a bit of history on the 36-mile Covered Bridges Scenic Bikeway.
Wye Valley, Wales
This protected land on the English-Welsh border is an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (ANOB). Discover the medieval ruins of Tintern Abbey. Head to Kymin Tower for spectacular sweeping views. Or, pack serious hiking boots for the 136-mile Wye Valley Walk with its narrow & sometimes steep paths through woodland & villages.