Best Places to See Fall Color | HGTV Gardens

Clockwise from upper left: Vermont fall colors. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Great Smoky Mountains. Aspen. Youghiogheny River Gorge.

Growing up in the upper peninsula of Michigan, I was lucky enough to witness some pretty amazing fall colors each year, the kind people would drive hours to see. In lower Michigan where I live now, the colors are still pretty great but not quite as stunning. This time of year, I always feel a little nostalgic for the brilliant red, orange and yellow leaf shows of my childhood, and get inspired to look for other great fall foliage destinations across the country. Here are a handful of the best:

Great Smoky Mountains

Great Smoky Mountains. Image courtesy of Ann Hornyak/Flickr

Boasting over 100 species of native trees, the mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee are home to some of the most stunning fall color in the nation, including deep purples and crimson among the usual yellows and golds. In some areas of the park the colors last until mid-November. Check in with the National Park Service for updates on fall foliage.

Vermont

Vermont's luscious fall colors.

With its cooler temps, rolling hills and valleys, and abundant forests, Vermont offers show-stopping fall color throughout the state, (the rippling elevations of Hogback Mountain, pictured above, put on a particularly fantastic show.) Check out this Vermont foliage site, which offers up-to-date information about Vermont?s foliage and where to go for the best colors week-by-week.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, MI

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Image courtesy of Lars Jensen

Most of northern Michigan, including the upper peninsula north of the Mackinac Bridge, offers great fall foliage. But I have a special place in my heart for this stunning natural area, located in my birthplace of Munising, Michigan ? a small town on the shores of Lake Superior, about 45 miles from Marquette. Pictured Rocks offers a variety of ruggedly beautiful settings that really show off that fall foliage. In this region, color shows early and is just starting to peak now.

Aspen, CO

Image courtesy of Jonquil38/Flickr

The Rocky Mountains? rugged terrain is home to abundant groves of aspen, those tall, white-trunked trees that are so quintessentially Colorado. And in Colorado, Aspen is said to offer the most impressive fall color, with yellows, oranges and even occasional reds contrasting against evergreens and gray mountain peaks. ?Check Colorado.com for driving tour routes.

Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway, PA

Youghiogheny River Gorge. Image courtesy of Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau

Come autumn, this densely forested scenic route looks almost like a watercolor painting, offering brilliant pops of color nestled amid rivers and waterfalls, rolling hills and quaint farms. For the adventurous, the?Youghiogheny River Gorge, pictured above, is particularly impressive when seen from the vantage point of a whitewater rafting expedition, but if you?d rather stay dry, peruse this list of suggested driving tours.

Recommend your favorite place in the HGTVGardens community, to see glorious fall colors.

Source: http://blog.hgtvgardens.com/a-new-leaf-five-great-places-to-gander-at-fall-foliage/

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