Make most of autumn in New England

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sep 14, 2003 by Beth J. Harpaz Associated Press

At the end of every summer, I send my kids on an outdoor scavenger hunt. The list varies from year to year, but the tradition always includes one unvarying instruction: Find an early sign of fall. And even when they were as young as 3 or 4, my boys understood they were to bring me a colored leaf. Yellow, red, orange or brown would do -- anything but green.

Then, as the season progresses, with the sun setting earlier, the mornings chillier and those pretty leaves increasingly abundant, we always plan a family outing.

We've picked apples in the rain in upstate New York, gotten lost in cornstalk mazes in western Massachusetts, and brought home pumpkins from Maryland that weighed as much as the kids.

Whether apple-picking appeals to you or not, the temperature this time of year is perfect for hikes and festivals, the foliage is always worth a drive.

If you're traveling in the Northeast, www.YankeeFoliage.com, sponsored by Yankee magazine, provides interactive foliage forecasts, sample driving tours and other ideas for making the most of autumn in New England, as well as recipes for seasonal produce and arts and crafts projects like pressing those colorful leaves.

The site www.stormfax.com/foliage.htm lists toll-free fall foliage hot lines, Web sites and fall events for 30 states around the country, from California and Montana to Georgia and Rhode Island. (Once you are connected to the Web site, click on "Next," then "Lifestyles" and "Autumn Foliage.") Especially useful for grown-ups with curious children, the Web site explains why leaves change color and provides pictures to help you identify which trees those beautiful fallen leaves come from.

The USDA Forest Service has a "National Fall Color Hotline" at 800- 354-4595. Its Web site, at www.fs.fed.us/news/fallcolors, offers "fall foliage hotspot" lists for eight national forests from Washington to Virginia, as well as information about top fall foliage sites in nearly every state, plus Puerto Rico.

Here is a state-by-state guide for a few areas, with information on how to find the loveliest leaves in your area.

CONNECTICUT: Activities range from wine-tasting to castle-touring to river cruises. Gillette Castle -- open until Columbus Day -- is situated on the grounds of a state park in East Haddam, overlooking the Connecticut River. For information, contact 860-526-2336.

The nearby Chester-Hadlyme Ferry will take you and your car across the river, where you can enjoy a scenic drive along to Saybrook Point. There's also a 2 1/2-hour Camelot Cruise fall foliage tour on the Connecticut River from Haddam. Call 800-522-7463 for details.

Mystic Seaport is hosting a "Chowderfest" Oct. 11-13, while Stonington Vineyards is planning its annual Wine and Food Festival -- including wine-tasting -- for Oct. 18. Tours of the wine cellar are scheduled for 12 noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

For more ideas on autumn trips in the area, visit www.mycoast.com. Click on "Mystic Coast & Country Press Releases," then on "More Leaf Peeping Suggestions in Mystic Places."

And for fall foliage updates, call Connecticut's Vacation Center at 800-CT-BOUND or visit www.ctbound.org.

MAINE: There's nothing like the sight of gold and crimson against a blue background. That's what you get when you take in the colors of autumn in Maine, where the trees are framed in so many locales by lakes, rivers and the coast.

Boothbay Harbor hosts a Fall Foliage Festival on Oct. 11 and 12. Scarecrows are on display in Rockland from Oct. 11-18, when the town hosts its Harvest Day Celebration and Festival of Scarecrows. Farther east, in Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, couple your leaf- peeping with whale-watching cruises or a trip up Cadillac Mountain.

Farther inland, north of Bangor, the Forest and Logging Museum in Bradley has Autumn Living History Days, exploring Maine's pioneer past, on Oct. 4 and 5.

Other autumn events in Vacationland include the World Puppets Festival in Portland, from Sept. 8-14; the famous "Chowdah Cook-Off" on Sept. 20 during the town of Bethel's harvest festival; Apple Saturdays where you can pick your own and enjoy apple pie and cider at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Museum's orchards, on Sept. 27, Oct. 4 and Oct. 11; and the Rangeley Lakes Logging Museum Apple Festival in Rangeley on Oct. 4, where you can make your own cider in an apple press and watch demonstrations by the "Mad Whittler," a local chainsaw woodcarver.

And in Eliot, a chili-tasting contest will kick off a three-day festival, held Sept. 26-28, that includes a road race with 1,100 entrants, a parade and a fireworks display.

For more information about these events and others, check out www.visitmaine.com or call 888-95MAINE. For updates on the state of the leaves visit www.mainefoliage.com or call Maine's foliage hot line at 888-MAINE-45.

MASSACHUSETTS: Here's a sampling of events timed to coincide with fall foliage, the harvest season and Halloween in the Bay State:

--West Springfield's "Great Autumn Tradition," a festival that runs daily from Sept. 13-29, with a circus, parades, lumberjack show; (413) 737-2443, www.thebige.com.