Issues → September/October 2007 → Feature Stories →

Beauty and the Best of Autumn in New England

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9. Behind the Wheel

Use Bethel, Maine, as your starting and ending point. Head west on Route 2, then turn south on Route 113 at Gilead. The road parallels the Wild River and Evans Brook here, and trees form a leafy canopy overhead. The road climbs steeply into Evans Notch; on the descent you'll pass a grove of birches and wind through meadows. Then pick up Route 5 in Fryeburg and return to Bethel. Heaven!

10. Canoe/Kayak

For foliage views times two, put your canoe or kayak in at the state-owned boat access on Powers Lake in East Lyme, Connecticut. It's close to major population centers but offers one big surprise: This 152-acre lake is undeveloped except for a Yale University retreat center. The untouched shoreline is edged by a diversity of woodland flora, which means a wide variety of colors.

11. Yankee''s guide to Fall Color

12. Destination

Visit Harrisville, New Hampshire's town center -- a classic New England mill village and a National Historic Landmark. Tidy red-brick buildings and a granite mill are reflected in a pond and the millstream that once powered a woolens manufacturer. The buildings are fully restored to their 19th-century splendor, thanks to a savvy nonprofit group that leases them to various businesses, including the internationally known Harrisville Designs (800-338-9415, 603-827-3333; harrisville.com), maker of looms and yarns. The company's store offers a big assortment of textile products, clothing, and books.

13. Where to Find the Color

A biodiverse forest is what we think of first for the most dramatic displays, but it's not just the treetops that capture the color. Look also for low-lying blueberry bush barrens, streams where leaves have caught on the bottom, and gardens with fall-blooming flowers such as chrysanthemums. Best advice: Buy a DeLorme map and explore secondary roads.

14. Crowning Achievement

The United States National Champion sugar maple grows in Lyme, Connecticut. According to the National Register of Big Trees, this giant beauty stands 115 feet high, measures 223 inches around, and spreads 89 feet.

15. Hike

You'll find the biggest bang for your buck on Middle Sugarloaf, one of three peaks atop a ridge, in New Hampshire's White Mountains. A 2.8-mile round-trip hike takes you from a riverbed to an open, ledgy summit with clumps of spruce, sumac, birch, blueberry, and lichen. From here, overlooking a colorful maple and beech forest, you'll view the grandest panorama of the Presidential Range, from Mounts Madison to Webster, with Washington front and center.