Autumn Rambles of New England : An Explorer's Guide to the Best Fall Colors (Hunter Travel Guides)

161 Pages·1998·0.61 MB·English

by  Michael Tougias, Mark Tougias

HUNTER PUBLISHING, INC.
130 Campus Drive, Edison, NJ 08818
732-225-1900; 800-255-0343; Fax [phone]
Contents
Introduction 1
Autumn in New England 3
How, When & Where 3
A Few Tips 5
Peepers’ Hot Lines 6
The Quiet Corner, Northeast Connecticut 11
Canterbury 12
Brooklyn 13
Pomfret 14
Woodstock 16
The Litchfield Hills, Northwest Connecticut 19
Litchfield 19
Bantam Village 21
New Preston 22
New Milford 23
Kent 24
Sharon 25
Salisbury 26
North Canaan 28
East Canaan 28
Southwestern Rhode Island to Narragansett Bay 33
West Greenwich 34
Exeter 36
Rockville 37
Hope Valley & Kingston 38
Richmond 39
North Kingstown 41
Wickford 42
The Hills of Central Massachusetts 45
Ware 46
Belchertown & Pelham 46
New Salem 48
Petersham 50
Phillipston 51
iv Contents
West Brookfield 52
A Southern Berkshire Loop 55
Tyringham & Monterey 55
Great Barrington & Ashley Falls 58
South Egremont 59
Stockbridge 60
Southern Vermont 63
Brattleboro 64
Newfane 65
Townshend & Grafton 66
Jamaica 68
Bondville 68
Manchester 69
Dorset 70
Arlington 71
Shaftsbury 72
Bennington 72
Wilmington 73
Central Vermont Loop 77
Northfield Falls 77
Brookfield 78
Bethel 79
Pittsfield 79
Plymouth Union, Ludlow & Bridgewater 80
Woodstock 81
South Royalton 82
Tunbridge 83
Chelsea 84
Barre 84
Mount Mansfield Loop, Northern Vermont 86
Stowe 86
Jeffersonville 89
Waterville 90
Fairfield 91
St. Albans 92
Westford 93
Jericho 94
Underhill 95
Contents v
Cambridge 95
Morrisville 96
Northeast Kingdom 98
Hardwick 99
East Craftsbury 100
Irasburg 101
Barton 104
Glover 104
The Connecticut River, Southern New Hampshire 107
Westmoreland Depot 108
Walpole 108
Drewsville 109
Bellows Falls 110
Charlestown 111
Cornish 112
Hanover 114
Monadnock Region, Southern New Hampshire 116
Keene 117
Jaffrey 118
Hancock 120
Peterborough 122
Dublin 125
Harrisville 125
Nelson 126
The Kancamagus Highway 128
Lincoln 129
Southern Maine Ramble 133
Standish & Sebago 134
Bridgton 135
Fryeburg 136
Hiram 137
Porter 137
The Kennebec River Valley 142
Bingham to The Forks & Beyond 142
Wyman Lake (Moscow & Bingham) 143
Jackman 146
Hinckley 147
Norridgewock 147
vi Contents
Coastal Maine, Penobscot Peninsula 148
Blue Hill 150
Castine 151
Stonington 153
Introduction
Where does one begin to tell of the great New England that
awe know, love and grew up in? Where does one “send” an-
other, foreigner or neighbor, to find its beauty and to see and feel
its grandeur? Having lived in New England all our lives, we knew
too many places to go, too many places to tell about, too many
wonderful autumn trails. And it was no surprise to either of us as we
traveled the roads researching the book that there were countless
more.*h
The challenges of choosing only 15 routes in six states were many.
Besides our first objective of finding inspiring and varied land-
scapes coupled with places of interest, we knew that the roads we
suggest must be in good shape and that directions should be easy.
We offer a combination of well-known and not-so-well-known
routes which, hopefully, fulfill our goal of suggesting and describ-
ing some of the best autumn experiences available in New Eng-
land. We describe the routes in various ways, give directions and
offer some of the nuts and bolts about travel in the area, including a
list of fairs, festivals, places of interest, accommodations and im-
portant telephone numbers in the back of each chapter. We do not
make gallant attempts to express the beauty of the place, but leave
that up to the reader. We tell you only where you might find it.
We do not propose that travelers follow our routes and stops to the
last letter. There are scores of places on or near these routes – hid-
den side roads, hiking trails, shops, scenic areas and historic sites –
which are not mentioned, or perhaps only hinted at, in the text.
Based on your travel needs and interests, make your own itinerary
with this book as a reference. Mainly, get out and have a good
time... and certainly, while you’re on the road, follow the beat of
your own drummer.
Autumn in New
England
How, When & Where
Autumn is the season when New England shows off its best
aside. It seems as if the trees know they will soon lose their
leaves, so they send them off in a blaze of color. Oak, maple, dog-
wood, aspen, beech and birch turn from a uniform green to distinc-
tive hues of scarlet, orange, yellow and maroon. And the
evergreens deserve credit, too, for they give the contrast and
darker background that makes the deciduous trees seem all the
brighter. As the shorter days and cooler weather cause the trees to
stop producing chlorophyll (which has a dominant green color),
the other pigments in the leaves begin to show through. In effect,
the deciduous trees slow down at the end of the season, storing
food in the roots and the leave’s food-making work is over. Differ-
ent varieties of trees turn different colors and it is this glorious com-
bination that makes autumn so special. Although the different
species of trees are responsible for the color, equally important
(from a visual perspective) is the lay of the land. It is the hills and
valleys that provide the vistas where a wide array of brilliant hues
are splashed before us.
In open meadows all across the countryside, wildflowers add their
beauty to the fall. Yellow tones of goldenrod, pink and purple
Joe-Pye weed and violet astors seem to enjoy the last strong rays of
the sun. Even one of the conifers, the cone-bearing tamarack, gets
in on the act, when its lacy foliage turns yellow before dropping off.
Migrating birds and butterflies touch down for a rest on their way
south and hawks ride the thermals above ridgetops as they, too,
head for warmer weather. All the while, the combination of cool
Autumn in New England 4
nights and shorter days keeps the deciduous trees on their march
toward peak color.
Although fall’s glory can be enjoyed throughout most of the United
States, New England is recognized as the prime “leaf-peeping” re-
gion with the most vivid colors. From Maine to Rhode Island, the
area boasts the most dramatic colors because of the cool nights
and the tree species that grow there.
Autumn officially begins on September 23rd, the date of the au-
tumnal equinox, when day and night are of equal length. It ends on
December 22nd, but by that time the leaves have long since fallen.
The trick in enjoying the foliage transformation is to time your
viewing to coincide with peak or near-peak color.
The first hints of color usually start in the mountains of Maine, New
Hampshire and Vermont as early as the first of September and
usually reach their peak at the end of the month and the beginning
of October. This rainbow of turning foliage follows the Appala-
chian chain southward into the Berkshires of Massachusetts and
the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut. By mid- to late October, the pro-
cession of colors has spread eastward toward Rhode Island and the
coastal areas of southern New England.
Some of the most eye-catching color is supplied by a handful of
trees. Maples provide more widespread, vivid beauty than any
other tree. Sugar maples can be scarlet, yellow or orange, while
swamp maples are brilliant red and are often the first tree to an-
nounce autumn’s arrival. Dogwood and sumac are predominantly
red, and birches, aspen, hickory and beeches usually have yellow
or golden leaves. Oaks tend to first turn a rust color and then
quickly show deeper shades of brown.
Certain areas of New England are “hotspots” for foliage rambles.
These include the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Green
Mountains of central Vermont and the Berkshires in western Mas-
sachusetts. The main routes through these regions can get
crowded with leaf peepers but, surprisingly, nearby back roads are
often free of traffic. Sometimes getting “lost” on a country road is