Best Fall Foliage Destinations in USA and Canada

Mother Nature is about to unveil her technicolor glory.

These are the best fall foliage destinations in the USA and Canada to enjoy crisp air, panoramic views and special events celebrating both.

Fall Foliage in New York’s Hudson Valley

Napa and Sonoma is so last year.

This year, head for the wine country of the Hudson Valley just north of New York City, where there are more than two dozen wineries, some planted in the 1700s by the French Huguenots who settled this area.

Their furnished houses still stand on Huguenot Street in New Paltz, open for historic tours.

All but the smallest have tastings; larger wineries including Millbrook Vineyards also have concerts and shops featuring locally made artisanal cheeses, jams and other edible goodies.

Millbrook, by the way, was founded by John Dyson, the former New York State commissioner of commerce, who hired Milton Glaser in the 1970s to design the I Love New York logo for a tourism campaign.  The I Love NY logo has become world-famous and copied by other cities, states and countries around the world.

There’s also some serious feasting at the Culinary Institute of America where part of the college education is cooking and running the four gourmet restaurants on campus.

Dozens of rock climbers dangle daily from the steep cliff face of what locals call “The Gunks”, short for the Shawangunk foothills of the Catskills, and generally regarded as some of the best rock climbing in the country. There are some 1,000 technical climbing routes on this one rock wall face.

This pristine area contains the Minnewaska State Park Preserve and the Mohonk Preserve, with more than 100 miles of walking, jogging and cycling paths, including on 19^th century carriage roads.

Or, walk through American history at the West Point Museum which displays everything from Revolutionary War flintlocks to artifacts from the NASA space program.

Where to Stay:

Mohonk Mountain House perched on a cliff above a 60-foot deep glacier-carved lake, this sprawling 250-room luxury lodge started life as a 10-room inn and tavern in the 1860s.

See Also

Best Scenic Train Rides in the USA

Fall Foliage in Albuquerque

Not all the hot air is in Congress or on the campaign trail.  The biggest annual concentration is in the skies over Albuquerque each October, as thousands of colorful hot air balloons float silently above the desert landscape

A good place to watch the show is from the top of Sandia Peak via a ride on the world’s longest aerial tram, and a great spot for bargain-priced Native American jewelry is in Albuquerque’s Old Town.

Then head north to one of the many pueblos, within an hour’s drive of downtown.  Most famous is Taos, but most fascinating may be Acoma “Sky City” atop a plateau, also known for the intricately painted pottery made by tribal members.

Ride into the sunset atop a horse from the stables at the luxe Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa , which sits astride the Rio Grande, which you can also raft.

There’s still some whitewater left this late in the season, and there’s always the spectacular red rock canyon.

The Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, the High Road between Taos and Santa Fe, Highway 64, and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad are among the attractions for fall color.

In nearby Taos, excellent choices for hiking include the Williams Lake Trail, the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail, the Goose Creek Trail and the Columbine Trail. The Angel Fire Resort also offers the Chile Express chairlift for people who don’t want to hike.

• Read my article about Taos written for Orbitz Travel

Where to Stay:

The Sheraton Old Towne is walking distance from almost everything, including shops and Albuquerque’s wonderful children’s museum, Explora!

Fall Foliage in Quebec

Eat yourself silly at one of the outdoor cafes along Rue St. Louis in Old Quebec, where buildings date to the 1600s. Or, climb aboard a modern hydrofoil for a whale-sighting expedition in the St. Lawrence River.

Head 30 minutes north of town to Montmorency Falls, taller than Niagara Falls, with a cablecar to the top, bridges across the top and nighttime fireworks.

There are guided canoe trips in the Jacques Cartier National Park, and a cruise at the largest water park in Canada, with 23 slides, at Saint Gabriel de Valcartier.

Or, just stay in town and wander around the only walled city north of old Mexico, discovered in 1535 by French explorer Jacques Cartier – 70 years before Henry Hudson discovered what became New York City.

Where to Stay:

The historic, castle-like Fairmont Chateau Frontenac (pictured above) s Quebec’s most renowned landmark, dominating the city’s skyline from a cliff above the St. Lawrence.  It’s in the center of Old Quebec, walking distance from just about everything.

Yes, there are lots of places to enjoy the annual autumn foliage show from Mother Nature.

Fall Foliage in Lake Tahoe

Twenty-two miles long and 14 wide, this cobalt blue lake is ringed with snow-capped mountains year-round – some of them dotted with world-class ski trails great for hiking and mountain biking in autumn.

Enjoy a wide-angle view of all Lake Tahoe’s jaw-dropping beauty suspended 500-feet above the surface hanging from a para-sail chute at Zephyr Cove.

Most of the land around the lake is state or federal parkland, with hundreds of miles of trails, paved and not.

Hike the rugged Rubicon Trail near Emerald Bay, stake out your own section of the Tahoe Rim trail, which rings the lake, or bike to Fallen Leaf Lake, a mini-version of Tahoe, from Camp Richardson, where rustic lakeside cabins are tucked among the talk pines.

Where to Stay:

Although the casino-hotels at South Lake Tahoe, including Caesars, Harrah’s, Harvey’s and Horizon, are larger and more modern, there’s real history and time warp Fifties décor up north at Cal-Neva Resort.

It was once owned by Frank Sinatra and favored by the “Rat Pack” and JFK. Check out the line painted down the middle of the Indian Room ballroom – California on one side, Nevada on the other and a mini-museum of Washoe Indian artifacts along the walls.

There’s also a tunnel, open for guided tours, that Sinatra and guests like Marilyn Monroe used to visit other guest cabins. Her ghost is said to haunt the tunnel, although I didn’t see it on my last visit.

Fall Foliage Trackers

Wondering when the fall leaves will be at peak color?

Follow these handy online fall foliage trackers to help you predict peak leaf-peeping times in the US and Canada.

United States

• Fall foliage tracker for the Lake Placid area of the Adirondacks.
• Visit Adirondacks has a fall travel guide to the whole region.
• The I Love New York fall foliage report focuses on all of New York state, including New York City.
• Vermont Tourism has a map showing when leaves normally change, but this fall foliage forecaster doesn’t give specific information for a given year.
• The White Mountains region of New Hampshire also has a foliage tracker.
• This New England Foliage map shows the status of the leaves across all six New England states.
• This predictive map on a Smoky Mountains website actually covers all of the lower 48 U.S. states. It shows you when leaves are likely to peak in various places, but doesn’t offer live reports.

Canada

• Ontario Parks has a constantly updated fall foliage report for all of its parks.
• Here’s a fall colors tracker for the Haliburton Highlands tourism area, west of Ottawa.
• This website focuses on areas north of Toronto and also has leaf information for the whole province.
• This Quebec tourism website provides leaf-peeping updates.

This article was published first in 2017 and is updated annually, including for 2024.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 20+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA), a former Board Member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and a current member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA).

Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.

Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter