Fall Foliage in New England

Anda Galffy is the editor, writer and photographer of Travel Notes & Beyond, a collection of stories and travel impressions that focuses on worldwide destinations, art, food and culture. She has a life-long passion for photography that started back in the days of black-and-white, analog photography. Wherever she is in the world, you’ll find her behind her camera trying to catch the essence of each place, the culture, and the people. So follow along and sample some great cities, quaint destinations, historic sites and plenty of scenic beauty.

I am delighted to bring you this guest post courtesy of Anda Galffy from Travel Notes & Beyond. We don’t experience the colours of fall foliage as seen in the Northern Hemisphere here in Australia, so when Anda offered to write a guest post I jumped at the chance for her to combine her passion for photography and translate her impression of the explosion of colours of Connecticut with us.

Once October has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, the bright fall colors explode in full force. New England’s fall foliage is legendary. Across the region, leaves turn from green to gold and scarlet, purple and orange. Picture this: brilliant foliage on the background of the blue sky on a sunny afternoon, or a colonial house on the lakeshore, surrounded by scarlet maple trees. Iconic postcards like this turned New England into the most renowned destination for leaf peeping. Visitors from all over the world crowd the roads of the region, hoping to catch a glimpse to this idyllic scenery.  Tourism brings close to 3 billion dollars/year during this season, so you can rightly say that money grows on trees in autumn in New England.

This past week I joined the millions of leaf peepers who came to ravel in the beautiful colors that nature has produced this season. My reason wasn’t exactly watching the fall foliage, but rather of a personal matter, which didn’t diminish the excitement when I realized I dropped in at the most spectacular time of the year. Ah, what a thrill!  It’s absolutely spectacular. The colors are incredibly bright: from red, to yellow, to fuchsia, or even burgundy, it is delightful to watch the hills and meadows beaming with color. Local fairs and festivals, apple picking, pumpkin patches, everything around seems to be a celebration of the beauty of this season.

But what makes the leaves turn scarlet and gold in mid-September in northern areas? The stretch of cool and sunny weather produces an abundance of bright red pigments. The variety and intensity of autumn colors is very much influenced by the weather, the brightest colors being produced when dry, sunny days are followed by cool, dry nights. Formerly green leaves turn to brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red. As for the intensity of the colors, that is determined by a combination of weather, altitude and soil, plus certain species of trees.

There is nothing more colorful and exhilarating than fall in New England. And if you think the Yankees are bragging for no reason, you should come see for yourself. And for your inspiration, I’ve picked some scenes that will hopefully delight your eyes.