Some of New England's Best Spots for Stunning Fall Foliage
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The Northeast's fall foliage dazzles locals and draws millions of tourists, but many flock to the same tired vantage points.
Those willing to venture off the beaten path will be rewarded with stunning and comparatively uncrowded autumn vistas - and some killer selfies.
Here's your guide to the best corners of New England for leaf-peeping:
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CONNECTICUT
The Heublein Tower in Simsbury, Connecticut sits at the top of Talcott Mountain State Park.
The 165-foot tower was built in 1914 by liquor magnate Gilbert Heublein as a summer home and offers spectacular views that on a clear day extend north to the Berkshires in Massachusetts and south to Long Island Sound.
Getting to the tower involves a relatively easy 1¼-mile hike up a foliage-filled trail that winds up the mountain with plenty of overlooks of the Farmington River Valley. There's also a nearby pumpkin patch where visitors can enjoy hayrides and pumpkin picking.
-Pat Eaton-Robb
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MAINE
Nestled in tiny Turner in the foothills of Maine, Ricker Hill Orchards combines two of New England's most beloved autumn activities: picking your own apples and admiring the turning leaves. The orchard's hillside "u-pick" area offers a stunning view of Maine's western lakes and mountains region, with views of foliage stretching all the way to New Hampshire.
The ninth-generation orchard also offers fall staples such as cider and cider doughnuts along with its apples and views. It's about an hour's drive north of Portland - a ride with its own superb views of the fall spectacle.
-Patrick Whittle
Susan Hope
Necn viewer Susan Hope took this photo at the Daniel Webster Estate and Heritage Center in Marshfield, Mass.
Brian Murphy
Rye, New Hampshire, in early October
cablecarjunkie
Rte 104 in Danbury, New Hampshire
Kevin Morris
Barrington, New Hampshire
Sharon Meehan
West Barnet, Vermont
TJ McCullough
Christopher Wright
Foliage at William H. Morse State Airport in Bennington, Vermont.
Russ Lunt
Fall colors popping out at Forest City Cemetery in South Portland, Maine.
Donna Condito Gerstenmaier
Randolph, Vermont.
Sue Shattuck
Shannon Pond in Moultonboro, New Hampshire.
Dana Pierce
Sassaquin Pond in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Bob Demers
Fall foliage in Chelsea, Vermont.
Bob Demers
The view in Berkshire Heights in Berkshire, Vermont.
Peg Gorman
Fall foliage in Warren, Massachusetts.
Linda Sassi
Royalston, Massachusetts
Joy
Grand Summit Hotel in Sunday River, Maine.
Attitash Mountain, New Hampshire
Joanne Coriaty
Brockton, Massachusetts
Betty
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Judy McColgan
Freetown, Massachusetts
Marylou Spalding
Norwich Lake, Huntington, Massachusetts
Vershire Heights, Vermont
Harry Sharbaugh
Wendell State Forest, Wendell, Massachusetts
Mark Tuckerman
Mount Kearsarge, Salisbury, New Hampshire
Tom Barnes
Blissful Meadows Golf Club in Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Ian Murray
Old Schoolhouse in Cabot Plains, Vermont
Mark Tuckerman
Mount Kearsarge, Salisbury, New Hampshire
Tom Barnes
Blissful Meadows Golf Club in Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Ian Murray
Old Schoolhouse in Cabot Plains, Vermont
Mark Tuckerman
Backwater River, Andover, New Hampshire
Mike McBride
Necn viewer Mike McBride shared this image of the foliage in Charlemont, Massachusetts.
Bob Demers
This foliage photo was taken on Oct. 20 in Pepperell, Massachusetts.
Jimmy Chafin
Foliage around Southport Island in Maine
Jimmy Chafin
Foliage around Southport Island in Maine
Jacqueline McCrillis
Necn viewer Jacqueline McCrillis took this photo at Callahan State Forest in Marlboro
David Azarian
Fall foliage in Dover, NH
George Hall
Foliage at Cape Neddick in Maine
Steve Murray
Greene, ME foliage
Terry McGonagle
North Reading, MA foliage
Eileen Murray
Foliage in Groveland, MA
Michelle Laglisci
Tesia Durafourt
Tesia Durafourt
A bike path in Granby, CT
Tesia Durafourt
Susan Booker
Fall foliage at the Bennington Battle Monument in Vermont.
Linda Candreva
Linda Candreva
Linda Candreva
Russ Lunt
Necn viewer Russ Lunt sent us this photo of fall foliage taken at Fort Williams Park on Cape Elizabeth in Maine.
Mark Tuckerman
Crystal Paquette
Dana Pierce
Dolly Sullivan
Chris Kenny
Michelle Loglisci
Larry Shane
Katey Elizabeth
Necn viewer Katey sent us her photos of foliage in her backyard in Assonet, MA.
Katey Elizabeth
Katey Elizabeth
Mikayla Stannard
Allan Smith
Necn viewer Allan Smith sent us his photos of foliage in his backyard in Framingham, MA.
Allan Smith
Denise Zielinski
Terri Murphy
Phyllis Cerel
Michael Doherty
Lucille Leoni
Lydia Caserta
Cathy Wilkie Conley
Krista Shell
Chris Piccardi
Necn viewer Chris Piccardi took this photo at the Crystal Lake Golf Course in Harrisville, RI.
Soul Kore
Soul Kore
Mark Tuckerman
Susan Riley
Thomas Lee
David Moog
Necn viewer David Moog took this photo at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston
Debi Paisley
Katie Bruce
Keri M
Donna Cobb
Soul Kore
Tom Souza
Barbara Tolson Cunningham
Barbara Shaw
Susan Hope
Necn viewer Susan Hope took this photo at the Daniel Webster Estate and Heritage Center in Marshfield, Mass.
JB Parrett
Necn viewer took this photo of the foliage over the Charles River.
Laurel d'Entremont
Foliage near Middlesex Fells Reservation in Massachusetts
Mikey Sly
Necn viewer Mikey Sly took this photo at Odiorne Point State Park in Rye, NH.
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MASSACHUSETTS
Most people associate Cape Cod with summer, sand and surf, but the peninsula offers some postcard-perfect backdrops for foliage.
Cross over the Sagamore Bridge and take the first exit onto rural Route 6A, which winds and twists through the scenic and historic town of Sandwich. The Old King's Highway, as it used to be known, hugs Cape Cod Bay and is lined with ancient stone walls, white picket fences, ponds and pastures.
Two worthwhile stops in Sandwich: Heritage Museums and Gardens, where you can meander paths bordered by stunning flora; and the Green Briar Nature Center, next to the conservation area where Thornton Burgess dreamed up Peter Rabbit and other characters.
-William J. Kole
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Don't want to limit your leaf-peeping to a single state - or, for that matter - country? Head to Milan State Park, where a fire tower offers simultaneous views of the mountain ranges of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Canada.
Brilliant leaves in the foreground contrast beautifully with fog that settles in the valleys and the mountains in the distance. The recently renovated park, about 125 miles north of the state capital of Concord, includes a hilltop campground with a half-dozen campsites and four furnished yurts available to rent through Oct. 24.
Oh, and it's pronounced MY'-lin, not mih-LAHN'.
-Holly Ramer
Lee d'Entremont-Wilfer
Winthrop, Massachusetts
Stephen Beckwith/Scenes of Maine Photography
Nahmakanta Lake, Maine
Christopher Wright
North Bennington, Vermont
Jennifer Susan
Salisbury, Massachusetts
Lee d'Entremont-Wilfer
Winthrop, Massachusetts
Roger Porter
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Twitter @chopblock33
A rainbow after a storm in Sharon, Massachusetts.
Matt Noyes
A "pileus cloud" at the top of an incoming storm cloud in North Andover, Massachusetts.
Maine Man
Clouds coming into Intervale, New Hampshire
Twitter @PaulMSnyder
Storm clouds approaching St. Albans, Vermont.
IG @rick03907
Ogunquit, Maine
IG @jimmy_wells
Mt. Guyot, New Hampshire
IG @memedawn51
Fortune's Rock Beach, Biddeford, Maine
Maine Man
A gorgeous shot from Parsonfield, Maine.
Laura Blanchflower Swanson
Sunrise in Westminster, Mass.
Lisa Teichmann
Lake Winnpesaukee, New Hampshire
@Eweather13/Twitter
Haddam, Connecticut
Regina Dear
Air balloon in Quechee, Vermont.
From the Morse Airport in Bennington, VT: A group of energetic students from Ms deRham's Pre-K Class at Fisher Elementary School in Arlington, Vermont visited the William H. Morse State Airport in Bennington, Vermont today. The students received a tour of the airport, operations and a number of aircraft including a Cessna 182 used by the Civil Air Patrol for search and rescue operations. After a questions and answers session with pilot Tim Allen, the students built and flew toy planes supplied by Airport Manager Rob Luther.
Dave Clement
David Clement captured the sunrise in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on August 26.
Ginny Colangelo
Ginny Colangelo took this photo on August 28 of the sunrise in Revere, Massachusetts.
Tom Olson
Tom Olson shared this photo on August 14 of the moon in York, Maine.
David Epstein (@growingwisdom)
David Epstein shared this photo of the sunrise through the fog in Massachusetts on August 15.
John Gorham
NECN Viewer John Gorham send in this breathtaking scene from York Beach, Maine
Jodi Purdy-Quinlan
Bill W
Scott Colbert
Scott Colbert snapped this great pic of Fenway Park.
Betsy from Mendon, Vermont, sent us a sign that fall is coming!
Keri McAndrews sent in this great scene from Dracut, New Hampshire
Ty MacLean
Eight-year-old Ty MacLean snapped this shot at Blue Hills Reservation in Massachusetts
Keri McAndrews
Sherry Blanchard
Hothole Pond in Loudon, NH
Kathy Daly
Sugar Hill, N.H.
Dawn Vessels
Hebron, N.H.
Donna Cobb
Donna Cobb
Dawn Vessels
Crawford Notch, New Hampshire
Barbara Garrett Conrad
Kate Scheffler
Ellen Genovese Hansen
Charleen Arruda
Mark Lotterhand
Dennis, Massachusetts - "Cousins"
Keri M.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Memorial Bridge
Jeremy D'Entremont
Gloucester, Massachusetts, Annisquam Light
lmcreates - Instagram
Green River Festival, Greenfield, Mass.
rick03907 - Instagram
Sunrise through fog, Ogunquit, Maine
@erikMA1961 - Twitter
Salem, Mass.
Maine Man - Flickr
Cornish, Maine
Jack Suslak via Facebook
Lynn, Massachusetts, storm damage
jimmy_wils/Instagram
Mattapoisett, Massachusetts
Gregory Carter - Flickr
Washington, Vermont
mtrem626/Instagram
Union, Maine
jimmy_wils/Instagram
Mt. Jefferson, New Hampshire
Jennifer Glendon
Salisbury, Massachusetts
Instagram/@rad_maine
York Beach, Maine
Twitter/@787MAGGIE
Quincy, Massachusetts
B. MacLean
A Blackhawk over Boston as part of the Congressional Medal of Honor Convention.
Charlie Zapolski
Saugus, Massachusetts
Mitchell Napolitano
Sunrise in the Gulf of Maine
Caren Maloof
Sunrise in Petersham, Mass
Mr_Ferguson_Cat/Flickr
Maine moose in mist
@weathereric/Twitter
Lyndonville, Vermont
@AaronPerryLSC/Twitter
I-91 in Vermont Saturday night.
grtfll1723/Instagram
Monadnock, N.H.
Dawn Vessels
New Castle, N.H.
Dapixara Art
Festive lobster pots in Provincetown, Massachusetts
James Lucier
Jeremy D'Entremont
Nobska Point Light in Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Brenda Harris
Brenda Harris describes this Circumhorizontal Arc as a "rainbow cloud."
Cara-Jean Perry
Cara-Jean Perry describes this Circumhorizonal Arc as a "rainbow-eagle" cloud.
FILE - Jim Josef
Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire
Steven Carter
Steven Carter got an up-close pic of this squirrel.
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RHODE ISLAND
For an urban leaf-peeping experience, there are few places more picturesque than historic Benefit Street in Providence, Rhode Island. Hundred-year-old elms and other mature trees provide a canopy of spectacular color over brick sidewalks.
The mile-long street runs past a collection of Colonial, Federal and Greek Revival-style homes, and several historic churches, including the First Baptist Church in America. Situated midway up the steep College Hill, it offers occasional glimpses of a more modern downtown, the Rhode Island Statehouse and rivers below. Above it is the main campus of Brown University, another lovely spot for fall color.
-Michelle R. Smith
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VERMONT
The top of Owls Head Mountain, reached by a short hiking trail in the Groton State Forest off state Route 232, offers consistently world-class foliage displays.
With an elevation of 1,958 feet, the view from the rock face near the peak includes spectacular views of Lake Groton, Kettle Pond, Peacham Bog and an unbroken expanse of forest that in late September and early October glows red, orange and yellow.
While the more adventurous can make a 1.5-mile hike that's rated as easy to moderate, it's also possible to drive to a parking area near the top for a short walk that makes it an ideal outing with kids.
