If you are lucky enough to spend your autumns in the northeastern U.S. or southeastern Canada, you will probably argue this area is the best place in the world to see leaves change. The forests have a wide variety of deciduous trees and the climate cooperates, frequently stunningly. Generally the leaves turning travels north to south, and higher to lower. Maine leads off in mid-September, ending with the coastal areas of southern New England around the fourth week of October. Some of New England's best leaf-peeping are in New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest and Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest. Or you can cruise east to west across Massachusetts and see many colorful scenes on state preserves.

The Midwest is a close rival to the Northeast. Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan all have brilliant displays. All the Midwest National Forests feature fall color -- take a look at the Hiawatha and Ottawa in Michigan, the Chippewa and Superior in Minnesota, the Shawnee in Illinois, and the Hoosier in Indiana. If you visit Michigan's Hiawatha Forest, don't miss the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. It includes deep hardwood forests along the shores of Lake Superior.

The forests of the South don't reach the brilliance of New England, with neither quite as good a mix of trees or the sudden cold snaps that set the northeast ablaze. The autumnal hardwood forests tend towards warm russet brown with touches of bright yellow. Nonetheless, you can head for Virginia and North Carolina's George Washington and Nantahala National Forests. And a little further north, the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia is no fall slouch.

Out west, evergreens are predominant. But throughout much of the Rocky Mountains, you will find the mountain gold of the turning aspen. GORP's favorite is Colorado - the Maroon Bells outside of Aspen defensibly offer the most impressive vista of turning aspen anywhere, set against a background of three 14,000 foot mountains shaped like purple teardrops. Try any of the national forests in Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana.

Hey, and if you live in the desert southwest or California, take a trip in autumn. You have the rest of the year to enjoy the spectacular outdoors closer to home.

	Why Leaves Change Color Chlorophylls make leaves green all summer long. These chemicals catalyze sugar and starch production. But when a cold snap strikes, a tree grows a layer of cork between stem and leaf, blocking the flow of water and minerals. All the chlorophyll is used up. What's left in the leaves, hidden beneath the green all along, are carotenoids. The bright yellows and oranges of the carotenoids color everything from carrots to egg yolks to daffodils to canaries. And they turn Colorado mountainsides into seas of gold. But what about the reds and purples? Unlike the carotenoids, they have not been there all along, camouflaged by chlorophyll. When the night air cools, sugar is trapped in the leaves, producing anthocyanins. The resulting pigments may first edge a few leaves in purple, then turn whole trees to a fiery red.

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Midwest National Forests
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore