Fall Foliage

New Hampshire’s White Mountains—and especially towering Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast—offer autumnal drama in abundance. What makes it fun is the vast variety of ways you can experience the scene. Splurge on a room at the Omni Mount Washington Hotel, one of America’s grandest hotels, in the heart of New England’s fall foliage display. Bring your clubs and play a round of golf there, amid the red and gold fall scenery.  Hike up Mount Washington to savor the views in slow motion, or choose to chug up the mountain aboard the Mount Washington Cog Railway. (Photo: Courtesy of Omni Mount Washington Resort)

Start at Havana, and drive right up Mount Magazine, which happens to be the tippy top of Arkansas at 2,800 feet. You will be glad you did. The view goes on forever, in every possible direction, in the vivid colors of autumn, capped by blue. From this aerie, you can gaze down at a deep blue lake—not surprisingly called Blue Mountain Lake—and can see foliage that may top any other fall vistas you’ve seen. There are numerous campgrounds there, if you want to feel the fall, but The Lodge at Mount Magazine offers beautiful views of the lake and the Petit Jean River Valley. Adventure lovers can soar over the valley via hang glider. Others may just enjoy leaning against a tree and gazing at the superb scenery below. (Photo: Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism)

How do you make a “Down Easter,” a Maine native, laugh? You pronounce Mount Desert as you would pronounce the Sahara Desert. Surely everyone in Maine knows that it’s pronounced “Mount Dessert,” no matter how it’s spelled. A visit to Acadia National Park, a gift to the public from John D. Rockefeller, and magnificently situated on this lovely island, gives hikers and bicyclists and folks who like to paddle their own canoes a glorious opportunity to do it all among some of North America’s most vibrant fall colors. Drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain to watch the sun set over the sea and to get the whole panorama of fall colors, or climb Acadia Mountain for big sea vistas. (Photo: National Park Service) 

Aspen, Colo. For: A Rocky Mountain High

Mohonk Mountain House, Hudson Valley, New Paltz, N.Y.

If you’ve ever seen a photo of the Grand Tetons on a glossy color calendar, odds are good that you have seen Oxbow Bend, one of the loveliest scenes in what is one of America’s prettiest national parks. Add fall colors and it is perfection. Locals say that end of September is prime time for autumn drama, when the aspens pull out all the stops, in shades of scarlet, orange, and gold. And you get a double whammy because the colors are reflected in the waters of Oxbow Bend. Come back at sunset, when the pastel pinks and purples add to the palate. Keep your eyes out for massive grizzlies shambling through the forest, and for bull moose that look like they are sporting large chandeliers.  (Photo: iStockphoto)