Nature's Special Season:
Vermont Fall Foliage
OK, so Vermont fall foliage isn't a
sport, but each autumn hundreds of visitors who arrive without
reservations race from motel to motel looking for rooms. All
too often this event resembles a road rally with those that trail
the pack finding there are no rooms left for them.
Thousands of visitors come for Central Vermont's summer festivals
and winter carnivals. Several times as many come for Mother Nature's
month-long fall festival of color.
Vermont is one of only a few places in the world that has just
the right combination of climate, soils and tree species to produce
the spectacular array of colors that is fall foliage. Colors
in Central Vermont generally turn the last 10 days of September
and remain colorful through mid-October.
The change usually begins slowly - a few trees turn early. Later
a few more trees change color. Then comes the show. Almost every
year, individual forests in Central Vermont shift to full blaze
over a span of just a few days.
Those who come the first week in October will likely see the
most brilliant color. The second week of October brings the "harvest
colors." Colors are muted. Brilliant yellows have turned
golden. Many find late foliage the most impressive.
There are two sure bets every fall. Foliage will arrive, and
a few travelers who do not have room reservations will be stranded.
The key to avoiding a night in the car is to reserve well in
advance (weekends may be booked months in advance) or get a weekday
room very early in the day. Foliage will be all around you. Find
a room first and then travel the countryside. If you find rooms
are in short supply, concentrate on locations outside the larger
cities. In Central Vermont, chamber staff tries to remain on
call during periods of severe room shortages. 802-229-4619.
We've outlined auto tours and off-road bike tours of Central
Vermont. They are scenic anytime, but they are especially impressive
during fall foliage. Enjoy the views from the comfort of your
car, while biking or walking our historic downtowns:
Vermont Foliage
Reports: 1-802-828-3239 (not
toll-free)
Additional
Tips for Making Reservations
Why Leaves
Turn Color
Will there be good foliage this year? When will it be? The
answer has remained pretty much the same year after year. Yes,
there will be good foliage between mid-September and mid-October
in Vermont. Variations in frost and water table affect the brilliance
of the color, but not the timing.
The reason for the consistency is basic botany. As days grow
shorter after the summer solstice, the green leafy plants, which
depend on sunlight to manufacture their food, begin to change.
Leaf-shedding trees reduce the supply of moisture and nutrients
that supported the food-making activities of the leaves, and
they withdraw food from the leaves for storage in the permanent
parts of the tree. As that happens, the green chlorophyll pigments
are no longer replaced. When the chlorophyll disappears, the
leaves turn yellow.
The pigments that cause the yellow xanthophylls (which are responsible
for the yellows in butter and egg yokes) and carotenes (which
give carrots their yellow-orange tint) are present in the leaves
all summer, but were simply masked by the abundant green chlorophyll.
While some leaves just turn yellow, others respond to Vermont's
cool fall nights and clear, sunny days by producing another pigment
- anthocyanin. This one is red, and it mixes with the yellows
to produce flaming orange hues. When it dominates, it produces
the crimsons and even a few purples that give Vermont's fall
foliage richness and variety.
Vermont Foliage
Reports: 1-802-828-3239 (not
toll-free)
Return to Central Vermont or GO TO:
© Copyright Central Vermont chamber of Commerce ©
2002, All rights reserved.
CV chamber / P.O. Box 336 / Barre, Vermont 05641
1-877-887-3678 or CVermont1 @ AOL.com
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