Headline News
Abundant Fall Foliage Deals Are Designed
to Entice You to Get Outdoors and Play
If you haven't already booked a fall trip, the slew of last-minute deals should spur you into action. Fall's cooler weather brings a welcome reprieve to summer outdoor recreation such as hiking, biking, paddling, climbing and flyfishing. Add brilliant colors, migrating birds and active animals preparing for the upcoming winter, and you've got plenty of good reasons to immerse yourself in nature.
Look for tempting deals designed to lure you into visiting this fall. Many hotels are offering discounted nights, complimentary nights or value-added coupons to be used for activities, dining and spa treatments. The hotels touting the best deals tend to be upscale, since even the wealthiest travelers are cutting back and hotels are desperate to fill empty rooms. If you belong to a hotel loyalty program, you might even score bonus points for your stay. Some online resources that will help you track down the best lodging deals: DealBase.com, Hotels.com, and Kayak.com.
Perhaps you're looking to cut back even more on lodging rates. Consider car camping, backpacking, hut trips and kayak camping. With summer winding down and kids back in school, it's easier to find openings. Scott and I are currently trying to decide where we want to go kayak camping. We're looking at New York's Lake George Islands, various lakes in New York's Adirondack Park including Saranac Lake Islands and Indian Lake Islands, and Lake Umbagog State Park in New Hampshire. We'll let you know where we end up going!
What if you don't want to stay close to home? Steadily declining airfares might provide just the ticket you need to fly to that special distant place you've always wanted to visit in the fall. Some online resources that will help you track down the best airfare deals: FareCompare.com (use its online tools and/or sign up for real-time alerts), SmarterTravel.com (use its online tools and/or sign up for weekly last-minute deal alerts ) and Bing Travel (use its comparison tools and price predictions to know where to go and when to buy, with the caveat that for now, only major U.S. cities and a few Canadian cities are included).
If you're trying to figure out the typical fall foliage timeline for various regions around North America, try my favorite foliage websites:
1) The Foliage Network, www. foliagenetwork.com, not only carries fall foliage reports for the current season but also archived reports from the previous season. The site relies on "foliage spotters" across the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest of the United States and is updated weekly during foliage season.
2) The U.S. Forest Service Fall Foliage Report, www.fs.fed.us/news/fallcolors, issues the current season's fall foliage reports for national forests throughout the United States.
3) Yankee Foliage, www.yankeefoliage.com, is Yankee Magazine's fall foliage report covering New England and includes foliage reports from "foliage ambassadors," as well as trip ideas, scenic drives, forums and photo galleries.
4) The Weather Network's Fall Colour Report of Eastern Canada, www.theweathernetwork.com/fallcolour/index, is a fall foliage resource for New Brunswick, Nocia Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
5) Ontario Parks Fall Colour Report, www.parkreports.com/fall, provides updated fall foliage reports for provincial parks in Ontario.
6) While states and provinces across North America promote fall as prime time to visit, most fall foliage reporting websites focus on the East and Midwest. It's especially difficult to find foliage reports for Western regions as well as for Canada. However, you can find North American fall foliage reports for most if not all states and provinces by visiting state and provincial tourism board websites. These sites often include historical foliage data so you know when the colors are generally in full swing.