Leaf peeping is big business for New England operators

NEW ENGLAND — New England and fall conjure thoughts of football and foliage – and while Tom Brady has engineered his share of winning drives for the New England Patriots, motorcoach and tour companies lead teams of leaf peepers each September and October on spectacular drives of their own.

Northeast Charter & Tour Co.

For many operators in New England, fall foliage tours are Super Bowls of business and, like the annual Big Game, offer their own spectacle, with changing leaves serving as nature’s pom-poms in brilliant shades of red, gold, orange and yellow carpeting hillsides, lining roads and filling camera frames.

“It’s the biggest part of the season for us,” said Jeanne M. McGurn, owner and president of The Maine Tour Connection in South Portland, a tour wholesaler that arranges custom tours throughout New England.

Her favorite fall-foliage location? Anywhere in Maine, said McGurn, also known as the “Lobster Lady.”

“I love taking the ride up to Boothbay — there’s a section that’s almost like being in a color tunnel,” she said of Route 1, which follows the Maine coastline. “It’s just so beautiful.”

Maine comes up often in fall color conversation, particularly Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. But New England neighbors New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut are color heavyweights, too, with areas like the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire among many leaf-viewing hotbeds.

The challenge is knowing when and where to visit each. A general rule of thumb is that the colors move from north to south, roughly between about mid- to late-September to about mid-October.

Peak colors typically start earlier at the higher elevations and occur later at the lower elevations and in southern New England.

Some websites, including http://archive.boston.com/travel/specials/foliage_map and https://newengland.com/seasons/fall/foliage/peak-fall-foliage-map, offer an approximation of peak color dates in New England.

Of course, conditions vary depending on temperatures and other factors that only Mother Nature controls.

“It just depends where you are and — one day it’s so-so and a week later that same section is absolutely spectacular,” said Scott Riccio, president and owner of Northeast Charter & Tour Co., which operates 28 charter buses out of Lewiston, Maine.

Cruise ships touring the Northeastern coastline provide big business this time of year when passengers disembark for shoreline trips arranged by excursion companies that hire companies like Riccio’s to shuttle guests.

“They’re here in summer,” he said of the ships, “but they’re really here in the fall more than anything and when they’re here in the fall, they’re here to see the coast, but they’re here to see the foliage. That’s their first priority, that’s what the groups want to see is they want to see the foliage. When they’re here, it’s busy.”

The bulk of the ships visit Bar Harbor, which attracts scores of the vessels in September and October.

“It’s a monster business for everybody,” Riccio said of onshore day trips to places like Acadia or the White Mountains.

Kancamagus Highway

Chris Donnelly, president of Sugar Tours Inc. in West Dover, Vt., arranges multiday New England foliage tours for motorcoach operators and visiting groups, for which his company also will arrange transportation. The company will arrange tours for about 100 groups from about Sept. 20 to Oct. 12.

“That’s our busiest time,” Donnelly said, adding that Vermont and New Hampshire are in high demand.

For tours in later September, trips tend to go to higher elevations in Vermont because colors are already changing there, but groups visiting around Columbus Day in early October go to the Champlain Valley or southern Vermont, where colors usually lag a week behind the other areas, he said.

“I do the same thing in New Hampshire,” Donnelly said.

The Lakes Region of New Hampshire is about a week behind the White Mountains regions, he said.

Fall foliage trips are more than just looking at colors, though. Tour providers mix myriad local and regional attractions into their leaf-peeping itineraries.

The White Mountains are popular for attractions such as the Conway Scenic Railroad, Kancamagus Highway and Cannon Mountain Tram. The Lakes Region is popular for the Mount Washington cruise ships, Squam Lake cruises and Castle In The Clouds, Donnelly said.

The TravelChanel.com said the Kancamagus Highway, a 34.5-mile section of Route 112, “is renowned for its autumn leaf spectacular, making it one of the top road trips to drive during the fall leaf-viewing season. As a National Scenic Byway, the ‘Kanc,’ as the locals call it, remains unspoiled by homes or service stations, allowing visitors to watch the maple, beech and birch trees burst into color without distraction.”

In northern Vermont, the Stowe-Waterbury area, home of Ben & Jerry’s, is popular, as are the state capital, Montpelier, and the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Donnelly said. In the southern end, Hildene, the home of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln, is a popular destination in Manchester.

Other trips might tie in Newport, R.I., and Mystic, Conn., he said, noting Sugar Tours occur throughout New England and along the Eastern seaboard.

McGurn, the Lobster Lady, said New England is full of attractions to complement the fall foliage.

“The vineyards are beautiful that time of year as well,” she said, also noting Lake Winnipesaukee and Castle In The Clouds. “In Bar Harbor (Maine), of course, it’s just natural, spectacular beauty from atop Cadillac Mountain” in the Acadia park.

The mountain, at 1,530 feet, is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard.

Riccio, of Northeast Charter & Tour, said the bulk of fall foliage tours tend to be in northern New England, including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts.

“There are some southern New England tours that are included as well. There are some groups that want to get out to those places, but I think the bulk of it is northern New England, because that’s where the best foliage is,” he said.

Stops along the way are plentiful.

Cog Railway

It depends where groups are, but if they’re in Maine, they’ll travel up the coast and maybe stop at a museum, or Acadia and do a whale watch. If they’re in New Hampshire, they can take the Cog Railway to the top of Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England at 6,288 feet, and enjoy the surrounding White Mountains, Riccio said.

“There’s always a good museum or a state park or something of that nature to visit,” he said. “Lots of attractions are open during the fall.”

It’s also a fun time of year to visit apple orchards or fairs, he said.

“It really just depends where the tour is and there’s always some sort of activities that take place through the day, and then when you travel from one town to the next town, there’s always foliage to be seen along the route,” Riccio said. “So you usually try to pick the roads that have the best foliage.”

Brenda Tidwell, co-owner of Leisure Time Charters & Tours in Emerson, Ga., said fall colors are one of the highlights on the “East Coast Sampler” tour she arranged. The tour starts in Georgia, travels up the coast to spots like Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and the Statue of Liberty, and continues as far as Maine.

Her favorite fall location, like the Lobster Lady’s, is Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

“It’s the water, it’s the hotel we use, it’s the smallest of the towns,” Tidwell said. “It’s just a beautiful little place.”

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