Women’s Health USA – September 2019

Enjoying the change of seasons teaches you to embrace transitions

of all sorts, experts say. So celebrate fall in the most colorful way possible:

Leaf-peep across the entire country as you visit these insane spots.

Live in Color

THE NORTHEAST TO

THE MID-ATLANTIC

LATE SEPTEMBER TO

NOVEMBER

An elaborate mix of species—

brilliant red maples, yellow-

to-orange sugar maples, vari-

ous oaks, golden hickories,

and fruit gums (with yellow,

red, and purple leaves on

the same tree)—creates an

OMG-wow rainbow effect,

peaking first in Maine, then

moving down to Virginia, says

Nina Bassuk, PhD, a horticul-

turist at Cornell University.

COLORADO

LATE SEPTEMBER TO

EARLY OCTOBER

The Rocky Mountain state

is home to the stunning

aspen tree (and not just in

Aspen, btw), whose leaves

shine a bright yellow before

dropping a couple of weeks

later. “The expanse of the

trees on the mountains is

impressive,” Bassuk says,

noting that higher eleva-

tions turn first. Visit Kebler

Pass and Breckenridge.

CALIFORNIA

OCTOBER TO

MID-NOVEMBER

The big-leaf maple, a

species found out West,

delivers leaves in honey

gold to orangey red—in

giant (like, head-size)

form. Take a drive around

Napa Valley for a lush

canopy that accentuates

coppery grape leaves

throughout the area’s fa-

mous vineyards. (Betcha

didn’t know those change

in autumn too!)

THE BLUE RIDGE

MOUNTAINS

LATE OCTOBER

Coast down the Skyline

Drive through Shenandoah

National Park, from Virginia

toward North Carolina.

You’ll see vibrant maples

galore—scattered among

fiery tupelos, fruit gums,

scarlet oaks (cherry red to

burgundy), yellow poplars,

and multicolored sassa-

fras. Awe, in road-trip form.

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WOMEN’S HEALTH SEPTEMBER 2019

TRAVEL