Where to See the Best Fall Foliage in Late September, Early October?
 

I am just starting to plan a long weekend trip for my husband and I so we can see some fall foliage this year. Since we live in Florida I have no idea where is the best state or time to do this. We will probably come up either the end of September or early October 2012 and want just to enjoy the fall beauty. We love staying at B & B's or Inns, no big hotels for us, so we need lots of help. I have gotten great help from Fodor's posters for our 2009 & 2010 trips to Ireland, which were WONDERFUL, so I am counting on you again. Please let me know your experiences and input. THANKS!

Many people will recommend New England - which is beautiful - but Colorado also has marvelous fall foliage.

At the end of Sept you will need to be in far northern NE or at higher elevations. Early Oct will be a little better - the best weekend for central Mass and southern Vt or NH is mid Oct, with colors changing slightly later along the coast. The Hudson Valley typically changes in mid Oct, while NYC and immediate area in more late Oct/early Nov.

There are web sites which will help you track the changing week by week - since it varies a lot by temperature and rainfall. You can start looking in Aug to get projections on timing.

ny traveler, thanks for the time suggestions, any suggestion for lodging?

Well this can be a great time to be up here. Since you are looking at the 28-1 Oct time period I would say check the Emergo farm and B&B in Danville VT. http://www.emergofarm.com/
I haven't stayed there but friends have and they swear by the place.
You can also check my site www.jeff-foliage.com which is a good resource for researching drives and places to see in the North East Kingdom. (NEK) Also there will be a fall foliage fair going on at that time period and this reminds me that I need to make sure I update that on my website.. :-)
Being up in the NEK you will be able to drive up to Jay peak which if the color is delayed like it was last year may be a early place to go for color. There are tons of little towns to visit and it's a short drive over to the White Mountains and even north of them to find color.
I think this will be your best bet for this short time period. Because if you don't want to spend the whole time in the car having a central location to base yourself from is a great way to do it.
I have friends (Kathy and Tyler from Arizona who go there every year for the past 15 years (Emergo) so I think that it's a safe bet it's a comfortable B&B.
I hope this helps

Jeff Foliage