Looking to fall all over the autumn foliage?

Over Labor Day weekend, we traveled to Middle Tennessee for the National Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration championship show in Shelbyville. I always enjoy that trip, especially after you top Monteagle and descend into the fertile farmland of Middle Tennessee. 

As we drove along this scenic route, however, I was wishing the Celebration took place a few weeks later, when the bright colors of fall foliage paint a stunning picture on the landscape. The air is beginning to get a little cooler up there, but the leaves are still bright green at the moment.

This morning, a friend posted pictures of an outdoor wedding she had attended at a New England farm over Labor Day. There were those bold reds and golds I was wishing for, just beginning to dot the trees up north.

It will be a few more weeks before the South can expect to see the colors of fall. I plan to use the time to map out a weekend getaway where I can enjoy the changing leaves and spend some outdoor time with my family. I know that Atlanta has a lot of trees and puts on its own beautiful display, but there’s something about mountain roads lined with acres of colorful leaves that makes me want to jump in the car for a road trip. (If I can find some boiled peanuts at a roadside stand along the way, my fall weekend will be perfect.)  

If know if you want to view the earliest leaves, you have to head to the higher elevations. In the mountains of Western North Carolina, the Asheville Fall Foliage report is already predicting the first rounds of color could begin in late September along the highest points and spread beautifully down the mountainsides through October. Eastern Tennessee and West Virginia also offer Southerners an early peek. 

Once October hits, most trees in the middle South down through northern Georgia come alive with color. Then, the deciduous trees in the remaining parts of the South follow through mid-to-late November.   

The most-traveled southern routes are always crowd pleasers, but I would love to find a scenic road not often taken by the crowds. It could be a weekend in a small town off the beaten path or simply camping – anywhere that I can get a good taste of fall.

What are your favorite fall foliage routes to take? How crowded are they? Do you make day trips or do you plan a weekend of activities in nearby towns around the peak colors? Are there any good camping spots you would recommend to get an up-close view? Are the foliage routes better in some Southern states than in others?  Have you ever traveled further afield (i.e. New England or out West) simply to take in the fall leaves?