Driving through New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, the joy of autumn colours reveals itself.
What is leaf-peeping?
Up until I actually tried it, I’d treated the concept of “leaf-peeping” with utter contempt. For the uninitiated, the general concept works as follows: You drive around the New England region of the US for a few days looking at trees, which are much more interesting in autumn because the leaves are falling off and they’re turning different colours.
This had always struck me as being more about cunning marketing than genuine interest factor. After all, if you can lure people up to New England during the autumn months when the weather is more iffy, then you’ve extended the tourism season and pulled in millions of dollars. Good thinking.
I’d also had it marked down firmly under the bracket of “holidays for old people”. It’s the sort of uninspiringly comfortable thing that’s heavily marketed at those with grown up children, grey hair and more money than sense of adventure.
But then I got behind the wheel.
Driving from Boston
The journey started in Boston, the biggest city in New England. I had no intention of driving around the area to look at trees – my aim was to go west for more interesting attractions. I’d take the quickest road possible, and that happened to be the soulless multi-lane I-90 toll road.
It may have been multi-lane, but it wasn’t soulless. Hills dipped and rose, the road narrowed and expanded, but the one constant was the blaze of colour. Unlike driving on a motorway in Britain, where you’re only ever a few hedges away from a mediocre town such as Kettering or Warrington, America has plenty of space. The roads cut through miles of forest – there’s a genuine feeling of slicing through the middle of nowhere.
And for all my cynicism, there was something gently stunning about the colours of the trees. There’s a lot to be said for being deciduous. It’s about the panorama rather than the particular colours though.
Leef-peeping in New York
The key discovery, however, is that this sort of thing doesn’t stop as soon as you leave New England. It kept on coming as I drove across New York (state rather than city – so good they didn’t have to name it twice). Mountain ranges, hills, curving roads through the middle of nowhere, and that astonishing hit of colour. It’s a fantastic state to travel though, with nothing particularly amazing to grab undue attention, but a consistent, warming sense of enjoyability.
It continued through Pennsylvania, and arguably the most stunning single hit came just after entering Ohio. Turning round a bend, with a steep dip on the other side, the horizon lit up under a feistily gloomy sky. It was brilliant – utterly bliss-inducing.
That was the key feeling. I’m someone who regards driving as a means to an end at best, but throughout the hours ticking off the miles from Boston to mid-West, I was happy. Happy to just sit behind the wheel, burn the petrol and just take it all in. I’d have happily kept driving for longer, pulling over occasionally for a refuel and a feed. What I stopped at and saw became immaterial – it was about the experience of travelling through, smiling uncontrollably.
The secret of leaf-peeping
This, I think, is the secret of leaf-peeping. To go to the US and do it as the sole purpose of being there is madness. But to take it in as part of the journey – where you’re deliberately going from A to B and taking in other attractions on the way – is a simple and gloriously rewarding pleasure.
Make it a happy bonus rather than the sole purpose and those stints behind the wheel do a remarkable job of kicking cynicism to the kerb.
More Massachusetts travel
Other Massachusetts travel stories on Planet Whitley include:
- Discovering the secrets of Harvard on a walking tour.
- How Salem became the Halloween capital of the US.
- Attempting to get into baseball.
