(UPDATE: Thanks! with picture) Fall color locations

I'll be traveling through upstate and western NY, CT and PA in mid-October (with travel through western MA and northwest NJ a likelihood en-route) and am looking for a couple of great fall color photo locations. I'll be based out of Rochester NY, Windsor CT and Harrisburg PA, but will have camping gear and am willing to take significant (for the East) detours...

I've posted a similar request to the MANP forum since this request crosses boundaries, but if you have suggestions for that area I'd love to hear them. I'm kinda thinking of focusing on Harriman SP, but am open to suggestions. Color and range of color is what I'm looking for, but wouldn't mind some scenic water to highlight fall colors too...

Thanks,
Les

Hi Les. You'll be out in my neck of the woods! If you are heading from Rochester towards CT you will be going through the heart of the Finger Lakes. There are many photo opps around here. If you are into lakes and waterfalls, you can't beat this area. A good place to start, rather than me rewriting everything is NY Falls. I have some images from local falls here: LINK I'm not sure we're going to have a great display of color around here though. We've had a very dry summer. Mostly rustic colors starting to show through from what I'm seeing. Some leaves have already fallen.

If you take the thruway (Rt. 90) you'll pass the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge. Here's what you can expect to see. It's a drive-through area with a few walking paths. Should be a great time to catch the Canadian and Snow Geese.

Also, continuing on Rt. 90 you'll drive along the south edge of the Adirondacks. There are lakes and waterfalls in that area.

I'm not familiar with the Hartford area of CT but know of a waterfall and covered bridge near Danbury (actually Kent, CT).

If you are north of Harrisburg, PA about 2 hours...Dushore, PA....you could visit Ricketts Glen State Park. I haven't made it there yet but everyone raves about it.

When are you going on your trip and for how long? Mid-October is NYC Photo Expo time. Are you attending? I'll be heading to Danbury, CT and NYC on 10/17-10/21.

Let me know if you have more specific questions about the Finger Lakes area. I may be able to help. Not much help with the other area, unfortunately.

Thanks, Jennifer. I lived in Rochester for a number of years and am generally familiar with that region and the Finger Lakes; wish I had time for Montezuma - I miss it - but for this trip it's color, assuming there's anything that hasn't dried up and fallen off...

I'll have to look in to Ricketts Glen; it's a bit of a trip, but I can detour on my way from CT to Harrisburg possibly. The waterfall photos from there look stunning - looks like it competes with the best of the NY gorge parks!

My main purpose on the trip is familial - I'm just trying to squeeze in three or so days of Eastern color while I'm there...

As nice as it is here I'd rather be in CO!

Feel free to post here again or email me and I can give you further reports as your visit gets closer.

Les, my favorite area for fall photography is litchfield hills in CT - you will find many lakes and backroads there.

That's where I'm heading on 10/17. It is a beautiful area, Les. If you get Outdoor Photography, they recently (within last 6 months?) had a nice photograph of Candlewood Lake in the 'Favorites' section.

Thanks for all the advice. In the end it was Harriman and Ricketts Glen; a lot of areas were still pretty green when I went through - the best was Western Mass. and I didn't get a chance to stop for any shots...

Here's a sample from Harriman as a token. It was really hazy, so this underwent a lot of recovery work; my sample print looks good, but my monitor seems to be wildly different every time I fire it up, so if it's off, I apologize.