By Patricia and Robert Foulke

 When a medley of trees on forested hillsides come ablaze each fall, a feast for the eyes begins, reaches a peak and ends. That makes all of us pay attention to seeing again, because we know what is here today will be gone tomorrow. 

So, like many others, we still look forward to driving the winding roads in northern New York and New England each fall. During leaf season we try to reverse the pace of daily life, slow down, look about as if we had an infinity of afternoons to fill, and even wander aimlessly. 

An Adirondack Adventure

Visitors come to Lake George Village to gaze northward and perhaps take a fall-color cruise past mansions, a grand hotel, the wilderness area through the Narrows, and into placid Paradise Bay, surrounded by islands and mountains.

A driving tour heads north on Route 9N, passing through Bolton Landing with perhaps a lunch stop at the Sagamore,a grand hotel rebuilt several times since 1883. Continue up and over Tongue Mountain, where you can hike to one of the outlooks for sweeping views of the Narrows of Lake George.

Fort Ticonderoga was built in 1755, and its position overlooking Lake Champlain at the portage to Lake George gave it control of the water route between New York and Montreal. Today, you can visit this fort which played a crucial role in both the French and Indian War and the Revolution.

From the town of Ticonderoga, head west on Route 74 along the shores of Eagle and Paradox to join the Northway (I-87), then jog north to the next exit. Continue west on Route 2 through sparsely settled forest land past the road to Tahawus, where Vice President Teddy Roosevelt was staying in the High Peaks region in 1901 when he learned that President William McKinley was dying from an assassin's bullet.

Soon you'll join Route 28N and continue west to Newcomb and the gate to Camp Santanoni, one of the legendary "Great Camps" in the Adirondacks built as wilderness retreats by millionaires. There is no access to Camp Santanoni by motorized vehicles, but you can hike and bike in, or make reservations for space on horse-drawn wagons.

Continue west on Route 28N to Long Lake, then turn south on Route 30 to Blue Mountain Lake and the Adirondack Museum. Extensive collections representing every aspect of Adirondack industry and recreation are housed inside in 22 buildings, including a private railway car and many other North Country artifacts.

Western Connecticut And the Litchfield Hills

This tour through the sparsely inhabited rolling hills of northwestern Connecticut starts and ends in Litchfield. The town remains a living museum of 18th-century life through the perseverance of residents who restored older buildings to their original state and converted newer ones to colonial styles. Along South Street and around the Green, you can enjoy the facades of many of these buildings and visit the elegant Congregational Church and the Litchfield Historical Society.

Begin your scenic drive up into the hills on Route 202, heading northeast to Torrington, then Route 8 north to Winstead and Route 44 northwest to Norfolk. Walkers and hikers enjoy Haystack Mountain State Park there and also Dennis Hill State Park south of the town center. Continue on Route 44 to Canaan and then southwest to Salisbury, where the Salisbury Cannon Museum gives visitors a taste of the lives of seven persons who lived during the American Revolution. The museum is next to the site of the first iron blast furnace, which dates from 1762.

A few miles farther along Route 44, Lakeville is the site of the oldest continuously operating sports car track, still used for racing events and car shows. Next, take Route 41 south to Sharon, which was settled in 1739 and still has elegant estates and mansions. The Green is busy with antiques and art fairs. Then continue on Route 4 southeast to Cornwall Bridge and Route 7 southwest along the upper Housatonic River to Kent. Kent was another busy industrial center by 1758. For a short return, follow Route 341 and then Route 202 east back to Litchfield.

Winding Through Southern Vermont

Leaf peepers often head for Vermont in the fall, and their favorite roads are endless. They wind under bowers of brilliant gold, red and orange leaves on back roads, often enhanced by a red barn or a covered bridge. The interstates, such as I-91 and I-89, are also ablaze with color, and you get long views from them, but we stick to smaller roads whenever we can. North/south routes include our favorite Route 100, which strings along the valleys under the Green Mountain spine of Vermont. There aren't many places to cross that spine, but the roads that do are often spectacular.

This southern Vermont tour begins and ends in Manchester, where you must distinguish between three entities, the old village at the top of the hill, the newer center at the bottom, and the depot where the railroad finally reached town. The area around town is a prime location for fall foliage tours. If you'd like the view from above, drive up Mount Equinox on Sky Line Drive, making sure you have enough gas in your car. Big Equinox is the peak at the top of that spectacular drive (3,816 feet); you pass Little Equinox (3,315 feet) along the way.

Fall colors also will be evident on the grounds of Hildene at the south edge of town, a 24-room summer home belonging to Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son. The gardens have been restored, and their sculpted patterns are alive with color, perfectly framed against the backdrop of the Green and Taconic mountain ranges.

After exploring the Manchester area, head northeast on Route 11 past Peru and Londonderry to North Windham, then take Route 121 to Grafton. If you enjoy fall colors in a town without the clutter of telephone poles and overhead wires, Grafton will delight you.

If you want to return to Manchester directly, take Route 100 back to Ludlow and over the spine of Vermont-a beautiful drive-to Weston, noted for its wooden bowl factory. Then continue south to Londonderry and turn west on Route 11 back to Manchester.

The Mohawk Trail and The Berkshires

Foliage season in northwestern Massachusetts begins in mid-to-late September and ends in late October. Peak color sometimes coincides with Columbus Day weekend. Unlike the other circuits, this tour follows a linear route along the Mohawk Trail, crossing the Berkshires, then turns south along their western edge. It begins in Deerfield, where carefully restored historic houses blend in beautifully with fall colors, includes a drive up Mount Greylock, and visits classic New England towns like Williamstown, Lenox and Lee.           

The raid of 1704 was Deerfield's darkest moment. Today, you walk through peaceful and beautiful Historic Deerfield, surrounded by one of the most elegant collections of 18th- and 19th- century homes, taverns, schools and churches in New England. Visitors gather in front of the Hall Tavern, dating from 1765, to begin a tour of more than a dozen buildings and museums open to the public.

From Deerfield, drive north on Routes 5 and 10 to join Route 2, heading west on the Mohawk Trail. First used by Indians as a footpath from central Massachusetts to the Finger Lakes, it later became a route for Colonial troops during the French and Indian War, for settlers, and a road for stagecoaches. Now, as it climbs through foothills into the mountains, it has become a scenic drive. Along the way you'll pass the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, once a trolley bridge. There's a covered bridge in Charlemont that has a 60-foot span over Mill Brook.

The Whitcomb Summit (2,173 feet) is the highest on the trail, with views into the mountains of southern Vermont and New Hampshire. Then the trail drops quickly into North Adams, an old industrial city that has been reviving for several decades.Half a mile north of town on Route 8 you can visit Natural Bridge State Park to see the only marble natural bridge in North America.

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