Flying to find fall foliage

Catch the color while it lasts

October 22, 2018 By AOPA ePublishing staff

It’s a seasonal spectacle best seen from a general aviation aircraft, and once seen, never forgotten. And it's quite possibly the perfect reason to take a new passenger up flying.

The scenery is astonishing as soon as you take off from coastal Maine’s Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport—and it only gets better during an evening circumnavigation of Mount Desert Island. Photo by Chris Rose.

Whether autumn 2018 would be your first time experiencing the special sightseeing that a fall foliage flight delivers, or the umpteenth time you have enjoyed the fabulous play of autumn’s paint palette, October is when fall foliage hits its peak in many areas.

Here are a few suggestions based on local reports of where some great "leaf peeping" may be available, and some nearby airports for flight planning.

Picture perfect

Don’t forget your camera when you go up for your fall foliage flight. Here are a few photo tips to help you capture the perfect shot.

Early bird: Get up early if you want to capture the best morning light known as the "golden hour" for 30 to 60 minutes just after sunrise. Similarly, don’t stow your camera until after the evening's "golden hour" just past sunset.

Prepare: Make sure to have your camera battery fully charged and a fresh memory card so you won't miss anything. Also, take cameras out of their cases, remove lens caps, and have the photo gear handy.

Smartphone filters: If using a smartphone, GoPro, Garmin VIRB, or similar point-of-view camera, an inexpensive neutral density filter can eliminate the curvy "prop distortion" from the device's rotating shutter. (I use a stick-on variety available from FlightFlix.net.)

Clean machine: Clean bugs and oil smudges from your windscreen and windows, and if you are using a smartphone's photo app, take a moment to gently clean the dust, debris, and finger oil from the camera’s lens. Ditto for photo equipment.

Cut haze: A circular polarizer DSLR lens filter helps eliminate sky to ground haze, makes colors “pop,” and reduces reflections in glass and water. If you have multiple lens barrel sizes, consider a filter that accommodates the largest diameter and a step-down ring for narrower lenses. UV filters are less expensive and also help cut haze.

Look around first: Don't forget that a tranquil and softly lit airport scene might make a great photo before you even preflight your aircraft.

Location, location, location: Real estate agents know that location is everything, and pilots should, too. Clean ridgelines, valleys, corn mazes, and other picturesque scenes are sometimes even better from the air. Scout it out ahead of time using local knowledge, Google maps, or other tools, and plan your flight accordingly.

Be quick: For cameras with adjustable shutters, consider air to ground photos at the highest shutter speed available since you'll likely be traveling at 100 mph or more; 1/1000 of a second is a good starting point.

Be slow. Conversely, if photographing propeller-driven aircraft or other moving subjects, turn on your photo equipment's vibration reduction to help steady the shot. Use as slow a shutter speed as possible for a pleasing "blur" photo to emphasize motion. Often 1/125 of a second or less will do the trick for aircraft propellers in motion, but you’ll need to brace yourself or your camera. If you've landed and hiked to a waterfall, try a half-second or longer and steady the scene with a tripod or another stabilization device. No tripod? You can place the camera on the ground or brace it next to a tree or atop a backpack. Smartphone users might be out of luck because they are at the mercy of the camera app's built-in lighting algorithms unless a neutral density filter is attached to slow things down.

Framing. Color, beauty, diverging or converging lines, interesting shapes, and patterns are the stars of this show. Think like a movie producer and find interesting foreground or background details that might offer a 3-D affect to frame your subject. A 45-degree camera angle to the ground might work for most scenes, but pointing the camera straight down might be even better. (Please have someone else at the flight controls for this!)

Don't give up. If your location and the lighting don’t come together the first time, don’t give up. Circle and try it again (and again) or return another day when conditions improve. What's more fun than flying, anyway?

Eastern region

Fall foliage season is well underway in the hardwood forests of the Northeast. In Vermont, the sugar maples that are such a sweet source of syrup in spring blaze bright orange in fall. The action has reportedly moved to southern Vermont, where Morse State Airport in Bennington provides a fine jumping-off point for a sightseeing adventure.

Moving east and north, at the center of Maine’s Baxter State Park stands Mount Katahdin, the state’s highest peak and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Arriving, you overfly countless forested lakes and ridges. Land at Millinocket Municipal Airport where you can enjoy a commanding ground-based view of the famous peak.

Tracing the colors more southerly within the eastern region, let’s talk about the Grand Canyon—the one in Pennsylvania, with steep canyon walls and wondrous waterfalls, in Tioga State Forest, accessible from Wellsboro Johnston Airport, and a favorite with some folks at AOPA, which is headquartered in Frederick, Maryland.

Virginia is for (fall foliage) lovers, and nothing beats the Shenandoah Valley as a leaf-peeper’s paradise. Plan to land at Luray Caverns Airport, tour the famous Luray Caverns, and motor along the Skyline Drive. Coming or going, a fall flight along the ridgeline is an unforgettable seasonal thrill.

Southern Region

The charms of North Carolina’s western mountains are many, and fall is no exception. Reports say warm weather delayed the fall transformation this year, but it is now well underway. Explore it along the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway, which can be reached from numerous airports including Asheville Regional Airport and Mount Airy/Surry County Airport.

Great Lakes Region

From September to the middle of November the forests blaze with color in Ohio, making it a great time to visit the Buckeye State. Our man in the area suggests a visit to the Hocking Hills for outings to suit many tastes. Land at Vinton County Airport where leaf-peeping flights are a specialty, says Kyle Lewis, AOPA Great Lakes regional manager.

Northwest Mountain region

Timing is everything for fall foliage viewing in mountainous Washington State, with the higher elevations ablaze early and the lower elevations your target destination as the season advances. Weather is also a factor. Plan a full day’s outing from Seattle to head out on a number of scenic drives. We also received a tip that the area between Marysville and Arlington has often proved awesome in autumn.

Pacific Region

California, with its endless variety of terrain and micro-climates, is also reworked extensively north to south by “nature’s paintbrush” in the fall. As you might expect, it’s with a unique twist: It’s not only the aspens, cottonwoods, maples, oaks, and other trees that combine to create their colorful contributions. Wine country also toasts the season with colorful vines, and of course, wine tastings.

Central Southwest Region

Aspens that turn a vibrant gold lead the way as the trees of the high-desert mountains of the Southwest enter their fall phases. As elsewhere, elevation matters, so if you plan to visit from late October to early November, there’s a good chance the lower climes will be at their most colorful at that point. In New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, arriving at Taos gives you easy access to the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway. Or land in Santa Fe and explore its mountainous surroundings.

In Arizona, the East Verde River area of Tonto National Forest is reported to peak between now and mid-November. Deep in the heart of the national forest is Payson Municipal Airport, the only public-use airport within 40 miles, sitting at an elevation of 5,157 feet msl.

Alaska

Between the summer tourism time and deep winter, those who know say October is a great time to experience "authentic Alaska," with fall colors enhancing the already magnificent scenery (with or without snow). Anchorage may remain snow-free until October's end, with travel to Denali still possible. Nights may offer another colorful display of the Northern Lights.

Hawaii?

Fall colors in Hawaii? Well, maybe. Not to be left out of the season’s festivities, Hawaiians have made sure that folks in the islands that are so beloved by vacationers everywhere for their unchilled climate can get in on the seasonal spectrum. This they do with a series of webcam links showing how the colors are changing on the mainland. Here’s looking at you, kid!

A Cessna 182 Skylane flies over fall colors in Maryland. Photo by Mike Fizer.

AOPA ePublishing staff

AOPA ePublishing Staff editors are experienced pilots, flight instructors, and aircraft owners who have a passion for bringing you the latest news and AOPA announcements.

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