Fall Foliage Season In Acadia Area (Bangor, Orono: school, safer, car)

[LauraC]

I don't trust the travel and tourism sites (in any state) to tell the truth about when Fall foliage season starts and ends. I think they all make it longer than it actually is to keep everyone coming over a longer period of time. You know, see a few turned leaves and they're already telling you it's Fall foliage time.

So, typically in the Acadia area, what week is peak Fall foliage time? I would be driving there from Tennessee next year so I'd like to get it right.

Thanks.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

First full week in October should meet your need. Cider and donuts, foliage and clear skies. Book your B&B early. It's a popular time.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

First full week in October should meet your need. Cider and donuts, foliage and clear skies. Book your B&B early. It's a popular time.

Thank you so much. I would rep you but I've given too much in the last 24 hours.

[slyfox2]

As an example: According to the Mount Desert Islander(the newspaper since the Bar Harbor Times went Belly Up), most of the cruise ships coming into Bar Harbor come in September and October. Views are better, tourists arriving by car are less, since all the kids are in school. 50% go back yesterday; 99% go back after Labor Day.

[Verseau]

The typical peak of fall colors along most of the Maine coast is usually right around the middle of October. I think the second week of October is a safer bet than the first week of October for Acadia; once you start heading inland, that's a completely different story (the colors up in the northern woods start in late September!). Many years the colors don't truly peak along the coast until the third week of October.

Of course, every year is somewhat different, making it difficult to say with 100% certainty what the timing will be this year. However, as a foliage photographer who obsessively follows the progress of the colors each year, my pseudo-professional opinion is that the second week of October is a much safer bet than the first.

[slyfox2]

Originally Posted by Verseau

However, as a foliage photographer who obsessively follows the progress of the colors each year, my pseudo-professional opinion is that the second week of October is a much safer bet than the first.

so you are a professional Leaf Peeper?

[Verseau]

That's a stretch, since I haven't sold any of my photographs (yet). But I'm definitely a leaf-peeper... and I grew up in the mountains of New Hampshire.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I agree with Verseau's prediction for the second week for the mid-coast, but the original question was for Bar Harbor and down east. Acadia is from the Penobscot River east to Lubec.

[Ghengis]

In 2008 we visited a number of New England states working our way across from Vermont starting around Columbus Day. Spent a few days in Bar Harbor starting Oct 19th and found that we were probably a few days to a week behind peak color for the area as a whole. Many areas of vibrant color could be found along the coastal areas but just a few miles inland things had pretty much played out for the most part. Of course there's no guarantee and you could find that even if you time it perfectly, the colors may just not be that intense. I believe from what we saw, we happened on a pretty good year. All in all I'd defer to Verseau's take on about the start or middle of the second week in Acadia and I'd rather be too early than too late.

(my photos)

[slyfox2]

Generally, Spring comes late to MDI. When May 5 has fully leafed out trees in ORONO and Bangor, there are just buds on the trees in MDI.

But the warm water around MDI in the late summer prolongs the fall foliage into late October, even as late as the 27th, when its totally gone in ORONO and Bangor.

Winter can be the same. MDI's temperatures are generally warmer than even Ellsworth, let along Bangor.