Laurel Highlands in running again for best fall foliage honors
For the third consecutive year, the Laurel Highlands region is in the running to be named the 2022 Best Destination for Fall Foliage in USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
The region finished eighth in last year’s voting and third in 2020.
The contest includes 20 destinations across the country, from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Denali National Park in Alaska. Locations were chosen by 10Best editors and a team of travel experts.
Pennsylvania also is represented on the list by the Pocono Mountains. Colorado and New York also have two nominated regions.
“Pennsylvania’s mountainous topography makes it an ideal location for catching the splendor of fall foliage, with the Poconos and the Laurel Highlands both offering year-round scenic recreation,” said Ann Nemanic, executive director of Go Laurel Highlands.
Spanning more than 3,000 square miles and including all of Fayette, Somerset and Westmoreland counties, the Laurel Highlands include the highest point in Pennsylvania — Somerset County’s Mount Davis at 3,212 feet — and river gorges that plunge below 1,000 feet in elevation.
“It’s the sugar maple that can take credit for some of the Laurel Highland’s majestic colors,” Nemanic said. “It not only produces the sap that powers the region’s maple industry each year, but also leads to some sweet views each fall, as the leaves often turn a fiery red or majestic orange at their peak.”
Hiking trails in the Laurel Ridge and the 68-mile Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway, along routes 711 and 381, provide numerous foliage-viewing spots.
“The Poconos has numerous scenic drives and state parks where you can view the vibrant fall colors, including Route 402 through the Delaware State Forest (and) Route 6 between Waymart through Honesdale,” said James Hamill, public relations director for Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau. “Hawley by Lake Wallenpaupac, then onto Milford is a great drive, too.”
The latter drive takes in views along the Lackawaxen and Delaware rivers.
Go Laurel Highlands’ statistics show the highest numbers of visitors to the region come from Pittsburgh; New York City; Columbus; Philadelphia; Baltimore; and Washington, D.C.
Fall visitors to both regions also will find small-town festivals and seasonal entertainment including craft shows, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, hay rides and haunted attractions.
“Annual tourism in the Laurel Highlands is a major economic driver, with more than $1.9 billion in spending reported in 2019, supporting 15,185 jobs, according to Tourism Economics — Economic Impact of Travel in Pennsylvania 2019,” Nemanic said. “While more than 435,800 people visit our website per year, 175,000 of them visited between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1 last year.”
Vying for the crown
Also vying for the 2022 10 Best fall foliage crown are Asheville, N.C.; Aspen, Colo.; Bar Harbor, Maine; New York’s Catskill Mountains; Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge; Denali National Park in Alaska; Door County, Wisc.; New York’s Finger Lakes; Gatlinburg, Tenn.; Minnesota’s Iron Range; Leavenworth, Wash.; Arkansas’ Ozark Mountains; Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado; Virginia’s Shenendoah Valley; Stowe, Vt.; Taos, N.M.; Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; and New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
The White Mountains were last year’s winner, while the Poconos placed third and the Laurel Highlands placed eighth.
While fall foliage isn’t commonly associated with the desert Southwest, Taos has its share when the aspens turn yellow, said Scarlett Espinoza, administrative coordinator at the Taos Visitor Center.
“When you see them against the ponderosa pines, they’re beautiful,” she said. Peak viewing time is late September into early October.
Many tourists make the 133-mile drive to Taos after visiting the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, held annually in the first week of October, Espinoza added.
Oaks, hickories, dogwood, birch and maple trees adorned in fall colors in Wisconsin’s Door County are complemented by 300 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline.
“Peak foliage is early-mid October, but again that changes yearly,” said Jen Rogers, senior media relations manager for Destination Door County. “What’s great about Door County is fall colors begin in the southern portion of peninsula and work its way north, extending the time visitors and residents can enjoy the colors.”
The county hosts fall festivals, along with opportunities for apple-picking and cider-tasting.
“We see roughly 2.5 million visitors annually,” Rogers said. “Direct visitor spending in Door County totaled $423 million in 2021.”
Fans of the Laurel Highlands can vote once a day for the region through noon Sept. 12 at 10Best.com. The winner will be announced Sept. 23.
Fall foliage generally reaches its peak in the Laurel Highlands in mid- to late October. According to the DCNR, Pennsylvania has a longer and more varied fall foliage season than anywhere else in the world. Its latitude and varied topography support 134 species of trees, shrubs and vines that contribute to the autumn colors.
The Laurel Highlands has been a regular in recent years on USA Today 10Best lists.
In addition to Best Fall Foliage honors, the region earned recognition in 2018 when Flight 93 National Memorial’s Tower of Voices was named one of the Best New Destinations and Ohiopyle State Park was named one of the Best Pennsylvania Attractions.
“Being chosen by the editors of USA Today three years in a row provides a solid confirmation the Laurel Highlands truly has spectacular fall foliage,” Nemanic said.
10Best.com provides readers with travel content on top attractions, restaurants and things to see and do at top destinations in the United States and around the world. The staff comprises local travel experts specializing in the region or city they write about.
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.