Fall in the northeast… fall in the Finger Lakes, no less! Take it from a guy who used to live in Vermont, and loved it; our autumn colors are just as good as theirs.
It’s always hard to recommend good places for peeping at leaves, because the vista varies from day to day, even hour to hour. It even depends on how the sun is shining (or isn’t).
I’m hearing that our “peak” this year was a week or so back. But some trees are still green today! So peak even varies from tree to tree. You never know what you’re going to find, or where you’re going to find it. Some residential streets in Bath and Dansville are gorgeous just now. And one of the most spectacular displays I’ve EVER seen was on Victor Road near Fairport, right by Lollypop Farms – and that, as I recall, was mostly because of the brush, not the trees.
So what the heck, I’ll take the plunge, and suggest some places where I’ve found terrific foliage over the years.

Foliage Villages
In our region, I’ve found two villages where a stroll can deliver really memorable foliage – Hammondsport, and Honeoye Falls. In both places you can wander around on sidewalks, at your own pace, without worrying about you or somebody else being a distracted driver. Hammondsport, of course, gives you the great wall of that wooded cliff looming over town – a gigantic palette – plus the lake, and the colors of the distant shore. But Honeoye Falls also has that wonderful waterfall on the Honeoye Creek, right in the heart of the village. Both places are worth a walk.

View From a Height
At least three high places in our region offer breathtaking views regardless of season, made more magnificent in the fall.
*Mossy Bank Park, near Bath. The lookout here gives a great vista of the village right below, of miles along the Conhocton River and its surroundings to the west, and for a good distance northward to the heights that hide Keuka Lake. And once you’ve surfeited yourself at the lookout, you can walk along the trails in the park.
*Harris Hill, outside Big Flats. At the lookout here you get a great view for several miles of the Chemung River, and the Flats, plus there’s always the chance a sailplane will take off or land right over you. Then you can walk in Harris Hill Park, or in nearby Tanglewood Nature Center.
*Ontario County Park, outside Naples. The lookout at the dramatic “jump off” point gives a staggering view. Add fall colors, and it’s especially impressive. Once again, you’ve then got the park trails to pursue, including the Bristol Hills Trail.

State Parks
I’ve found three of our area state parks to be especially fruitful for fall foliage.
*Stony Brook Park, near Dansville. For some unfathomable reason this park is overlooked and underappreciated. Sometimes you’ll find a yellow wood as you make your way along the brook.
*Watkins Glen State Park in Watkins Glen. If you haven’t been for a while – what’s keeping you? I can almost guarantee you’ll experience parts of it that you’ll swear you’ve never seen before.
*Letchworth State Park, near Mount Morris. To all those fall colors add that great cleft in the earth, and the spectacular falls. What more needs to be said?Top that, Vermont.

A Walk in the Woods
I’ve had really good fall experiences in three places that stand out in my memory.
*Sanford Lake in Moss Hill State Forest, near Savona. Fall brings a lovely bleak beauty to the lake, with its few odd restless waterfowl taking suspicious wing. One trail crosses a little tributary to Mud Creek right by an old beaver dam. I’ve often got the place to myself this time of year.
*Bully Hill State Forest, near Almond. One sunny October afternoon I enjoyed a wonderful walk from Karr Road to Bully Hill Road and back, along the Finger Lakes Trail. The dry leaves crunched deliciously beneath my feet, and birds clicked and twittered along the way.
*Interloken Trail, outside Burdett. Last fall I walked this entire trail in five out-and-back stages. I walked from north to south, and so walked along with autumn. Every hike brought forth a new experience of fall.

Feed the Birds
Mendon Ponds Park, south of Pittsford can be glorious when you catch it right. Walking along a lane shadowed on both sides by long rows of maples, planted in days long gone by someone with confidence in the future, can be like walking through an explosion in the paint factory – or like walking in a stained-glass window. Bring some sunflower seeds along, and the songbirds will eat from your hand.

Any of these I’ve found to be great. But to be perfectly honest, all you’ve got to do for a great fall is to look out your window, or wander your neighborhood. Just really look, and you’re bound to be overwhelmed.