Fall Foliage Driving Trips
A fall foliage road trip is more than a mere drive. It also includes apple picking, tasting cider and hot doughnuts, and perhaps most importantly, leaving your vehicle behind to take a much-needed scenic walk to a lonely waterfall, where autumn’s colors reflect off the water. Despite big marketing campaigns from states like Vermont, fall foliage is not restricted to the borders of New England. At Shenandoah National Park, orange beech trees and scarlet dogwoods provide the majestic color. Add fall harvest at vineyards and the annual fall round-up of bison at Custer State Park in South Dakota and you have more than enough reasons to hit the road.
This week, we’re discussing our favorite picks for September/October driving trips. If interested in any of these routes, please let ActiveTravels know and we’ll design an itinerary that takes into account the latest travel restrictions and lodging where you feel comfortable:
Route 54A, Keuka Lake, New York
Autumn in the Finger Lakes of western New York State is the time of year when leaves on the maples turn a tad crimson and the grapes on the vines are ready to be harvested for their award-winning Rieslings. Start on the northern tip of Keuka Lake in the town of Penn Yan. Head south on Route 54A and just outside of town, you’ll see signs for Apple Barrel Orchards, a third-generation U-pick apple orchard that makes homemade cider on the premises. Continue south along the shores of the 20-mile long lake to reach Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery. Founded in 1962 and now run by Dr. Frank’s grandson, Fred, Dr. Frank put the Finger Lakes on the wine lovers’ map with his award-winning dry and semi-dry Rieslings. Nearby in Ithaca, Firelight Camps, offers the ideal glamping opportunity.
Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan
One of the prettiest fall drives in Michigan travels north of Traverse City on M 22 to the northern tip of Leelanau Peninsula. Slow down and explore the region on this 75-mile loop and you’ll find diverse terrain, from the rolling countryside to historic lighthouses on Lake Michigan to the steep dunes of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The quaint village of Sutton’s Bay is home to Bahle’s, a department store from 1876, and a slew of galleries specializing in local artists and local scenes. Then it’s on to the circa-1858 Grand Traverse Lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula, a white brick lighthouse that looks absurdly small compared to the great expanse of water that surrounds it. Stay at one of the 11 house rentals or more than 80 condos at the lakefront Homestead Resort.
Highway 385, Rapid City, South Dakota
The fall foliage road trip was designed with places like South Dakota in mind. Venture to Rapid City and you’ll have the chance to cruise with relatively little traffic up and down the pine forests and granite passes of the Black Hills. Highway 385 will lead you to Vanocker Canyon and Spearfish Canyon National Scenic Byway, home to waterfalls and golden aspens. Also in the Black Hills is the 68-mile Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway (a 4-hour drive) that travels through six rock tunnels, past towering pinnacles and over pine-clad peaks, only to arrive at the most famous sculpture in the country, Mount Rushmore. As if that wasn’t enough incentive, the 55th annual fall round-up of bison takes place September 25th at nearby Custer State Park. Watch the cowboys and cowgirls drive the herd of some 1,300 buffalo, some of whom will be sold at auction in November. For lodging, it’s hard to top the convenience of the Roosevelt Inn in Keystone, located next to Mount Rushmore.
Fruit Loop, Hood River, Oregon
Autumn colors are not usually associated with the Northwest, the land of conifers. Yet, outside of Hood River, the 35-mile Fruit Loop feels like a quintessential fall drive back east. That is, until you look up and see the lofty snowcapped peak of Mount Hood towering above 11,000 feet. The route is lined with pear orchards, fields of lavender, alpaca farms, farm stands, wineries, and an emerging hard cider scene. Sample the wares at Fox-Tail Cider or Hood Valley Hard Cider, and you’ll be surprised to find that the drink is crisp, refreshing, and can easily be paired with the Chinook salmon and steelhead trout the region is known for. Quaff down a cider at the picnic tables behind Solera Brewery in Parkdale and you’ll be mesmerized by the spectacular view of Mount Hood. Make the wise choice of spending the evening at the Columbia Cliff Villas in Hood River and you’ll wake up to a sunrise over the Columbia River Gorge.
Rocky Mountaineer, known for its upscale rail service in Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies, will be entering the American market this coming summer. 
Thanks to the direct flights on Copa Airlines from many of North America’s largest cities, we’ve been designing more and more itineraries to Panama each year. Expect the same wildlife, cloud forest, rainforest, mountains, wildlife, and exotic birds as Costa Rica. Then add the Panama Canal and seven unique indigenous cultures of Panama. Where Panama pales in comparison to Costa Rica is unique properties, but we learned about two of the more recent boutique hotels to open in the past several years. 
The second property we discussed was 
I was so moved by the webinar on 
The Spanish colonial city of Cartagena might get all the hype, but if you asked 
They recently added another property to their expanding portfolio, 
Similar to the many webinars Lisa and I have attended, Rick Steves’ weekday broadcasts on PBS have been a wonderful source of insider information. I always grab one of his guidebooks before visiting a European destination, appreciating his honesty and opinions, like “Bordeaux is boring.” But his 25-minute shows really highlight his top picks, because he doesn’t have much time to discuss the Croatian, Czech, or Danish countryside. So if he raves about the Plitvice Lakes region of Croatia, the mountain village of Cezky Krumlov in the Bohemian region of the Czech republic, and the Danish island of Ærø, take note. Few know the continent better. If you’re fortunate, he might even throw out the name of a pension or inn he’s staying at, like the house built in 1784 by a sea captain as a dowry for his daughter called 
The Trustees
Thankfully, coronavirus cases and deaths have plateaued and are hopefully now on the downslope in Massachusetts. Obviously, our health and safety are still the No. 1 priority, but slowly, we’re starting to see an interest in possible travels this summer and fall. Lisa and I, and are our kids have been holed up in our house like the rest of you for a good two months now. So we understand your need to dream about a new locale that’s anywhere but the backyard. But having gotten a number of you home safely from abroad in late February in early March, we want to be damn sure that the places we send you in 2020 have a good degree of social distancing, are regional, and, if not regional, can be found after one relatively quick flight. This is not a good time to be connecting in an airport. We also have to be concerned with individual state regulations. For example, Maine wants to quarantine all out-of-state visitors for 14 days upon arrival. This is currently on the books through August, which would restrict all hotel stays. This week, we reached out to some of our favorite outfitters and see what’s happening this summer and fall.
Backroads recently announced that they will begin running trips in the US the third week of June. Below is what is slated to run. For these departures, they are intentionally running small trips with guests who have been carefully vetted for their interest in getting back to travel. For more information about Backroads’ updated travel policies and safety measures being enacted because of Covid-19, 
Having 
Due to the pandemic, it’s not surprising that we’re receiving many more requests for homes, villas, and townhouse rentals this summer. These residences all have full kitchens, so you don’t have to worry about dining at restaurants every meal. Also, the companies we work with not only personally inspect all properties, but hire cleaning services to thoroughly disinfect before and after each rental.
If you had the chance to join Andy Levine, owner of the Cambridge-based DuVine Cycling, on the ride he created for ActiveTravels members in the fall of 2017 from Wellesley to Concord, you know they’re a top-notch biking outfitter. Lisa and I had the good fortune to