The Beauty of Fall

By AMANDA CAIRO
News Staff Writer
While vibrant autumn colors bloom throughout Northeast Michigan in the fall, pockets of trees around the area produce spectacular drives.

“It’s beautiful with the colors in the fall,” said Deb Pardike, director of the Alpena Area Chamber Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce offers two driving tour maps highlighting some of the best autumnal leaves around the area, one around Hubbard Lake and one around Long Lake and Grand Lake.

The Hubbard Lake tour, south of Alpena, features beautiful hillsides and travels around the lake.

The Long Lake and Grand Lake tour, north of Alpena, also makes use of the lakes, including the lighthouses in the area.
Pardike said maps are available at the community development building on Chisholm Street.

Other areas that produce sparkling color include the drive along M-32, going west, where there are a lot of sugar maples that should produce a lot of color.

“People can hop in their cars and go just about anywhere,” Pardike said.
Pardike also suggested Norway Ridge Pathways and Chippewa Hills Pathway for color and a a bit of hiking.

“The colors are very nice out there,” Pardike said.

She added on fall color weekend, air tours from Aviation North are available, where color can be seen from the air.

Presque Isle County offers a guided bus tour around the county – highlighting different areas of interest and the color — each year with a different theme which is kept a mystery. The tour is sponsored by the Presque Isle County Michigan State University Extension, the county development commission and the county tourism council.

Some of the county highlights include various nature areas, including the area of Old State Road and Thompson’s Harbor State Park, north of Grand Lake.

Other roads that produce spectacular color include Spens Road and the Cheboygan Plains Highway in the northern part of the county.

While Alcona County has no organized color tour, there are several winding back roads that will provide a tunnel of color as the trees grow over the road, and many open areas with rolling farms framed by fiery timber, as the county is largely forest and agricultural land.

US-23, which hugs Lake Huron, provides nice color in the fall, as well as Lake Shore Drive, which will take you to Sturgeon Point Lighthouse.
The Alcona County Historical Society also has two historical tours of the county along scenic roads that produce nice fall color.

The AuSable River Queen in Oscoda also provides fall color tours on the paddlewheel riverboat in the fall.
Pardike said leaves typically begin to turn late September and lasts through

mid October.

“People can really explore and appreciate the color,” Pardike said.