Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula is alight with fall colors, and the rest of the northern tier of states in the U.S. won’t be far behind!
This past week, the second week of October, I got out on my vintage Honda VT500C Shadow under cool, cloudless blue skies as I was looking for the Great Lakes fall colors. I was greeted by a palate of vibrant orange, deep red, bright yellow, and dusty rose colors of fall in the vast hardwood forests of the Ottawa and Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forests in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and in northern Wisconsin.
Fall is one of the best times of year for a day trip, or a longer ride. The air is cool and fresh, especially in the morning, and usually tends to warm up as the day progresses. Skies are often clear or partly cloudy and, on those days, the colors of the fall foliage really pop.
Exactly what triggers the timing of the color change has yet to be completely understood. Factors may include the tree species, prevailing weather conditions during the summer as to hot and dry vs cool and wet, lay of the land, dropping temperatures, hours of daylight, or some combination of these.
In my experience, having grown up in that neck of the woods, it always seemed that the sugar maples on the bluff-tops and ridges of the old Penokee Range began changing to fall colors quite a bit earlier than trees at lower elevations. Some red, orange, and yellow leaves begin to show on those highland trees as early as the first week of August.
From that point on through October, and later farther south, the color change is evident and amazing.
Here’s the thing: this magical time of year doesn’t last. Before you know it, the leaves shift from vibrant to drab, and the wind shifts to a cold blast out of the north. The wind, often accompanied by a cold rain, will put those leaves on the ground, ending the fall color ride season.
So, before you find yourself doing that end-of-season maintenance and hooking the bike up to the Battery Tender, fuel up, fire up, and get out there and get some riding in on to soak up the fall colors! Don’t forget to use adaptable riding gear, and have rain gear at the ready, because the weather can change fast in the fall.
Here are some resources for Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to help you discover where fall colors are reaching their peak. The sites also have details about attractions, accommodations, and other information to help plan your end-of-the-season motorcycle ride. Don’t miss the Great Lakes fall colors.
