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Other stories in "Fall"

• This weekend
  See elves, artists and Irish dancers.
• Next weekend
  Elves, artists and Irish dancers are hard at work during holidays.
• Remember the wrecks
  On Lake Superior, gales of November bring haunting memories.
• Welcome, Southwest
  Finally, low-cost air fares to Chicago have returned.
• All quiet up north
  Like the leaves, room rates have dropped.
• Big birds
  Eagles are flocking to a stretch of river best known for tundra swans.
• Join the fun
  With an outdoors club, make friends, see new places and save money.
• Homes for the holidays
  On tours, see where the rich and famous celebrated Christmas.
• Culture in the bluffs
  Follow musicians to four unusual venues near the Mississippi.
• Ghouls ahoy
  On Great Lakes, two haunted ships are spoiling for a fright.
• Bash on a bike trail
  Kick up your wheels at small-town fall festivals.
• Scenery in the studios
  On autumn art tours, treasure hunters strike gold (and orange and red).
• Ely's blue over hues
  Act now to keep town's future bright.
• Eyes on the skies
  On bluffs and ridges, it's time to watch the hawk migration.
• Price check/A northwoods weekend
  Two Minnesota B&Bs offer a Boundary Waters adventure — is it a deal?
• On the ropes in Lanesboro
  Try walking a high wire on Halloween.
• In Iowa, a singular inn reopens
  Through December, snag a $99 room at the Hotel Pattee.
• Hunters on the North Shore
  A special deer season this weekend may put guns close to hikers.
• Geocaching for beginners
  Try a fall treasure hunt.
• Hot tip/A different North Shore
  Didn't reserve for fall-color season? Thunder Bay has rooms.
• On the road/A fall drive along the St. Croix
  A stretch of river valley is packed with attractions.
• 10 great trails to ride in fall
  Here's where to get your fill of flora, fauna and fall colors.
• Go on a trail-clearing trip
  If you enjoy a hike, help make it possible for others.
• In river towns, favorites debut anew
  On the Red Cedar and in Red Wing, three inns and restaurants finally reopen.
• Home of horsepower
  In Wisconsin, see where race cars, snowmobiles, outboards and motorcycles were born.
• Go swan watching
  

Closing the deal

Believe it or not, it's time to reserve hot dates for 2009.

When reserving the region's most coveted cabins, it pays to be Johnny on the spot.

I was in Wisconsin's Point Beach State Forest (pictured) on a sunny Saturday in late September, checking out two cabins, each with its own boardwalk to a virtually private white-sand beach on Lake Michigan.

Amazingly, there was still one cabin left for one summer weekend in 2009, but I didn't reserve it. Fall would be better for biking on the Rawley Point Trail and hiking on the Ice Age Trail, both of which cut through the park. Still, that beach looked really inviting.

The next day, I asked if the weekend still was available. It was, but now I had to vie with another woman, who was standing in the office, ready to reserve it. The ranger put our applications in a paper bag and drew.

I won. But it turned out the other woman desperately wanted the cabin for her father's 95th-birthday party/family reunion. I just wanted it for my outdoors club, so I gave it to her and asked instead to reserve the third weekend in September, when nearby Two Rivers holds its Ethnic Fest.

But the office manager had drawn applications for that weekend a day early, and they were gone. So I had to put in an application for the next week's drawing and hope for the best.

Whew. It's not easy to nail down reservations. Once, I was on the phone reserving the guesthouse in Minnesota's Wild River State Park, and in the two seconds it took the reservationist to check availability — it was the last date available for a weekend or holiday — somebody else reserved it from under me.

Of course, I had no trouble reserving the Illgen Falls Cabin in Minnesota's Tettegouche State Park over a July weekend. That was because I called when it was new, on the first day of availability. Now everyone knows it's there, and reserving it is a lot harder.

It pays to see what's new. Minnesota's state parks just added 19 new camper cabins, four of them in ultra-popular Jay Cooke State Park, and now is the time to reserve them for any time up to October 2009.

The state parks in Michigan and Iowa have some pretty choice lodges, cabins and yurts that can be — and are — reserved a year in advance. Wisconsin's cabins, most of them rustic but very inexpensive, also are in high demand. The heated Point Beach cabins, in their own little section of the park, are only $60 and sleep 14 and 16. That's the cheapest beach vacation you'll find anywhere. Wisconsin also rents nine cabins to people with disabilities; seven of them are modern.

It's also not too early to reserve state-park campsites.  They're available in Minnesota a year in advance; in Wisconsin, it's 11 months.

We all know about the biggest events — Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, EAA AirVenture weekend in Oshkosh, Apple Festival in Bayfield.

But did you know the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death is coming up? People come from around the world in regular years; expect crowds for the 2009 celebration in Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 6-8.

In 2009, Valentine's Day falls on a Saturday. If you want to nail down a choice room at a choice inn, it's not too soon.

In Milwaukee, the Great Circus Parade from Baraboo is returning after a five-year hiatus and will be held July 12 in 2009, preceded by the Great Circus Festival July 9-12. It'll be a busy time in Milwaukee; Summerfest, the largest music festival in the world, will be June 25-July 5.

And don't forget fall color weekends for 2009. No, it's not too soon to reserve.

For details on how to reserve the best spots at the best times, see Serious reservations, Lodgings in Minnesota state parks and A roof in the woods. For a list of summer festivals, see A summer's worth of celebrations.

Last updated on October 17, 2008