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Great fall drives

It's time to chase the colors through glorious autumn landscapes.

Chequamegon National Forest around Cable is dotted with lakes.

Sure, winters can be rough here in wind-chill country. But why do we tough it out? For the big payoff of autumn, of course, with its crisp, sunny days and the luminous orange of the sugar maple, the scarlet of sumac, the golden popple and bronzed oak.

They don't have that in Florida and Arizona. But here, we've got it all: a bright palette of colors, harvest festivals and nifty little towns to explore.

Fall is the time to be out and about. In Minnesota, the state scenic byways are a good bet, as are Wisconsin's Rustic Roads. Here are seven other routes that will put you in the middle of the scenery. And if fall color doesn't materialize when you expect it to, don't worry: These drives are pretty great any time.

Minnesota's bluff country

Heading south of Rochester on U.S. 52, motorists begin to spot outcroppings of golden limestone on the face of the hills. The landscape becomes wavier. Pumpkin stands pop up along the road, then baked-goods stands operated by black-bonneted Amish women. This is Minnesota's bluff country.

In Fountain, the 42-mile Root River State Trail begins winding east toward Houston; many consider it the finest bicycle trail in the Midwest. Pass the19-foot fiberglass trout in Preston, from which the 18-mile Harmony-Preston Valley trail heads uphill to Harmony. Just south of Preston, County Road 16 branches off to Lanesboro.

Lanesboro will be filled with people, drawn to the bike trail as well as Cornucopia Art Center, Commonweal Theatre and the shops, restaurants and B&Bs. From Lanesboro, County Road 16 follows the twists of the Root River to Whalan, Peterson, Rushford, Houston and the river's confluence with the Mississippi at La Crescent.

Those who continue from Preston on U.S. 52 will come to Harmony, which draws crowds to nearby Niagara Cave, an underground labyrinth with fanciful formations, and for tours of Amish farms that sell quilts, produce, baskets, baked goods and jams. From Harmony, follow U.S. 52 east to the Norwegian village of Spring Grove and Caledonia. From there, Minnesota 44 heads north toward La Crescent.

For more, see Bluff-country byways.

Excursions around Cable

It would have been nice to see these woods before loggers came in the 1880s and felled all the white pine. But a colorful hardwood forest replaced it, and now this part of northwestern Wisconsin is a playground for canoeists, hikers, mountain bikers, skiers and leaf-peepers.

The Cable Chamber of Commerce maps out several fall-color routes that take motorists around lakes and to little burgs that once rang with the shouts of lumberjacks. Some routes cross the North Country National Scenic Trail and other marked hiking trails.

Those who don't want to navigate forest roads can take County Road M east of Cable to Garmisch Road, from which the marvelous, two-mile Forest Lodge Nature Trail starts. Garmisch USA is farther along; the resort, whose 1927 lodge is modeled on a medieval Germanic hunting hall, is a good place to stop for lunch.

From M, County Road D heads north along Namekagon Lake to Grand View, where there's a statue of Chief Namekagon and a plaque about his legendary silver mine. From there, U.S. 63 heads south to Cable, where the Cable Natural History Museum is worth a visit.

The forest here offers one of the region's most reliable and long-lasting displays of fall color, with tamaracks supplying golden colors through the third weekend of October.

For details, see High color in Cable.

Iowa's Mississippi vistas

To people who think Iowa is flat, the state's northeast corner will be a revelation.

Lining the Mississippi is a procession of misty, softly rounded bluffs, reminiscent of the Rhine Valley. From their 500-foot peaks, visitors can admire panoramas of the vast river plain below.

Start in the hillside town of Lansing, where Mount Hosmer City Park gives a spectacular front-row view of the river and the valleys and ridges beyond. Follow the river south to Effigy Mounds National Monument, where interpretive trails lead to the 137-foot-long Great Bear Mound, one of 191 ancient burial mounds built on the blufftop.

Marquette is below, tucked under the bridge, where the gaudy Isle of Capri casino boat is docked. McGregor is just down the road, sitting in a little bowl hugged by limestone-pocked bluffs on each side. Called the Pocket City, it's filled with old brick storefronts that house antiques shops and inns. Spook Cave, named for the hollow sound of water splashing on rock, is at the base of a bluff seven miles outside town. Tours are given in aluminum fishing boats.

High above McGregor, the hiking trails of Pikes Peak State Park offer more vistas of the river plain. Lt. Zebulon Pike, who was to become famous for his explorations of Colorado, chose this blufftop site for a fort in 1805. But it was too high and too hard to reach, and the fort was built across the river on the Prairie du Chien flats.

From Pikes Peak, a roller-coaster ride through bucolic farmland leads to Guttenberg, still lined with stolid limestone storefronts built by early German settlers. Lock and Dam No. 10 is here; plumb the mysteries of river navigation at the Lockmaster's House Heritage Museum, next door, or watch the barges from the gazebo in Guttenberg's lovely riverside park.

For details, see One fall swoop.

Colors on the St. Croix

In fall, it's hard to beat the St. Croix River between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The colors are gorgeous not only by car, but by foot, on hiking trails at five state parks.

Start on the Minnesota side in Afton, a quiet little oasis of small shops. Just south of town, the scenic trails of Afton State Park follow 2½ miles of riverfront and climb up and down ravines.

Heading north, Minnesota 95 hits Stillwater, which has as many antiques shops and bookstores as anyone could want. Its hills also are lined with painted-lady Victorians built by early lumber barons; narrated tours on motorized red trolleys give the history of both houses and barons.

From Stillwater, the road follows the river to Marine on St. Croix and William O'Brien State Park, where a hiking loop winds along the St. Croix and Lake Alice. Taylors Falls is 17 miles north, at the head of the Dalles of the St. Croix. On each side of these Dalles — dalle is French for rocky slab — is a state park. Minnesota's Interstate Park is an otherworldly spot of stone arches, slabs and deep potholes drilled 10,000 years ago, when a rush of water from a melting glacier created whirlpools laced with sand and gravel.

On the opposite shore, Wisconsin's Interstate Park has blufftop trails that give hikers a good view of the gorge, the town and the paddlewheelers that take tourists past formations in the gorge wall; together, the parks are called "Gift of the Glaciers.''

From St. Croix Falls, continue down the Wisconsin side of the river through Osceola and Hudson, which has interesting shops, restaurants and Lakefront Park.

For details, see A fall sortie on the St. Croix.

Drives in Door County

On fall weekends, Wisconsin 42 through Egg Harbor, Fish Creek and Ephraim is a real crowd scene. So get off the main drag and into the rural, pastoral interior of this popular peninsula.

From Ephraim, take County Road Q to the Lake Michigan side and Cana Island Lighthouse, whose white tower rises from woods at the end of a rocky causeway. Just outside Baileys Harbor, Ridges Road leads to Ridges Sanctuary, a beautiful nature refuge marked by the harbor’s 1869 lower range light.

From Baileys Harbor, take Wisconsin 57 south to Jacksonport, then Lakeshore Road to Cave Point County Park and Whitefish Dunes State Park. Or follow County Road F west to Fish Creek and Peninsula State Park, in which Shore Road winds past the 1868 Eagle Bluff Lighthouse and wooden Eagle Tower, which gives everyone who climbs it a panoramic view of Green Bay, Horseshoe Island and Ephraim.

A more secluded route includes beautiful leaf color along roads at the “tip of the thumb.’’ From Ellison Bay, take Garrett Bay Road to Hedgehog Harbor, just short of Porte des Morts, or Death’s Door. Cottage Road leads to Gills Rock and joins Wisconsin 42, which ends at the ferry landing in Northport.

From there, Porte des Morts Road leads to Park Lane, which leads to Weborg Park, a tiny park atop a rocky beach that’s fun to explore. Heading west, take Park Drive to Timberline Drive and south to Europe Bay Road.

From there, choose one of three options: head east to Europe Bay beach in Newport State Park; go south on Newport Drive to a lovely hiking trail in the Mink River Estuary; or drive west back to Wisconsin 42.

For details, see Door prizes and Outdoors in Door County.

Brockway Mountain Drive on the Keweenaw Peninsula

This nine-mile drive along the raised spine of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, lined by stonework walls built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933, is famous for its views of Lake Superior and interior lakes.

From Eagle Harbor, the drive rises to an overlook, with plaques and gift shop, then descends into Copper Harbor. Return on Lakeshore Drive, which is even more scenic. The narrow road hugs the lake, passing rocky Esrey Roadside Park, Dan's Point and Agate Beach. From Eagle Harbor (stop to see the 1871 lighthouse), continue along the lake, lined by dunes and beaches, to the popular Jampot, Eagle River and the Sand Hills Lighthouse, now a B&B.

Or, drive down U.S. 41 to old Delaware, then head for the eastern shore of the peninsula through Lac La Belle. Soft red and pink sandstone beaches line the road along Oliver Bay to Gay; pull over and explore for a while.

For details, see Digging the Keweenaw.

Waterfall-watching in Wisconsin

In the northwest corner of Wisconsin, the Ice Age left a whole string of mementos.

When glacial Lake Duluth started to melt, it created rivers that cut valleys and gorges through soft sandstone. But older, harder volcanic rock refused to erode, and the spots at which it welled through the Earth's crust today are holding up waterfalls.

This part of Wisconsin has the highest and prettiest ones. From Superior, go 15 miles south on Wisconsin 35 to Pattison State Park, where 165-foot Big Manitou Falls is the highest in Wisconsin and the fourth-highest east of the Rockies. The 31-foot Little Manitou Falls also is in the park, a mile upstream along hiking trails.

From Pattison, it's 17 miles to Amnicon Falls State Park. Take County Road B east, then County Road K north to South Range, then head east to U.S. 2 and the park, where Upper Falls and Lower Falls ripple along the Amnicon River.

Farther east, 17 miles south of Ashland, is one of the Midwest's most beautiful and most overlooked parks. Copper Falls State Park is the home of the state's eighth- and ninth-largest falls: Copper Falls and Brownstone Falls, both of which plunge 30 feet into the Bad River's gorge.

There are many more waterfalls to the east, in Florence and Marinette counties. Here, Nicolet National Forest holds so many headwaters it's known as the "cradle of rivers,'' and hunting out falls in the remote forests can be an adventure.

For details, see Waterfalls of northern Wisconsin and Waterfall trails.

Last updated on December 28, 2008

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