Fall Foliage on the World Wide Web

October is arguably the loveliest month in Western New York, thanks to an abundance of radiant fall foliage. During this month, and on into November, the entire Northeast is ablaze with spectacular colors. Several Internet sites can help you maximize your enjoyment of the season with useful information about peak foliage viewing times, scenic travel routes, fall facts and fall festivals.

Autumn Colors in New York State http://www.oleanny.com/Foliage.htm provides at a glance the dates for peak fall foliage in different parts of the state, while RoundTheBend's Fall Foliage in Upstate New York http://www.roundthebend.com/nysfoli.html gives a region-by-region description of when and where to view the autumnal display in our area. Autumn in the Adirondacks http://www.adirondacks.com/fallreport.html lists scenic autumn drives through this vast park land, as well as campgrounds that are open during the fall season and local fall festivals-everything from apple fests to craft fairs.

For those of you who might want to go out-of-state to experience fall in all its glory, Fall Color in the Eastern United States http://www.ncnatural.com/Parkway/Fall-Colors.html links to regional fall information for Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, West Virginia, North Carolina and Michigan. It also links to the Fall Color Finder http://ncnatural.com/wildflwr/fall/idguide.html, an online primer for autumn tree identification. Another excellent regional Web site is the "Fall Foliage" section of the Mining Co. Guide to New England for Visitors http://gonewengland.miningco.com/msubfoli.htm.

For some background information on the science behind this natural phenomenon, The Chemistry of Fall Colors http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/fallcolr/fallcolr.html provides a succinct explanation of why leaves change their color. And for storing up a little fall color for the long winter months ahead, Collecting and Preserving Leaves http://www.cgs.clemson.edu/leaves.htm#COLLECT provides step-by-step instructions for pressing leaves.

For assistance in connecting to the World Wide Web, contact the CIT Help Desk at 645-3542.

-Nancy Schiller and Will Hepfer, University Libraries