Foliage season is ending throughout New England. For those of us who are lucky enough to see the leaves turn every year, it never gets old. For me there is always one day, usually while I’m driving, where I am just taken aback by how suddenly everything has colored and turned beautiful.

My favorite place to see fall foliage is Maine. For the last six years my husband and I have gone to Acadia National Park in Maine for either Columbus Day or Veterans Day weekend. (We eloped there on Veterans Day weekend in 2008.) In the years that we have been there for Columbus Day weekend, we have been treated to the most gorgeous foliage. Bar Harbor teems with tourists and day trippers coming in from cruise ships out in the harbor. Acadia’s trails are busy, but maybe a bit slower than usual because people are distracted by the riot of color around them. The park is gorgeous every time we are there, but the foliage is simply breathtaking, particularly from Cadillac Mountain.

These shots are taken from one of our most recent trips.  Driving along Park Loop Road, the main road through the park, it is always a challenge not to drive your car off the road while you take in the beauty around you. At Jordan Pond, you can walk the circumference of the pond, taking in the changing shores of the pond, evidence of beavers at work, and the leaves on the trees above and around you. Best of all, you can stop for the famous popovers and strawberry jam served at The Jordan Pond House. We hope someday to visit more of our National Parks, but are grateful that we’ve had a chance to get to know this one so well.