Tips for Finding the Best Fall Foliage

{{{EmbeddedGallery|gallery=44|align=right}}}More than most vacations, fall foliage trips require perfect timing. Peak color is fleeting, so a week can make the difference between just "ooh" and "ooh-la-la."

Planning that fall foliage excursion is a whole lot easier than it used to be, though. An abundance of online foliage maps takes a lot of the gamble out of leaf peeping.

Here are some great places to start your search for brilliant fall colors:

Foliage Network: Using data collected twice weekly by volunteer "foliage spotters," the Foliage Network tracks changing colors in the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast U.S.

Yankee Magazine: With an animated map showing the progression of color by week in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, plus suggested drives in New England, this is a key resource for foliage fans in the Northeast.

Weather Channel: Maps for foliage conditions around the U.S. make this resource useful for finding displays of autumn even in destinations not known for fall colors.

U.S. Forest Service: The Fall Colors 2010 webpage from the U.S. Forest Service lists fall foliage hotspots and links to Forest Service regional fall foliage websites.

Canada Travel News: Information by province, along with links for the current updates, makes this a good first stop in the search for Canadian gold, red, and orange.

What other online resources do you use when planning fall foliage trips?