ATV Adventures: Riding through the splendor of Utah’s fall colors in 2023
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- Leaf peeping in Farmington. The colors have been so pretty this year.
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- Terry Maxfield on Farmington Canyon Road enjoying the fall colors.
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- Lynn Blamires
A trip to see the fall colors on the Eastern Seaboard has been on my bucket list for many years. My wife and I have a son living in Connecticut. Wanting to see him and the colors, we decided to use him as an excuse to do both. He knows this part of the country very well.
Not having previously been to the states we visited, we were curious about what we would see in addition to the colors. Touring by car would give us a closer look at life on the other side of the country.
Our son, Clark, picked us up at the Hartford airport and we were off on our adventure. Our route took us up the coast of Maine to Rockland, where we caught a ferry to Vinalhaven in the Fox Islands.
Having spent my life in the wide-open western states with little experience with life in the eastern states, I experienced some pleasant surprises. The dense populations are in the big cities. The countryside is beautiful and not crowded.
We didn’t see any subdivisions. The houses were in the woods on pretty country lanes. Clark told us that they draw water from wells and use septic tanks instead of city sewage systems.
We spent seven days on backroads instead of highways. We stayed in cabins and a bed and breakfast instead of motels. It was the best way to see Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
The leaf peeping was wonderful, but the colors were not as spectacular as we expected they would be. So, I did a little research on what conditions make vivid fall colors. Here is what I learned from the Environmental Information Series, https://www.esf.edu: “Temperature, light, and water supply have an influence on the degree and the duration of fall color. Low temperatures above freezing will favor anthocyanin formation producing bright reds in maples. However, early frost will weaken the brilliant red color. Rainy and/or overcast days tend to increase the intensity of fall colors. The best time to enjoy the autumn color would be on a clear, dry, and cool (not freezing) day.”
We arrived home from a wonderful adventure. I was doing something in the yard in the early evening just as the sun was setting. I happened to look up at our mountains to the east. The golden light of the setting sun made the mountain look like it was on fire. The fall colors were bright and vivid. It was like I had to go all the way across the country to find the brightest fall colors right at home. I don’t remember a more beautiful fall in Utah.
I called my friend Terry Maxfield. We decided to take a ride up Farmington Canyon for a leaf-peeping trip to enjoy more of these amazing colors.
We chose to ride UTVs — because after all, this is an ATV Adventure article. However, this road is suitable for trucks and passenger cars. We saw both on this trip. Because our UTVs are street-legal we chose to drive the streets of Farmington to the mouth of Farmington Canyon.
Farmington Ponds is now an excellent place from which to stage for a ride to the radar towers and beyond to the Smith Creek Lakes. There is plenty of room to park a trailer and unload. There are also wonderful facilities available for an afternoon or evening picnic.
As we began to climb the switchbacks on the road to the top, the colors were breathtaking. We found ourselves stopped along the way many times to take pictures and enjoy the amazing colors. The mountain was alive with the bright orange and yellow hues of the aspens. These were in contrast to the reds of the maples against the greens of the pine trees. As we climbed up the Francis Peak Road, we could see patches of color all across the mountains.
We rode to the top of Francis Peak where the gate to the radar towers is set. From this point, we could see down into Morgan Valley on the east and Antelope Island and beyond on the west.
We intended to go beyond the towers to the Smith Creek Lakes, but snow and mud took the fun out of it. After coming back down to Farmington, we chose to talk about our adventure over dinner at Chang’s Chopstix in Farmington. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and remember Farmington Canyon for fall colors.
Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.