Connecticut - Nature and Scientific Wonders

The Last Green Valley (Mystic region)
One of the best ways to appreciate Connecticut is to explore on foot. This destination is the setting for a series of "Walking Weekends" during fall foliage season. Taking place in October throughout the Shetucket Rivers Valley, the event features more than 100 guided strolls and hikes. Trek over Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden and marvel at the gorgeous views of Long Island Sound, and explore the Mountain Laurel Loop Hike at Barnes Nature Center in Bristol, where fall’s fire colors can be seen on a tour through a tunnel, a brook, a meadow, forests and a garden.

Litchfield Hills
Fall Foliage Driving Loops in Connecticut combine tours filled with autumn colors and special themes. Each tour encompasses between 70 and 100 miles of magnificent scenery, with detailed driving instructions, suggestions of places to visit and things to do along the way. For another journey on wheels, steam ahead through the hills and valleys of Connecticut aboard the Essex Steam Train or the Naugatuck Railroad in Thomaston during annual fall foliage tours.

Merritt Parkway
Visitors driving to Connecticut from the New York City metropolitan area should take this route. As one of the oldest and most beautifully designed highways in the country, the Merritt is also one of the most impressive fall foliage settings in the state with its abundant roadside forests and vegetation.