Best fall colors near New Castle County? (Wilmington, Newark: prices, gardens)

[katreese]

Hi everyone,

From the Weather Channel map it looks like the fall colors might be at their peak in Delaware this weekend! Please share your favorite places for viewing fall foliage in or near New Castle County (or heck, anywhere in Delaware!). It's so beautiful already here, I can't believe it's going to get even better!

[katreese]

Hmmm...here's a site I found

Delaware Fall Foliage Tours, Guides, Maps, Pictures

[maryCh]

Thanks for the link, katreese! We will be in your neck of the woods Saturday... Special Olympics is having their Fall Games at U-Del. We'll be sure to check out the colors on our way there.

Mary

[doctorjef]

I'd suggest heading up Rt 52 (Kennett Pike) and turning onto any of the back roads. You could drive up to Centreville and turn right onto Twaddle Mill Rd and follow that down and around the woods. Or you can turn left (west) anywhere north of the HS stadium on Kennett Pike and wander the roads on that side. You could also consider taking a ride this Saturday on the Wilmington and Western Railroad from Prices Corner up through the woodlands to Hockessin and back.

[Joe84323]

^Some of my fondest childhood memories surround the Wilmington & Western Railroad.

[anniebleu]

Winterthur and (just a little farther) Longwood Gardens are lovely at this time of year, though we haven't visited for a while. Has anybody checked either lately? I'm wondering if the dry weather has had an adverse effect to the north. (We're in Kent County, and some of the leaves have gone from green to brown here.)

[doctorjef]

To my partner and I the Fall colours seem much less brilliant this year, so I think the dry weather has had an adverse effect. OTOH last autumn was gorgeous -- absolutely no reason to drive to New England when one has a DE Fall like the one last year. However, there have been some nice displays of colour here and there this year nonetheless. I haven't been over to Winterthur this autumn but will probably be taking a friend over from England there in the next few days.

[katreese]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

I don't know what's normal but I have been at Winterthur for each of the past 2 weeks and it has been incredibly beautiful.

I was at White Clay State Park today - lots of colorful leaves on the ground, lots of green leaves on the trees! I was expecting more color - but it was still very pretty.

[maryCh]

As it turned out, our drive to Newark Saturday was not as nice as it could have been... rained off and on most of the way. What we did see, was beautiful!

Anniebleu, we too are in central Kent County. The foliage on the many trees on our property have turned all sorts of colors! Too bad we got some crappy weather today... we now have a bunch of browning leaves all over the grass!

Mary

[doctorjef]

I was out at Hagley yesterday walking around. It was spectacular, even if maybe slightly beyond its peak. I had only visited Hagley in the summer before, and the Fall is so much better! The Brandywine is up and flowing very rapidly, as well. It's great scenery for photographs. I recommend going there no later than this coming weekend, however, since the glory will probably diminish rapidly after that. Just splendid!