Yellow, orange, red and purple mixed with the slower changing
oaks and their continued green hues make the fall season in this
area one of the most spectacular visual settings in the
country.

The colors tend to draw in visitors from Ohio, Canada, southern
parts of Pennsylvania and New York state to take in the scenery.
While here, visitors have the chance to attend museums and other
attractions in and around Bradford.

“We had a bus in today,” said Jay Tennies, director of the
Eldred World War II Museum on Friday. “It was a group of senior
citizens from south Dayton, Ohio. There were about 40 people coming
in to see the leaves and foliage. They were going to be moving to
Kane and Kinzua Bridge, making a nice general run through on a
beautiful fall day.”

Tennies said he sees a number of different types of tour
companies coming through, especially this time of year, from
Rochester and Buffalo, N.Y., Niagara Falls, Canada, and
Harrisburg.

“(Today) we will have 50 to 100 motorcycles stop,” added
Tennies. “Somebody told me not too long ago this area is one of the
most beautiful areas in the country.”

Cecile Stelter, state Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources assistant district forester for Northwest Pennsylvania,
located in Warren, said they started tracking the leaf color
changes on Sept. 18 this year. She said at that time there was
about a three percent change in the trees.

She added that earlier this week the trees were at about an
eight to 10 percent change.

“By Oct. 16 you should see well over 50 percent in full color,”
said Stelter. “But even after that people shouldn’t be
disappointed, the oaks will still be changing through the end of
October. So people still have several weeks to enjoy the
experience.”

Stelter explained the rain in the northwest and northcentral
parts of the state effect some of the color. She said it seems to
have delayed the change in color, adding the warm days and cooler
nights also affect the color change by bringing out more
spectacular colors.

“Different species change at different times,” she added. “You
can expect to see the ashes, aspens and birches starting to show
color. The understory shrubs – sumac will be a brilliant red and
the black gum crimson or red color while the maples are showing
orange and yellow for the sugar maple.

“We are blessed with a beautiful palette with the conifers that
keep their green and the hardwoods that change colors – it makes
for a beautiful season throughout the state,” Stelter added.

Stephanie Kost, owner of the Lantz Corners Getaway, said they
have groups that come from Canada to see the fall foliage.

“They love riding here throughout the summer and especially
now,” she said. “We have at least one room booked for this (past)
weekend of (motorcycle) riders. On the weekends, the numbers are
higher for the travelers. Some of the people from Canada drive down
to West Virginia and stop in our area overnight – they love it here
they can take lots of little trips. They can go to DuBois and come
back, the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.”

She added they were “booked solid” for the weekend.

“The Allegheny National Forest Vacation Bureau has done a great
job to encourage driving on Route 6. We have seen a lot more
traffic for that reason,” added Kost.

“It all comes down to where we lie – the area itself promotes
itself. A lot of the people who live here don’t appreciate it. My
eyes have been opened through strangers.”

Linda Devlin, executive director of the Vacation Bureau, said
“Our area benefits from the fall foliage with increased traffic
from “road trips.” Specifically, the Cleveland market is interested
in two to three days of exploring the forest region.ð

“The last ad we ran promoting “road trips” in the Cleveland
market resulted in a marked increase in traffic to our Web site and
brochure requests,” Devlin said.

Devlin said locally, Flickerwood Wine Cellars, the Longhouse
Scenic Drive, Rock City Park, Holgate Toys, the Eldred World War II
Museum, Kinzua Bridge State Park and Zippo/Case Visitors Center all
see an increase in fall traffic.

“We also see a lot of traffic into the area generated from
visitors utilizing the ScenicðRoute 6 guide to plan their fall
drives,” she added.