Falling down, falling margins, falling apart. Instead of the word fall, I’m going to campaign for the use of the term autumn to refer to this time of year. It sounds nicer. Of course as of late we could just call it the rainy season.
Even though autumn sounds better, I suppose it makes sense to be called fall because of the falling leaves. In many areas of the country that means big bucks in the travel industry as the “leaf peepers” make their annual pilgrimages to fall color hot spots. Instead of brown, red, and yellow, bloggers and travel writers everywhere are waxing poetic — with gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson — like the biblical coat of many colors.
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism does a big marketing and public relations push this time of year. It’s the final hoorah before the crowd divides: outdoor enthusiasts embracing cold and snow and ice skating vs. indoor enthusiasts holding firm to their mugs filled with hot cider and their wool-socked feet up to the fireplace.
Wisconsin Tourism has been doing an interactive online Fall Color Report since 2003. Click the leaf on “travelwisconsin.com” for a map with the 72 Wisconsin counties and the estimated percentage of fall color in that area. The report is touted as showing “the historic march of Wisconsin fall colors from north to south.”
The report gets a facelift every year or so to add new features and user-friendly elements. For example, you can find trip ideas on the Fall Getaway page, or tag your own photos with #TravelWI for a chance to have them featured on the site. The core purpose of the report is to give potential travelers real-time updates on where to go for the best Wisconsin scenery.
Every county area has an official fall color spotter or two — usually from tourism bureaus, destination marketing organizations or state parks. I do the reporting for Green County. I generally know it’s time to get started when this one really annoying “early bird” Maple tree on the Historic Courthouse lawn colors up mid-September. While others around Monroe’s downtown Square are currently holding their green or perhaps sporting a bit of yellow, that Maple on the southwest corner now stands nearly naked.
As I write this, things are still overall quite green in all of Green County, so our report is at 15%. Far northern counties are posting 50 – 70% color. Fall color in southern Wisconsin is always a bit spotty since we don’t have the expansive forest lands of the northern regions. Since there isn’t much to talk about right now in the way of color, I’ve added a teaser for an upcoming seasonal event — Swiss Village Harvest Fest in mid-October.
Soon I will be working on the 2020 Green County Visitor and Activity Guide. On the map, I like to indicate some of the best spots to check out the fall colors. If you see a good one let me know: greencountytourism@gmail.com or 608-328-1838.
Just recently, I got a voicemail with nothing but someone yodeling. It was one of those things that make you go hmmmm. Perhaps an audition? Or just a happy yodeler? So if you call with a fall color report, directions or some sort of wayfinding guidance would be most helpful.
— Noreen Rueckert is director for Green County Tourism and Green County Cheese Days, and helps out with Main Street Monroe’s Concerts on the Square. Her favorite cheese is rumored to be Feta. She has the best office in the county — overlooking Monroe’s Square from the tower of the Historic Green County Courthouse. She dabbles in photography and graphic design, adores cats and iced coffee, and secretly loves the Cheese Days Song.
