This Fall, a Vibrant Palette of Local Color

Driving his 1934 Model A Coupe, Lothar Winklbauer of Burtonsville will view the autumn foliage as he tools along the back roads of Montgomery County to Damascus, where he meets his antique-car buddies a couple of times a month. Elena Acs of Clarksville will combine looking at the trees with motoring to her vacation destination, a spa in New York's Catskill Mountains.

When I observe the seasonal leaf show, it will be while picking apples at Larriland Farm in Woodbine and crunching through the fragrant, brown-carpeted hiking trails of Patapsco Valley State Park in Ellicott City.

Nobody does just one thing at a time anymore. In this age of multitasking, piling the family into the car expressly to go admire fall foliage seems quaint -- from the time of Ford Fairlane station wagons and "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet."

Charles Pepper, a horticulturalist with the National Park Service Northeast Region, predicts a normal fall foliage season. The summer drought, he said, broke at a beneficial time.

Good color depends on temperature and the soil's moisture level throughout the growing season, explained Mary Olien, director of Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria. She said this year's spring-to-fall weather pattern -- dry, wet, very dry, wet -- may have caused some tree stress that could result in leaf browning, especially on the edges, giving trees a duller overall appearance. But the recent sunny, warm days and crisp, cool nights have promoted a multihued display.

Peak foliage periods occurred in Canada and Maine last month and are progressing southward toward North Carolina. Higher-elevation trees change color before those in lower-level areas.

The Virginia mountains and western Maryland are expected to look their best during the next two weeks. The Virginia Piedmont and coastal plain and central Maryland should reach their color height the following week and last to the end of the month.

Already in the District, vibrant yellow, burnt orange and maroon are tingeing the trees, especially the dogwoods, on 16th Street NW. Multitasking drivers, who talk on the cellphone and apply makeup en route to work, might add leaf-peeping to their commuting accomplishments.

FOLIAGE REPORTS AND TRIP-PLANNING GUIDES

The following Web sites and phone numbers can help you make your recreational plans and pinpoint the peak foliage.

Virginia:http://fallinvirginia.organdhttp://www.dof.virginia.gov/fall/index.shtml.800-424-5683.

Pennsylvania:http://visitpa.com.800-847-4872.