Fall foliage in the Pocono Mountains

Pocono mountains, you may wonder where they are? After some research about the best locations for viewing the autumn/fall foliage or Indian summer I came across this rural gem in Pennsylvania, only a two-hour drive from NYC but worlds away. We spent a weekend in and around the cute town of Jim Thorpe (named after one of the most successful native American athletes) and stayed in one of Jim Thorpe’s grand mansions, the lovely DeFeo’s B&B. Like in most historic houses in town, the interior was grand with lots of love for details. The delicious breakfast was brought to our room every morning. Not a bad way to start the day!

Jim Thorpe might seem sleepy at first, but soon we realized that autumn is a very busy season and all hotels/B&B’s were fully booked over the weekend. Although we missed the peak colour by a few days according to the Pocono’s fall foliage forecast, there were still enough activities left. The countless mansions and grand buildings are open to visitors and worth seeing.

The reason we actually came for was the change autumn/fall foliage. And yes – unfortunately a lot of trees have lost their leaves already but we found a few spots where the colour ranges from orange, red and brown were still visible. One of them was the nearby Mauch Chunk Lake Park, which was super quiet and serene!

Another main attraction of the region is the Lehigh Scenic Gorge Railway, an museum train that runs through the attractive scenery of forests, rivers and waterfalls. I thought there will be only old people on the train but at least at the open car was full with people of all ages 😛

The next day we went to a very extraordinary destination further West: Through the deepest countryside we made it to Centralia. This former mining town is practically abandoned after it was hit by fires and toxic gases and has become a ghost town by today. Only 10 residents remained there but certainly more visitors enjoyed the empty roads either on their quads/motorbikes or by foot.

Especially one road has caught every visitor’s attention: The so-called graffiti highway, previously a part of Pennsylvania’s route 61, never got finished as the town’s fall came so sudden. Not only the pavement was covered in colours, also the surrounding forest was showing its prettiest autumn outfit. Certainly one of the most interesting places we visited during this trip!

On our way back to New York we had lunch at a typical American rest stop by a Cracker Barrell store. The food was like the interior on the hearty side and quite decent!

Where’s your favourite spot to view the autumn/fall foliage?