Every fall, the same foliage corridors get all the attention. Vermont, the Smokies, the Blue Ridge Parkway. This year, two major booking platforms are pointing travelers somewhere else entirely, and the drives worth taking are in places most road trip guides still haven’t caught up to.
Travelers are building fall weekends around a specific kind of place right now. A small town with a scenic drive, fall color that feels off the map and a walkable downtown to land in at the end of the day. The places that fit that description have been there all along.
The Data Behind the Drive
Airbnb’s Fall Travel Trends Report found that 60% of travelers are planning a fall weekend getaway this season. Among Gen Z specifically, 90% said small towns and under-the-radar destinations appeal to them this fall. Nearly half of Gen Z’s trending fall bookings are in small towns.
Jim Thorpe and the Lehigh Gorge Railroad
Jim Thorpe is a former coal-shipping town at the mouth of Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Gorge, and Airbnb now lists it among its trending fall destinations. A scenic railroad runs through the canyon past steep rock walls and hardwood forests. The town is walkable and roughly two hours from both Philadelphia and New York by car.
New River Gorge at Almost 6 Years Old
West Virginia’s New River Gorge National Park and Preserve became the country’s 63rd national park in December 2020 and is still finding its foliage-season audience. The New River Gorge Bridge rises 876 feet above the river, the longest single-span steel arch bridge in the United States, with car-accessible overlooks along the rim.
Michigan’s Lakeshore Drive With No Centerline
The Tunnel of Trees is a 20-mile stretch of M-119 from Harbor Springs to Cross Village, running along Lake Michigan’s shoreline through a hardwood canopy of maples, oaks and birches. The road is narrow enough to have no painted centerline. In fall, the canopy turns against the deep blue of the lake, a visual pairing distinct from anything along the Appalachian or Rocky Mountain foliage corridors.
Oregon’s Cascades Have Their Own Color Season
Bend made Airbnb’s trending fall destinations list, and the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway is the reason to drive there. The 66-mile route runs through the Deschutes National Forest past alpine lakes, volcanic terrain and views of Mount Bachelor. Aspens and larches turn gold as the road climbs from high desert into the mountains. The byway closes seasonally for winter, so September and early October are the window.
A separate hotel search ranking for fall foliage trips put the Columbia River Gorge second nationally, the Tunnel of Trees sixth and French Lick, Indiana, tenth. The traditional names showed up too, but the list stretched well past them. Fall color has always existed on more roads than the ones that get written about. These four are a good place to start.