While most media reported the "peak" around the 8th of November, it’s a nebulous term. You can find yourself admiring one view thinking, if just those spots would spring into color, this would be peak. Almost overnight those trees will light up in yellow, but you’ll discover that the flaming maples that completed the picture have sent all their leaves to the ground in a brown puddle.
The thing to do is JUST GO. Anytime in October or November it’s beautiful in the mountains. Fill your tank with some of our honest-to-goodness under-$1.90-a-gallon-gas and drive north.There are still brilliant colored vistas, and if you can be standing by as the sun begins to dip, those reds, yellows, and oranges that are catching the last rays look like they’ve been plugged in to the power source.
There are many places to go. Here’s just one idea: Take I-85 north out of Atlanta. At exit 113 veer left onto I-985 through Gainesville. After 25 miles or so it will become Georgia 365 and no longer be limited access, so be careful but keep going. In another 20 minutes or so, 365 will pull off towards Toccoa, and the road you’re on will become 441. You will have the multi-layered blue mountains of Georgia and North Carolina ahead of you. Georgia highway 441 will take you through Tallulah Gorge, Tiger, Clayton, Mountain City and Dillard, all in about 2 hours from Atlanta.
There are plenty of places to eat and things to see. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about some of the must-see stops along the way, so start planning your last weekend before Thanksgiving to see those leaves!
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