A blanket of color has descended upon the state.
And this year’s brilliant display is projected to draw about 9.5 million visitors into New Hampshire, a 5 percent uptick over last year.
“New Hampshire has an outstanding reputation for beautiful foliage which is why people plan vacations to New Hampshire during the autumn season,” said Kris Neilsen, communications manager for the state’s division of travel and tourism development.
Spending by those visitors is estimated to reach $1.42 billion this year, marking a 6 percent increase over last year. In 2015, 9.03 million people flocked into the state during the fall season.
Neilsen said behind summer, September, October and November see the most tourists.
Sean Ryan, executive director of the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, said the economic boost felt across the state ripples into the Monadnock region.
Last year, the region saw a 13 percent increase in the amount of tourism dollars spent, which marked the largest growth in any other area across the state.
“We are that unspoiled, quintessential New England village,” Ryan said.
He said tourists from across the globe are drawn to the area because of its charm.
“There are all of these unique little villages in the area,” he said. “They love being able to travel from town to town and experience something new at every corner.”
The area’s one-of-a-kind shopping and farm-to-fork eateries have also boosted the region’s appeal in recent years, he said.
The color this season has surprised some people who were concerned that the region’s drought may have negatively affected it.
According to UNH Extension Education Center Coordinator Jeremy Delisle, the dry, storm-free season is actually benefiting the season by extending the lives of the changing leaves.
“When we have these days that are calm, dry, not windy, the leaves can hang on and stay on the trees longer,” he said. “If we don’t have rain or wind events, it’ll last longer.”
One effect of the drought is that leaves began to change sooner, because leaves began to die sooner, which prompts the color change.
“The pigments that are normally there decrease and we’re able to start to see those other pigments in there, those yellows and reds,” said Delisle.
Lodging is one of the many segments of business in the Monadnock region impacted by leaf peepers, with many area inns and bed and breakfasts having their best best weeks in the fall.
Paula Fox, innkeeper at Little River Bed and Breakfast in Peterborough, said business always sees an uptick during October, with customers coming from across the globe to look at the foliage.
“We had guests from England and Germany this October,” said Fox. “People come to Peterborough because they heard it is a nice area.”
Little River is oftentimes at max capacity this time of year, according to Fox, with guests often staying for smaller day or weekend trips. Fox said that those who stay at Little River usually have an itinerary planned that includes a number of stops throughout New Hampshire and New England.
Hancock Inn is also in peak season right now, according to front of house manager Mark Eaton.
In addition to getting customers both national and international, Eaton said Hancock Inn gets a number of reservations in advance, which includes events like weddings.
“We run the whole gamut,” said Eaton. “They come from near and far. A lot of people make reservations months in advance.”
Photographer John Poltrack of New Ipswich has been snapping fall foliage for years.
“It’s the same picture every year, but you get taken in,” said Poltrack. “And people never seem to get tired of it.”
Despite drought conditions, Poltrack said this year seems as brilliant as any other. Poltrack has visited some of his favorite shooting places this year – the Route 124 stretch between Peterborough and Sharon, the center of Temple, the walking trail around the pond in Annett State Park and at the Cathedral of the Pines, and said he’s spotted as much brilliant color as ever.
“I’ve found the Monadnock region is the best for foliage,” said Poltrack. “One year I went up to the White Mountains, and they don’t have as many kinds of trees, so you don’t get the variety of color, the reds and the purples.”
Poltrack isn’t the only one attracted to local trails to admire the foliage.
The Columbus Day weekend is historically a busy one for local climbing spots, in the midst of the peak foliage season, according to Amy Bassett, public outreach specialist for the state division of parks and recreation.
While a rainy day Sunday had numbers down at Monadnock State Park, with only about 300 visitors, on Saturday, over 2,000 people visited the park. While numbers aren’t yet available for the number of visitors on Monday’s holiday, Bassett said it was similarly high.
“On extremely busy days, when we don’t have parking, we will have to stop allowing admittance, [and] that only happened on Monday,” said Bassett.
Fall is the busiest time for Monadnock, said Bassett, and will remain at a peak until Thanksgiving.
“It’s the busiest season, particularly at Monadnock,” said Bassett. “It’s the time we have the most days where we are at parking capacity.”