Color Splash: Fall Foliage In Natick

Peak season is still a couple of weeks away, but leaf peepers can find vibrant colors now.

According to the Farmers Almanac, inland Massachusetts, including Natick, can expect the peak foliage season between Oct. 5-21.

If you're an avid leaf-peeper, or someone who is just getting into the festive hobby, here are some tips courtesy of Yankeefoliage.com:

• DO observe proper foliage etiquette. Locals use the back roads to get from here to there as promptly as possible. If you're oohing and ahhing at five miles per hour, pull over when someone's behind you. And DO ask a landowner's permission before tramping into the fields.
• DO get out of your car, and walk, and smell, and listen. Foliage is the most sensual of New England seasons, from the sweet aromas of our apple orchards to the swirling of leaves and wind, from that first whiff of woodsmoke on a frosty fall day to the crunch of dry foliage underfoot. Seeing foliage is only half the fun. Many of us remember our parents shoving us into the car when we were young and driving for hours with out-of-town relatives. We hated it.
• DO look for changing views. Search out roads with hills and curves, roads that meander through changing vistas of woods and farms and small villages. If there is a better combination than water and stone (stone walls, stone bridges) and autumn leaves, we don't know it.
• DO wake early. The colors will be most vivid with the morning dew and morning light. Watching the dawn mist rise off our forest-ringed lakes and rivers may be the best treat of all.