When do leaves change in New York?

The Wild Center

A natural history campus in Tupper Lake built around the Adirondack forest itself rather than around a gallery of exhibits. Its best-known feature is Wild Walk, a trail of bridges that climbs into the treetops and ends at a full-size bald eagle's nest, which puts you level with the canopy just as it turns. It is the most weather-proof stop in this table, since the indoor exhibits work as well as the trails on a grey October day. Admission is the second steepest here at $28 for an adult.

Adirondack Rail Trail

A car-free path laid on the old rail bed running 34 miles between Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. The grade is gentle by design, typically about 2 percent, so it is walkable or ridable by almost anyone, and it threads forests, wetlands and mountain views instead of road shoulders. It costs nothing and is open year-round. The trade-off is that there is no single overlook: the payoff is spread over miles, so allow a few hours.

Kaaterskill Wild Forest

The Catskills' most photographed waterfall and the wild forest around it, in the Greene County high country where color arrives earlier than almost anywhere else in the state. The terrain runs from sprawling mountains and dramatic cliffs to deep valleys, and the trail network links the falls to viewpoints along the Escarpment. There is no fee to enter. Parking is the real constraint rather than money: the lots off North Lake Road fill early on October weekends.

Olana State Historic Site

The hilltop estate of Hudson River School painter Frederic Church, whose entire 250-acre landscape was composed as a sequence of framed views. Five miles of carriage drives, now mostly walking routes, lead through vistas Church laid out deliberately, which makes this the rare foliage spot where the sightlines were designed rather than found. The grounds are free and open daily until sunset; only the house tour is ticketed. It is a place for looking rather than hiking.

John Boyd Thacher State Park

A long park along the Helderberg Escarpment west of Albany, sitting on one of the richest fossil-bearing rock formations in the world. The Indian Ladder Trail runs beneath the cliff face itself and is offered as a guided walk, with more than 25 further miles of trails on the plateau above. At $6 the vehicle fee is the lowest of any staffed park in this table. The cliff-edge views are the whole draw, so it rewards a clear day more than the gorge parks do.

Saratoga Spa State Park

A National Historic Landmark park built around Saratoga Springs' mineral springs, with the Hall of Springs, a performing arts center and golf courses set among woods and stream-side paths. The terrain is gentle and the trails are made for a casual walker rather than a hiker, which makes it an easy addition to a weekend in town. The $10 vehicle fee lapses after mid-October, so a late-season visit is often free. It is a stroll rather than a spectacle.

Chittenango Falls State Park

A small park outside Cazenovia built around a single 167-foot waterfall that drops over stacked bedrock ledges. A short loop takes you from the top viewpoint down into the gorge, across a footbridge at the base and back up the far side, so you see the falls from three angles in well under an hour. At $5 it is the cheapest paid park in this table. It is a stop rather than a day out, and the gorge stairs are steep.

Green Lakes State Park

Two glacial lakes near Syracuse, deep enough that they hold an unusual blue-green color year-round, ringed by upland forest. Fifteen miles of trails circle them and the shoreline loop is flat enough for anyone, which is why it draws crowds on October weekends. The vehicle fee is $10 in the summer season. Color reflected off water that is already turquoise is the reason to come here rather than to an ordinary hillside.

Rock Island Lighthouse State Park

An island light station in the St. Lawrence River near Clayton, reachable only by boat, which makes it the one entry here you view from the water rather than from a trail. Access is $3 for an adult on top of whatever the shuttle or tour operator charges; private boats dock free. The Thousand Islands turn a week or two behind the Adirondacks, so it extends the season northward. Check the schedule before going, as the island runs a short season and weather can cancel the crossing.

Allegany State Park

A very large state park on the Pennsylvania line in Cattaraugus County, in the far southwest corner of the state. The Red House area is the developed half, with a lake, the administration building and the Stone Tower overlook above rolling hills of mature forest. The vehicle fee is $7 and is collected on a partial schedule that runs into mid-October. It is a drive-and-look park rather than a single-viewpoint one, so plan on covering ground.

Watkins Glen State Park

The best-known gorge in the Finger Lakes: in two miles the stream falls 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs and over 19 waterfalls, with a stone path that runs over and under the water. The gorge trail is the reason to come and it closes for winter, so October sits near the end of the season. The vehicle fee is $10. It is popular enough to be shoulder-to-shoulder on a peak weekend, and the walls mean you see color overhead rather than across a valley.

Taughannock Falls State Park

A 215-foot plunge waterfall north of Ithaca, dropping into a stone amphitheater whose walls rise nearly 400 feet above the gorge floor. A flat three-quarter-mile gorge trail reaches the base and rim trails look down from above, so you can pick how much effort to spend. The vehicle fee is $10. The walls are steep enough that the falls sit in shade for much of the day, which is worth planning around if you are photographing.

Buttermilk Falls State Park

A staircase of cascades on Buttermilk Creek as it drops down the valley side toward Cayuga Lake, on the south edge of Ithaca. The gorge trail climbs beside the water past deep pools and sculpted rock, and the park pairs naturally with Taughannock and Watkins Glen on a single Finger Lakes loop. The vehicle fee is $10, collected daily from April into November. The lower falls are visible from near the parking area, so there is something to see without committing to the climb.

Minnewaska State Park Preserve

A preserve on the Shawangunk Ridge above the Hudson Valley, where white conglomerate cliffs rise more than 2,000 feet around three clear sky lakes and dense hardwood forest. Thirty-five miles of carriage roads and fifty miles of footpaths mean a ridge-top view is reachable on a gently graded road rather than a scramble. The vehicle fee is $10. The carriage roads are the reason to bring anyone who does not want a steep hike but still wants the long view.

Bear Mountain State Park

On the west bank of the Hudson, this is the closest entry in the table to New York City. Perkins Memorial Drive climbs to a tower at the summit with views over the park, the Hudson Highlands and neighboring Harriman State Park, so the payoff comes without a hike. The road runs from April through late November, weather permitting, and the $10 vehicle fee is collected year-round. Being the nearest option, it is also the busiest on an October weekend.

Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park

A former railroad bridge at Poughkeepsie converted into a linear park, 1.28 miles gate to gate and 212 feet above the river. It gives a mid-river view up and down the Hudson Valley that you cannot get from either bank, on a flat and fully accessible deck. Access is free during operating hours, though the main lot charges for parking. There is no shelter on the span, so wind and weather shape the visit more than at any other entry here.

Letchworth State Park

The Genesee River runs through a gorge here with cliffs as high as 600 feet and three major waterfalls, all wrapped in forest. Sixty-six miles of hiking trails plus a park road strung with overlooks mean it works either as a long walk or a slow drive. The vehicle fee is $10, collected daily into mid-October. The park is roughly 17 miles long, so pick an end and work outward rather than trying to see all of it in a day.

Niagara Falls State Park

A park wrapped around all three falls on the American side: the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. Over five miles of paths run from easy rim strolls to steep descents into the gorge, and walking in is always free, with the $10 charged for parking. Greater Niagara turns latest of the upstate regions, so this is the place to aim for in the last week of October. Here the falls are the draw and the foliage is the frame, which is the reverse of everywhere else in this table.

Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park

A former Gold Coast estate on Long Island's North Shore, with over 400 acres of rolling lawns, gardens, woodlands and nature walks laid out by the Olmsted Brothers. Because it is planted rather than wild, the color comes from specimen trees and collections as much as from native maples, and it holds late in the season. The vehicle fee is $8, charged on weekends and holidays into mid-November. Long Island peaks last in the state, so this is a November trip rather than an October one.

New York Botanical Garden

250 acres in the Bronx with a mature forest tract along the Bronx River, which is what makes it a genuine foliage destination rather than a garden with a few ornamental trees. Paths run through the woodland and the collections, and the site is designed to be walkable and accessible throughout. It is the most expensive entry here at $35 for an adult on a weekday. New York City peaks in early to mid-November, so it is effectively the last stop on the state's foliage calendar.