Berks County may be the place to be

Whenit comes to fall foliage, Berks Countymay be the place to be.

Where is the best place to appreciate fall foliage?

It may be right in your backyard.

Sure, you could take a road trip up north where there are more sugar maples that famously provide the mountains with an array of reds, yellows and oranges. But, the sugar maple is a drought-sensitive tree and unfortunately, northern Pennsylvania, northern New York and New England are seeing a drought. Droughts stress trees, so they may color early and drop leaves.

But Berks County has some unique opportunities.

Most leaf peepers like to gasp at the mass of vibrant colors on a mountainside.

Rick Hartlieb, assistant district forester for the William Penn District, says good spots in Berks to see those swaths of trees would be French Creek State Park in Union Township and the Blue Mountain.

Hartlieb is a Berks County native and Robesonia resident who oversees nine counties of state forests in southeastern Pennsylvania and a team of five foresters.

French Creek is part of the Hopewell Big Woods, the last large unbroken forest in southeastern Pennsylvania. The Blue Mountain stretches across the Kittatinny Ridge, an important bird flyway, and the Appalachian Trail.

Reflected on water

Another way Hartlieb likes to view fall foliage is to see it reflected on water at the Birdsboro Reservoir in Union Township or Antietam Lake Park in Lower Alsace Township.

Southeastern Pennsylvania’s fall foliage usually peaks the third week of October, Hartlieb said. The state began reporting

READING EAGLE A visitor to the Pagoda enjoys the autumnal view of southeast Reading.