New 7 Wonders of Nature

New 7 Wonders of Nature- New 7 Wonders of Nature is an initiative started in 2007 to create a list of seven natural wonders chosen by people through a global poll. It is being led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organized by the New7Wonders Foundation, a Swiss-based, government-controlled foundation. This campaign follows the New Seven Wonders of the World, which attracted 100 million votes from around the world. Voting is scheduled to continue until Nov. 11, 2011.

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Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: British Columbia

Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: British Columbia

Though larches range up into southern Canada, south-central British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley holds an entirely different natural venue for fall color: fruit orchards and vineyards. Stretching almost 200 miles north to south and framed by burly mountains and long, azure lakes, the apple, peach, pear, apricot and wine-grape farms that line the valley offer every conceivable hue throughout October, often into November. Their hues are complemented by the glowing gold of native cottonwoods. The launching point is Kelowna; a day trip either north or south from there is ideal, and the most scenic and colorful route is the short drive to Naramata from Penticton, overlooking Okanagan Lake. Okanagan Valley fruit

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Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: Oregon

Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: Oregon

Though they are much less imposing than the towering trees most associate with fall color, the 5- to 10-foot vine maples of the Pacific Northwest’s Cascade Range in Oregon may yield the most intense color found in any fall foliage, a palette of vermilion, salmon and magenta that seems magically more vivid on cloudy days (which come often enough after Labor Day). Oregon has the two best drives for vine maple color, the Mount Hood Highway (U.S. 26) heading southeast out of Portland, and the Santiam Highway (U.S. 20) between Corvallis and Sisters. Bend and Portland are the gateways; the best viewing starts in mid-September, or even earlier in dry years.

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Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: Eastern Canada

Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: Eastern Canada

Not far from New England, but far less famous (and less crowded) are the forests of Eastern Canada. Maples, birches and aspens start turning as early as mid-September in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This is one of the few places travelers can enjoy superb, leisurely viewing without driving themselves: Canada’s VIA Rail runs multiday fall-color train journeys eastward out of Montreal. Through mid-October, Holland America Line offers week or longer sailings from Quebec City that visit the beautiful Gaspe Peninsula and Saguenay Fjord, whose forests are seen by relatively few travelers. Fall foliage train trips, Fall foliage cruises

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Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: Arkansas

Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: Arkansas

The landscape in northwest Arkansas' Ozark Mountains is very similar to New England. The best place to view the colors is Buffalo National River (actually a national park), where towering ridges shine in maroon, bronze, butterscotch and apricot. The ideal visitor gateway is the charming historic town of Eureka Springs; mid-October is the time to visit.

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Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: Arizona

Fall Colors off the Beaten Track: Arizona

Everybody knows that autumn brings flaming foliage colors to New England sugar maples, oaks, beeches and more in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. But there are many other worthy spots around the world to admire autumn finery and appreciate the seasonal flow of time in nature. Here are a dozen of the best.
Arizona’s Sonoran Desert is known to aficionados as a desert with trees some of them deciduous hardwoods in the stream-fed canyons at the edge of the Sonoran. Oak Creek Canyon, north of Phoenix, is lined with oaks, maples and sycamores that fire up brilliant fall colors in October and November, especially along some of the side canyons that invite hikers welcoming the cooler temperatures of autumn. Unlike most other fall-color venues, from Oak Creek you can head back down to Phoenix and return to summer, polishing off your fall foliage tour with a day by the pool. Phoenix weather in October and November

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