Autumn Leaf Watch, Weekly Report

TOURISM/CULTURE- Autumn Leaf Watch, Weekly Report

NOTE: The following is the eighth and final Nova Scotia Autumn Leaf Watch report planned for this fall. Compiled by the Department of Tourism and Culture, the report includes summary paragraphs at the top of each trail section that can be lifted and used for a shorter report.

Like a giant rake the winds have swept the leaves from the trees from one end of Nova Scotia to the other tucking the lands into blankets of warm crunchy colour. A sprinkle of yellow and gold left in the aspen and larch is among the russet tones of low brush and the deep green of fir, pine and spruce.

REGION 1: Evangeline Trail

The Evangeline Trail is enveloped in leaves wind-driven from branches sketched against russet roadside brush. Scattered golden aspen and larch are among dark evergreen forests.

• Site 2, Ellenwood Lake Provincial Park: Among the windswept hardwood forests and bogs lone aspen and larch glow yellow.

Smith's Cove: A carpet of crisp yellow sugar maple leaves line the steps to Smith's Cove Look-off. Most of the maple leaves have dropped and the ones remaining are muted red and spotted with yellow. The leaves of the red maple, mountain-ash and pin-cherry are completely gone from the trees. Oaks along the trail retain their leaves which are a rich reddish-brown. A whole stand of beech shines golden yellow.

Have fun at the Berwick School craft fair with lots of crafts on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Enjoy the trails open year-round at the Uniacke Estate Museum Park.

Explore history at the Prescott House Museum in Starr's Point near Wolfville. Hear the family's story and find out the role some of them played in the field of medicine and the First World War.

Drop in and see the Firefighter's Museum of Nova Scotia in Yarmouth.

REGION 2: Glooscap and Sunrise Trails

The bright autumn leaves of the hardwood forests of the Glooscap and Sunrise trails have been blown away and replaced with the occasional bright yellow aspen and larch. The plant life closer to the earth still glows in warm russets and browns.

• Site 13, Gore: Bare branches are sketched against the sky at Courthouse Hill with some yellow in the aspen. The oak and grass are reddish-brown and blueberry is crimson red.

• Site 16, Shubenacadie: Along the wetlands and bogs only the oak leaves are brown. Some aspen and a few larch remain yellow.

• Site 23, Wentworth: On the back roads of Wentworth High Head, the highest point at Ski Wentworth, the ground is strewn with a bounty of yellow and orange leaves. Patches of yellow, bronze and brown among the birch and aspen dot the mountains.

• Site 25, Balmoral Mills: The foliage has been stripped from the hardwood trees, though there are still some yellow leaves left hanging over the pond.

• Site 26, Mount Thom: Blueberry fields are bright red and along the river valleys oaks are rusty coloured, and the willow and aspen are bright yellow. The eastern larch has turned a burnt orange. All other larger hardwood species have lost at least 90 per cent of their leaves.

Nuttby Mountain: Against the grey hardwood forest and dark skies the abandoned farmhouse presents an enchanting picture. Most leaves have departed though the understory of wild raisin. Beech and fern are still full of warm colour.

See the paintings of three local artists at the Fundy Geological Museum in Parrsboro until Dec. 30.

Enjoy a turkey supper in Dean or Economy on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Remember those who fought for us at the Remembrance Exhibit at the Hector Exhibit Centre in Pictou until Nov. 30.

See the exhibit To Have and To Hold at the Museum of Industry in Stellarton until Dec. 22. The display is a special collection of wedding memorabilia reflecting the vibrant culture of Pictou County.

REGION 3: Cape Breton Island

Striped of leaves, the hardwood forests lay bare among the evergreen trails of Cape Breton Island while a crunchy carpet awaits underfoot and the fragrant air is cool and inviting.

• Site 32, Margaree Valley: A sea of tawny branches and evergreen paint the view of the valley. Some oranges and yellows are still scattered about.

• Site 38, Kelly's Mountain: The leaves have been brushed from all but the lower branches of the deciduous trees. Along the Cabot Trail the shrub is still yellow and some grass remains green. Fallen leaves along the hiking trails are brilliant yellow and orange.

• Site 42, Irish Cove Scenic Look-off and Provincial Park: More than half the leaves have been blown from the trees and there is a little orange remaining among the yellow, brown and burgundy.

• Site 43, Martinique: Through the bare branches of the trees the striking view of wetlands, water and hardwood forests are now visible. Some warm colours in a few of the trees spot the landscape.

• Site 44, Dundee-West Bay: Enjoy a brisk autumn walk up the hillside through the windrows of fallen leaves to see a panoramic view of the bay. The ground is littered with colour and there is still some yellow and burgundy in the hardwood.

• Site 45, Marble Mountain: The bare crowns of the mountain hardwood are mostly grey. The remaining colour in the trembling aspen, beech and white birch is orange, yellow and brown sprinkled lightly with red in the last of the maple.

• Site 46, Salt Mountain: Crisp leaves litter the short trail up to the panoramic vista which is punctuated here and there with yellow and orange.

Celebrate the culture of the Gaelic-speaking Scots who settled in Nova Scotia at the Nova Scotia Highland Village in Iona, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

REGION 4: Marine Drive and Halifax-Dartmouth

Windrows of leaves line the paths and roadsides on the Marine Drive. In the Halifax-Dartmouth area many trees still sport picturesque fall colours.

• Site 47, Boylston Provincial Park: Among the brittle looking bare branches of the hardwood along the Chedabucto Bay shoreline there remain some clumps of yellow in the aspen and white birch, and some red and orange in the red maple and sugar maple. Low growing shrub and young deciduous are still holding onto their leaves.

• Site 48, Lundy: Most of the leaves around the bog have been swept off the hardwood and the brightest colour remaining is the larch, now glowing orange-yellow. Scattered through the larch are clusters of deep green spruce and fir. In the barrens small patches of purple-red can be seen randomly among the grey boulders.

• Site 50, Liscombe Mills: Above the roar of the 20-meter waterfall the trees are half bare with some maple still holding onto orange leaves while the larch is a bright saffron yellow.

• Site 54, Clam Harbour Provincial Park: Behind the beach the larch is a glowing golden orange against the deep greens of the surrounding spruce forest. Larch and willow along the road are bright yellow, and the blueberry ranges from red to dark plum. Across the marsh the grass is warm orange and at the beach wild rose bush is vibrant yellow against the cool grey of the sky and water. There are still many ripe red cranberries waiting to be picked.

• Site 56, Elderbank: Along the Musquodoboit River the bare branches of the broadleaf trees are showing bare and grey, and only the leaves of the aspen are bright yellow and the red oak a rusty brown. Grass and shrub is russet and amber, and the larch has completely changed to a golden yellow.

West Pennant: Dewberry is deep purple, blueberry and huckleberry are brilliant red, red maple is showing orange and mountain-ash has gone completely purple red. Along the Old Sambro Road the larch is a delightful golden yellow.

There's lots to do at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax. Learn all about the gingko, November's tree of the month. Teens and adults can draw from nature with guest artists on Nov. 4 and 5 using the museum's galleries, dioramas and specimens for inspiration. Join young artists and help make a mural depicting Gus the Turtle's life and adventures on Saturday, Nov. 4. On Sunday, Nov. 5 help create a mural of the undersea world.

Enjoy Flavour 2000 in Halifax, a consumer exhibition focusing on Atlantic Canadian foods, wines and vacation destinations, Nov. 3- 5.

Join more than 400 craftspeople, artists, antique dealers and food exhibitors for Christmas at the Forum Crafts Festival in Halifax from Nov. 2 to 5.

Come to the Friendly Neighbours Senior Citizens Bazaar with a wide selection of hand crafts and a light luncheon on Wednesday, Nov. 8 in Elderbank.

REGION 5: Lighthouse Route

A high contrast appearance begins to creep over the Lighthouse Route as the last of the broad leaves clinging to treetops fall among the evergreen. Shrub and bush are still bristling with colour.

• Site 62, New Ross: Seventy per cent of the leaves are off the trees now and what is left are yellow and orange.

East River: Orange in the dominant colour except for the dark green of the fir. Oak is a burnt orange and the tamarack is changing to a lovely yellow. Some of the birch and aspen are still yellow. Low bush retains some red.

Tantallon: Most of the leaves lay brittle on the ground and the colour remaining is rusty orange from the oak and greenish yellow from the larch. Trees and branches are grey.

St. Margarets Bay: More than half the leaves have fallen while birch continues to hold onto its golden foliage and the mountain- ash remains deep maroon.

• Site 69, Milton: The landscape around the bridge over the Mersey River is dramatically illuminated with the russet tones of late autumn. Punctuated with yellow and orange from the red maple the view from the look-off is spectacular. Red oak, shrub and wild rose are still holding their colour.

Focus on history with the exhibit, Remembering Black Loyalists, Black Communities at the Shelburne County Museum, until Dec. 20. This is an exhibit introducing the story of the black loyalists who came to Nova Scotia between 1783 and 1785.

See wool being spun into yarn and make your own sheep pictures from real wool, daily at the Perkins House Museum in Liverpool.

Drop by the Wile Carding Mill Museum in Bridgewater and see a very special quilt crafted by seven local quilters.

View some fine fishing films at the Fisheries Museum in Lunenburg every Wednesday at 10 a.m.