Southeast Ohio’s colorful fall foliage season has lasted longer this year than in the past, which may have led to an increase in tourism in Athens County.
October is consistently a popular month for tourism in Athens County, with the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway Fall Foliage train rides and the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway being the area’s top attractions for viewing the fall colors, said Paige Alost, executive director of the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“The fall foliage definitely brings a lot of tourism to the area,” she said. “October and May have always been our bread-and-butter months.”
The hot, dry summer caused trees to change colors earlier, which has led to a longer season of tree viewing, said Casey Burdick, fall color forester for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
“Trees just went dormant early,” she said. “So, instead of all the leaves changing in October, it seemed like they started changing in September.”
The build up of sugars in the leaves breaks down the green color, leading to the vibrant oranges, reds and yellows that are seen during this time of year, Burdick said. She added that Ohio is a great place to view fall color because it has more than 100 different tree species in the state.
The Hocking Valley Scenic Railway Fall Foliage trains, which run Thursdays and Fridays in October, generally sell out, said JoAnne Lewis, train depot employee.
“We’re averaging between 300 and 400 people every Thursday and Friday for the Fall Foliage train ride,” Lewis added.
The train takes riders on a two-hour tour through the Hocking River Valley and passengers can choose to sit in an enclosed or open-air car train car, according to the railway’s website.
Linda Kaiser and her daughter Christina, 8, from Williamsport, W.Va., rode the Fall Foliage train for an Ohio Virtual Academy field trip outing and said they wanted to see lakes and the colorful fall leaves while on the train.
Alost said that although she does not know whether or not this year’s leaves have brought more tourism to the area than past years, she said the colors have been particularly spectacular.
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