According to the calendar and the cooler weather, autumn is upon us. If your football team isn’t having a good day, or if you want to take a break from raking leaves, we’ve found some great web sites with information on fun fall road trips and activities in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

Though daytrips aren’t as inexpensive as they used to be thanks to the price of gas, there are a number of nearby scenic byways that allow you to get the most out of the fall foliage’s beautiful colors. You can follow in the footsteps of some of history’s most famous explorers along the Lewis and Clark Scenic Byway. The 82-mile jaunt takes you from just north of Omaha to South Sioux City along U.S. Highway 75. Besides the beautiful fall colors, there are a variety of historical attractions along the way to make this an interesting trip. The byway’s web site has attractions specific to each community.

A place to view spectacular fall colors in western Iowa is Preparation Canyon State Park in Monona County. The park is about 46 miles northeast of Blair off of Interstate 29. The park offers great views of forest-covered Loess hills, trails, picnic spots, and camping. More information and the area’s interesting history are found on the park’s web site.

You can also see fall foliage and thousands of migrating geese at the DeSoto Bend National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge is located just six miles east of Blair on U.S. Highway 30. It’s a stop over for thousands of snow geese as they make their way south for the winter. A variety of other birds, such as bald eagles, can be found there as well. The web site has more information on the best dates to see the geese.

Sometimes it’s hard to know the peak time for fall colors. To take some of the guess work out of it, the Weather Channel’s web site has a useful fall foliage map that tracks the progression of the trees’ seasonal changes. You may want to visit this site when planning a fall road trip so that you get the most out of your experience.

Of course you don’t necessarily have to leave home to have some fall fun. This web site  lists many activities you can do at home or in you community.

The sites we’ve listed are just a few of the places on the Internet that have information on area fall activities and attractions. You can find your own by using the Google search engine found in the upper left hand corner of HunTel.net’s home page. (www.HunTel.net)

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