Time to start planning your fall hiking adventures!

If you’ve hit the trails for a hike, run or ride recently, you may have noticed a smattering of dry, brown leaves under your feet or bike tires or a pop of yellow and orange fly by in the otherwise lush and green trailside scenery.

Although seeing the beginnings of fall is somewhat depressing (I’m not ready for summer to end!), it also means that we’ll be treated to the stunning colours of the season during our upcoming activities and explorations in the great outdoors.

Here are four of Canada’s best parks, trails and roadways on the east coast for taking in the vibrant reds, golden yellows and bright oranges of fall.

Killarney Provincial Park
You know a park must have stunning scenery if it’s landscapes were often featured in paintings by the iconic Canadian landscape painters Group of Seven. Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario features close to a hundred kilometres of hiking trails for fall foliage viewing, including the 80 km looped La Cloche-Silhouette Trail. For a shorter scenic hike, take the 3 km Chikanishing Trail that winds along the park’s southern boundary and crosses a series of small ridges before ending at a wave-washed point on the wild coast of the Georgian Bay.   

Algonquin Provincial Park
Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario attract thousands of visitors from around the world from mid-September to mid-October each year thanks to the vibrant yellow, orange and red leaves of the Sugar and Red Maples, which are abundant throughout this 7,653 square kilometre park. Although there are numerous hiking and biking trails to choose from, probably the best way to admire the fall scenery is by going for a leisurely cycle along the 16 kilometre Old Railway Bike Trail, which runs from the Rock Lake Campground to Cache Lake.

Charlevoix region
The Charlevoix region, just east of Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River, offers tons of hiking and biking trails with incredible views of the changing colours on the Laurentian Mountains. For an epic day or multi-day hiking trip, take some of the shorter hiking trails along the Traversée de Charlevoix, 105-kiloemtre cross-country ski trail that features numerous summits for fall foliage viewing.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Although you don’t even have to get out of your car to admire the beautiful fall colours along the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, there are 26 hiking trails ranging from easy 20-minute strolls to challenging climbs that offer panoramic views of canyons, the highlands and seacoasts, as well as the changing colours of the sugar maples, red oaks and yellow birch trees in the fall.