
★ Seasonal
Yi Peng Lantern Festival
Worth making time for
See the North Cascades’ alpine larches turn gold from late September to mid October, especially along Maple Pass, Blue Lake, and Cutthroat Pass Trails. USA.

For just a few weeks each fall, alpine larches do something unusual for a conifer: their needles turn brilliant gold before dropping for winter. In the North Cascades, that short lived color transforms entire mountain valleys, making it one of the most distinctive seasonal landscapes in the Pacific Northwest.