AUTUMN RATES, undeniably, as my favorite season. I love the crisp mornings and evenings, the often sunshine-drenched afternoons. I love wrapping myself in the warmth of flannel or fleece. I love the cinnamon scent of apple crisp baking in the oven, the smell wafting through the house. I love roadside stands packed with plump pumpkins. I love hiking in woods, fallen leaves crunching underfoot.
But, above all, I love the fall colors. In shades of red, orange, yellow and brown, singular trees, pockets of trees and entire hillsides are ablaze. Now is the time to get out and view the colorful landscape before wind, rain and time strip those trees bare.
In the four-plus decades I’ve lived in Faribault, I’ve found this community and the surrounding area to be especially colorful. So there’s no need to leave town or travel far to enjoy the hues of autumn.
Several local spots draw me back year after year. In town, City View Park by the water tower and just above Roosevelt School on Faribault’s east side, offers a spectacular vista view of the valley below. I picnicked there the other day at high noon, taking in the tree-scaped land for as far as my eyes could see. Even in the haze of the dusty air, colors popped in the mass of dense trees. It’s a spectacular setting any time of year.
Among all those trees, I picked out local landmark steeples, struggling to identify some, sure of others. I also paused to appreciate the colorful maples in the park.
To the west of Faribault, Kelly Lake, as viewed from the public boat landing, rates as another favorite local color spot. Each October I walk out on the short dock and take in the scene across the lake, the orange treeline slicing color between blue water and blue sky.
Within the Faribault city limits, the Straight River bluff packs a colorful punch as do trees along many streets, like Second Avenue and Seventh Street. The campus of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, a place where I sometimes walk, presents more color.
As with anything, we often bypass beauty that lies directly before us, blending into the background of daily life. In my own backyard and next door at my neighbor’s, maples fire orange and yellow.
Consistently each autumn, fall color drives take me along roads around area lakes like Roberds, Union and French. I have yet to do the complete lake tour this year. I’ve found fall colors aplenty in the Montgomery and Lonsdale areas, too.
I have not yet headed over to the Nerstrand area for a stop at the historic hilltop Valley Grove churches where color splashes a treeline across the prairie. Nearby Nerstrand Big Woods State Park rates as a popular fall color destination, parking lots crowded to overflowing on October weekends. I prefer the quiet of Valley Grove.
Mostly, I simply want to immerse myself in autumn. Visually by viewing distant treelines and rolling farm fields along Falk Avenue northeast of Cannon City. Or up close along Farmer Trail, a twisting gravel road snugged by woods.
I love autumn. The woodsy, earthy scent. The feel of soft flannel and cozy fleece. The crunch of biting into a locally-grown apple. The taste of cream cheese frosted pumpkin bars. And, above all, the oranges, reds and yellows of this season blazing color across the southern Minnesota landscape.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
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