By Mike Michaelson

When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame (as they say in the song), it’s time to venture into the northwoods and enjoy nature’s annual show. Although Canada and New England are widely heralded for their spectacular displays of autumnal colors, America’s heartland doesn’t take a back seat. With gaudy yellows and gold, flaming reds and oranges, you’ll find nature’s fall foliage as vibrantly colorful right here in the Midwest, on Chicago’s doorstep.

ILLINOIS
Jo Daviess County — Hills are a welcome relief in prairie-flat Illinois, and when fall opens its colorful paintbox, the higher elevations of Jo Daviess County provide a ready canvas. Thickly wooded bluffs sweep down to the Mississippi River. Rolling hills conceal valleys where dairy cows graze. Immaculate white fences border picturesque horse farms. Tiny lakes glint in the wan autumn sunshine. Lone bald eagles soar overhead as formations of geese wing southward.
   
Stay at Chestnut Mountain Resort and ride a chairlift through colorful treetops down to the river. Or settle into Eagle Ridge, carved into gently rolling hills six miles east of Galena. This 6,800-acre resort offers hayrides, championship golf, hiking and horseback riding.
   
The county seat is Galena, its streets lined with arts, crafts and antique shops, stylish bistros and charming B&Bs. Sample innovative Italian country cuisine at Fried Green Tomatoes — try its signature namesake dish. Enjoy spectacular color  vistas and wine tasting at Galena Winery & Vineyard and Massbach Ridge Winery, perched atop undulating countryside close to the highest point in Illinois (Charles Mound at 1,235 feet). For an adventurous option, rent a sporty motor scooter or bicycle — or explore Mississippi backwaters via canoe or kayak. Information: 877 464-2536, www.galena.org.
   
Spoon River Valley — Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology, published in 1915, brought international recognition to the lawyer-turned-poet. The setting for Masters’ famous free-verse was the Spoon River Valley, now a scenic drive over a delightful rural route that takes motorists through the country heart of Illinois. Come fall, ancient stands of hardwoods, glowing with bright oaks and maples, provide woodlands’ color. Follow the byways and backroads of Fulton County over pretty, rolling hills along the Spoon River, past century-old farms and through tiny rustic villages. Plan a trip for one of the first two weekends in October (this year, the 4-5 or 11-12), and enjoy a county-wide fall festival that connects communities large and small.
   
Vendors in period costumes dating back to the late 19th century offer hand-crafted goods and home-baked foods. Look for oven-hot fruit pies and apple dumplings; stop at a red-brick schoolhouse for chicken dinners with noodles and mashed potatoes.
   
Nearby are the historical sights of Lincoln’s Springfield and a wide range of accommodations and eateries. Newer downtown dining options include Charles and Limey’s, with a menu that features Kobe beef and grilled wild boar chops.
   
Find excellent lodgings at the newly renovated Hilton Springfield, the closest hotel to most Lincoln historic sites. This 30-story hotel offers well-appointed guestrooms with panoramic views. Information: 309 647-8980, www.spoonriverdrive.org.
 
WISCONSIN
Elkhart Lake — When the northwoods stages its annual color show, an idyllic spot to enjoy it is among the rolling wooded hills of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. Take a tour — on foot, by bicycle or by car — and admire nature’s artistry with its stunning palate of orange and yellow, red and gold.
   
Linger awhile in a suite at historic Osthoff Resort, where the forest is virtually at your doorstep and amenities include a destination restaurant and state-of-the-art health-and-beauty spa. Special events include the annual “Harvest Moon Ball” (October 24-26), signaling the joyous season when the harvest moon hangs over farm fields like a big red balloon, granting farmers extra light to bring in the  crops way past sunset. In Norse mythology, the harvest moon represents a time of plenty.
   
Dance to the big-band sound at the “Harvest Moon Ball” with packages that start at $500 per couple and include two nights’ accommodations in a well-appointed suite and two receptions followed by two evenings  of dancing. Included are professional dance instruction, a five-course dinner and Sunday breakfast buffet.
   
“Autumn Getaways” offer a one-evening stay and a $20 dining certificate. They’re available October 1 through November 30, from $169 (plus tax). Information: 800 876-3399, www.osthoff.com.
   
Delafield — No need to travel to the northwoods to find colorful fall foliage, nor journey to Virginia to enjoy the flavor of Colonial America. Simply head for Delafield, Wisconsin, set amid nine square miles of gently rolling terrain in the Kettle Moraine State Forest about 30 miles west of Milwaukee.
   
There’s a Williamsburg look and feel to the town’s architecture. Among a collection of upscale shops, find the studio of master furniture maker Dennis Bork, ready to fashion a custom-built Windsor chair or, perhaps, a Philadelphia highboy.
   
Book an overnight stay at The Delafield Hotel and inspect a sideboard that once belonged to Benjamin Franklin. This handsome hostelry pays homage to colonial America with its red-brick façade and white steeple.
   
Hikers and bikers will find miles of trails, including the Ice Age Trail. Stretching across Wisconsin (and eventually to be 1,000 miles long), it passes through downtown Delafield as it traces the last glacier to cover Wisconsin, about 15,000 years ago. It is one of only eight National Scenic Trails in the United States.
   
Within an easy drive is Old World Wisconsin — a recreated historic village — and Ten Chimneys, with tours of the estate of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne — America’s theatrical royalty. Dine at stylish Zin, for  Italian food with a California flair.  Information: 888 294-1082, www.delafield-wi.org.

MISSOURI
Hermann — German settlers moved to eastern Missouri from Philadelphia (which they considered too English). They chose this stretch of the Missouri River Valley because it resembled the Rhine Valley.  
Fall is a fun season to visit, when it’s “crush” time along the Missouri Weinstrasse (“Wine Road”). Relax on a charming terrace overlooking vineyards heavy with grapes. Enjoy cool jazz and distinguished food that incorporates local produce. Stay on limestone bluffs amid glorious fall colors, choosing from more than 60 inns — some modest B&Bs, others extraordinarily elegant.
   
Stop at Stone Hill Winery, perched dramatically atop a hill where vineyards climb toward the three-story 1869 Federal-style main building. Stone Hill is Missouri’s oldest and most widely recognized winery and also its second-largest. Before Prohibition shuttered its wineries, Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state in the Union, with 100 wineries in this region alone.
   
First established by German immigrants in 1847, Stone Hill reopened in 1965, producing the first commercial wines in Missouri following repeal of Prohibition. Its wines have captured more than 3,200 medals since 1993. Dine at Vintage, a restaurant converted from a restored carriage house and horse barn that features German cuisine and steaks.
   
Take time to learn about a pair of unusual local industries. Visit a corncob pipe factory (General MacArthur got his trademark pipe there), and discover an industry devoted to zither-making. Information: 800 932-8687, www.hermannwinetrail.com.
 
IOWA
Decorah — Nestled in a scenic valley of the Upper Iowa River, where soaring bluffs dramatically fall away from town, Decorah is as Norwegian as the folk art scattered around town. Pretty rosemaling (decorative painting) abounds and nisse hang in windows. Superstitious Scandinavians believe these mischievous elves bring good luck to the occupants.
   
In fall, the river valley bursts into color and the town gets ready to celebrate harvest. Enjoy a canoe trip on the Upper Iowa River, pegged by National Geographic magazine as “one of the top 100 adventures in the United States.”
   
Trace Decorah’s Norwegian heritage at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum that occupies 16 historic buildings in downtown Decorah. It houses more than 24,000 artifacts and preserves living traditions through classes in Norwegian culture and folk art, including rosemaling, wood-carving and knife-making.
   
Another popular historic attraction is the Laura Ingalls Wilder Park & Museum at Burr Oak. This childhood home of the famous “Little House” author is furnished with period pieces and contains authentic Laura items. Interpretive tours are provided.
   
The luxurious Hotel Winneshiek, built 1904-05, hosted Norway’s Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha in 1939. It offers 24 rooms plus a handful of suites. In the hotel, Albert’s Lounge offers smoky, fall-off-the-bone ribs. Information: 800 463-4692, www.decoraharea.com.
 
INDIANA
Parke County — As rural as a rutabaga, Parke County in west-central Indiana is the place to find banjo pickers and chicken dumpling dinners, folk crafts and country stores, twisting country roads and meandering streams. You’ll also find covered bridges — lots of covered bridges.
   
Covered bridges are practical as well as picturesque. They were built to last. Early in the 19th century it was found that roofed bridges with protected superstructures long outlasted open-trestle wooden bridges. In Parke County, there is good evidence of their durability — no fewer than 30 remain, creaking, rustic structures that attract tourists, artists and photographers.
   
These bridges are the focus of a nationally known 10-day festival (Oct. 10-19), a county-wide event that embraces nine communities. Visitors gather on the courthouse lawn at Rockville, where a large tent and surrounding brick-lined streets are filled with crafters and other vendors.
   
Bus tours leave the square on guided tours into countryside dappled with gaudy fall colors. Two routes — each unique — take you into the countryside, viewing five-to-six covered bridges on each route. A popular foodie stop is Montezuma, known for its hog roast.
   
You’ll find no mega-resorts in Parke County. Lodging options range from small hotels to lodges and B&Bs, supplemented by a home-stay program to handle overflow. Information: 765 569-5226, www.parkecounty.com.
    
Brown County — OK, so they didn’t coin the terms “rustic” and “homespun” in Brown County. But you’d never know it, not with lush forests, steep, colorful hills, pastoral valley and hidden hollows nestling towns called Bean Blossom and Gnaw Bone. Then there is Weed Patch Hill, where you can climb a fire watchtower for a panoramic view of the rolling countryside.
   
Then, add the colors of autumn.
   
Scores of artists who came to paint the rural scene stayed on to open studios and galleries, including country craftspersons who work in a variety of media from hand-spun sheep wool to dried flowers. There are clusters of antique shops and enough log cabins to make homesteaders envious — literally hundreds scattered throughout the county.
   
As you take a color tour, be sure to stop at the T.C. Steele Memorial. It is the former home of the internationally known artist,  built atop a hill and called “The House of the Singing Winds.”
   
Nashville offers excellent accommodations, including Brown County Inn, plus lots of shops, galleries and eateries (try fried chicken and hickory-smoked hams at Nashville House). On seasonal Fridays and Saturdays, the Little Nashville Opry, opened in 1975, provides a stage for some of the biggest stars in country music. Another option for accommodations is Abe Martin Lodge in Brown County State Park. Information: 800 753-3255, www.browncounty.com.
 
MINNESOTA
Red Wing — If Norman Rockwell, Currier & Ives and Hollywood’s Central Casting had teamed up to create a pluperfect getaway destination, they might have produced Red Wing, Minnesota (pop. 16,035). Tucked into towering limestone bluffs alongside the Mississippi, this historic river town is where arts and autumn go hand-in-hand for the finale of the fall arts season. The “42nd Annual Fall Festival of Arts” (Oct. 11-12) features the juried work of more than 90 artists and  draws more than 8,000 visitors. Providing a splendid backdrop is the Mississippi, its high bluffs showing off gaudy autumn bling.
   
A delightful lodging option is historic St. James Hotel, offering special room packages as well as bike trekking and golf packages throughout the fall season. It features several acclaimed restaurants, including The Port,  the Veranda Café and Patio and Jimmy’s Pub, featuring entertainment on weekends. Celebrate Oktoberfest at Ruth’s German Haus each Saturday in October. Red Wing also is home to several cozy bed-and-breakfast inns.
   
For a memorable keepsake, choose a piece of salt-glazed pottery made and hand-decorated at Red Wing Pottery in the tradition of the town’s 19th-century artisans. Or perhaps something will catch your eye at Red Wing Stoneware Co., a popular stop where you can watch pottery being thrown and decorated. Information: 800 498-3444, www.redwing.org.
    
Brainerd — Legendary woodsman Paul Bunyan, clad in his familiar red-and-black checkered lumberjack shirt, is a popular figure in north-central Minnesota. According to fable, the giant lumberjack created Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes with his footprints. More recently, though, visitors have also become intrigued with characters from the 1997 movie, Fargo (made by Minnesotans Joel and Ethan Coen and set in Brainerd and the Twin Cities). The film perpetuates the myth about quirky speech patterns of Minnesotans. People really don’t say “yar” that often, do they?
   
Located about 125 miles north of the Twin Cities, the Brainerd Lake Area is a popular vacation retreat, with more than 465 lakes within a 30-miles radius. The Mississippi River runs through town.
   
Golfers will find more than 25 courses within a 50-mile radius of Brainerd, built by a pantheon of famous golf architects, including Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and Arnold Palmer. Many are of championship caliber, with pleasant distractions that include sparkling lakes and, in fall, bursts of bright color among pine forests.
   
Fresh air and exercise build hearty appetites and Brainerd is ready with northwoods-style eateries featuring knotty-pine dining rooms and such standards as  wild-rice soup and walleye fillets. Find these two ingredients combined in walleye cakes, a tasty Minnesotan take on crab cakes (a specialty of Manhattan Beach Lodge on Big Trout Lake). Information: 800 450-2838, www.explorebrainerdlakes.com.
 
MICHIGAN
Cadillac — Founded by Swedish immigrants, this town was named for Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, founder of Detroit. Attractions run the gamut from canoeing, kayaking and fishing to top-rated golf — legendary Walter Hagen spent his summers here. In fall, a major attraction is nature’s annual show of colors, which usually peak around the last week of September and into October.
   
Fall also is the time the community celebrates an unusual annual event, the Cadillac Chestnut Harvest Festival (October 11). It commemorates the late Jim Comp, affectionately known as “The Chestnut Tree Man,” and recognizes his victory in helping chestnut trees recover from ecological disaster.
   
It was about 100 years ago that a blight devastated America’s chestnut trees. Swift and deadly, it killed off the strong, beautiful trees. Today, the species is struggling back and visitors can enjoy seeing the trees in various stages of growth as they follow the “Cadillac Chestnut Trail.”
   
Anchoring downtown Cadillac are the enterprises of Hermann Suhs, an Austrian immigrant and host of a TV cooking program. Suhs owns and operates Hermann’s Café, a European-style restaurant specializing in German dishes such as sauerbraten and schnitzel. The restaurant has become a  mandatory stop for motorists heading for Mackinac Island or other northerly destinations. Upstairs is a European-style pension with seven rooms. Information: 800 225-2537, www.cadillacmichigan.com.
    
Traverse City — This lively town is the perfect headquarters for exploring two  peninsulas that jut out into Lake Michigan. Both Leelanau and Old Mission peninsulas offer scenic drives and a clutch of wineries (the region is a designated wine appellation), as well as charming B&Bs, hidden beaches and picturesque lighthouses.
   
Set on Lake Michigan’s lovely Grand Traverse Bay, Traverse City’s characteristic landscape of rolling ridges, lush forests and wide expanses of open water makes the perfect autumnal canvas. In this glacier-sculpted setting of wide panoramas, autumn color adds the finishing touch to a dramatic vista of water, sand and sky.
   
Fall colors are particularly memorable on Old Mission Peninsula, a narrow ridge of orchards, vineyards and beaches that pokes into Grand Traverse Bay, and the larger Leelanau Peninsula, just to the west, home to the region’s iconic Sleeping Bear Dunes. The highlands to the south of Traverse City are dotted with dozens of small lakes and dense forests of evergreens and hardwoods.
   
Autumn is a sensory season. Listen to the crunch of leaves underfoot, smell the spicy aroma of apples and woodsmoke and breathe crisp autumn air. Enjoy the autumn foliage  via dozens of hiking and cycling trails — or paddle a canoe or kayak down a gentle, slow-moving river or around its many inland lakes.
   
Choose Black Star Farms for exquisite accommodations at an eight-room inn. Be sure to sample their wines, award-winning raclette cheese and eau de vie — fruit brandy that the French call “water of life.” Information: 800 940-1120, www.mytraversecity.com.