Arts Design

WHERE TO WATCH CHANGE HAPPEN NOW

While everything is in a constant state of change, we rarely notice while it is happening. But there are changes that capture our attention in process, like the changing colors of autumn. We took a look at some of the most beautiful places in the world to watch change unfurl, as summer kisses green goodbye, leaving a wash of intense golden and fiery color as it goes.

Photo: Hideo. Nakajima Park, Hokkaido Japan.

We mostly think of watching Japan change color in the spring, when it blushes with cherry blossoms. But autumn paints the country with just as much flourish and passion. The line of transition, where green leaves (koyo) give way to yellow, gold, orange, and crimson, is called the “koyo front.”

Photo: Courtesy of PixoHub. Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan.

Like bright watercolor blooming across wet paper, it moves slowly southwards, from the northern fringe islands down to the lower elevations of central and southern Japan.

Daisetsuzan National Park, in the center of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, is the first place in the country to see autumn colors each year. To see it best, head up to Mount Asahidake, Hokkaido's tallest mountain, via a ropeway from Asahidake Onsen.

Photo: Eric Baker. Japanese Rowan or “nanakamado” Tree.

Since color changes change from year to year, depending on weather conditions, Stefan Schauwecker, of Japan Guide, writes annual autumn color reports to let us know about the real beauty happening right now. The early chill this year made the color peak earlier this year. If you can make it there this weekend, the nanakamado bushes are peaking now!

If you’d rather plan to go later, in mid-October, you can find colors changing in Sounkyo Onsen. Hike and take a chairlift up 2000 meters to the top of Mount Kurodake.

Photo: Sonotoki. Oirase Stream, Towada Hachimantai National Park.

Take a hike and enjoy the hot springs in the mountainous forests of Towada-Hachimantai National Park, on Honshu, Japan’s main island, in the northern Tohoku Region. Lake Towada, a giant caldera lake, is a particularly gorgeous October treat. And the leaves adorning the edges of the Oirase Stream, are magical.

Photo: Gnurou. Tofukuji Temple.

To raise the spiritual bar, walk the Tsutenkyo Bridge, at the grand ancient Zen temple of Tofukuji 東福寺, in southeastern Kyoto. Maple trees flaunt their scarlet glory in mid-November.

Photo: Courtesy of Romantic Asheville. Time to Reflect, Asheville Fall Foliage.

On the other side of the world, change is spilling across the mountains and valleys of a very different, yet equally extraordinary place, Asheville, North Carolina.

Photo: Courtesy of Romantic Asheville. Black Balsam Knob. North Carolina.

High up, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, on Rough Ridge, near Grandfather Mountain, the leaves start to change right about now. With a more the 50 mile north-south stretch of tree blanket, this is one of the longest running displays of autumn color in the world.

Photo: Courtesy of Romantic Asheville. Craggy Pinnacle. North Carolina.

Our favorite 360-view is at a 5,900 foot elevation, from atop Craggy Pinnacle, along the Blue Ridge Parkway. You can also hike, picnic, and take in breathtaking vistas, all along the Parkway as it meanders 469 miles from Shenandoah to the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks.

Photo: L Silver. The Biltmore House in early Autumn. Asheville, North Carolina.

After a long day of witnessing change, a very special place to rest your head is the Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in the United States, built for George Vanderbilt in 1896.

Photo: Anoldent. Pisgah National Forest. North Carolina

It’s a New World chateau. The 250 room house, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, spans four acres and it sits in the middle of 8,000 acres which was once part of what is now the half million-acre Pisgah National Forest.

Photo: Courtesy of kdz designs. Biltmore Estate Grounds. Asheville, North Carolina.

The landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the creator of New York's Central Park and considered “the father of American landscape architecture.” The Biltmore Estate is still owned by the family, headed by George’s great grandson, Bill Cecil.

Photo: Courtesy of Asheville Spa. The Artisan Room. Asheville, North Carolina.

If you prefer something more tranquil, to contemplate life’s changes, try ASIA Bed and Breakfast Spa. They elevate relaxation to an art form, in a serene setting of unique, elegant, meditative spaces. With only five eclectic, artisanal guest rooms, it’s a quiet respite beneath soaring trees, yet just a 10-minute walk to downtown Asheville.

Photo: Courtesy of Wildberry Lodge. Fall Foliage. Asheville, North Carolina.

Or reach out and touch the colors when you wake up at Wildberry Lodge, a log home nestled in the woods, with incredible vistas of the mountains and valleys laid out before you.

Photo: Baaker2009. Perthshire, Scotland.

Our final look lands in the middle, in the wilds of Perthshire, Scotland, known as “Big Tree Country. Start in Crieff and go for a stroll along Lady Mary’s Walk beside the River Earn, and look up at the leaves changing overhead.

Photo: Karen Bryan. Lady Mary’s Walk in Crieff.

Head up to woodlands at the Pass of Killiecrankieto see leaves changing at the wonderful Meikleour Beech Hedge, near Blairgowrie. It is the tallest hedge in the world. Get wowed by the the larch covered hills around Dunkeld and Birnam. If you’d rather not leave catching the peaks to chance, call The Autumn Colours Telephone Hotline, which operates from early October until mid November (01796) 472215/472751.

Photo: Courtesy of Mural Locator. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

You can see leaves in a state of change all year round in Philadelphia at the stop-in-your-tracks-worthy mural, painted by David Guinn, as part of the city’s Mural Arts Program.

Read about the art and beauty of Change all this week, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science,Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact, including New Messages are Changing Worlds, How to Change Your Life & World, Beautiful New Changed Realities, Beautiful Food Color Changes, and The Art of Change.