Where the Road Ends, the Connecticut River Begins

Did you get the fall foliage newsflash? The hills and valleys surrounding the headwaters of our own Connecticut River are among the first places in the United States to light up. More than 400 miles north, one of our best-known regional phenomena—fall color—starts in late September.

If you’ve never visited the headwaters of the Connecticut River, it’s a five-hour and one-lightyear journey into a rolling landscape where fall colors are only one source of interest. (The residents create plenty of local colors, too. Please read on.)

It’s at the end of the United States road map, if not exactly the end of the road. There, the Connecticut River starts at Fourth Connecticut Lake, a one-acre pond at elevation 2,670 feet. It’s accessible only on foot, about 900 feet from Chartierville, Quebec, and a half-mile from the nearest United States road.

Curious? See Zip06/TheDay