Foliage With Flash -- By Road, Rail, Pedals Or Path, Be Sure Not To Miss Fall's Finery

It's that time of year again, when the Evergreen State proves it's not all green.

Many of our deciduous trees are showing their colors, from the fiery reds of sourwood to the bright oranges of sugar maples to the golds of poplars. Sunny fall days and cool nights make for the best color, so look for especially vivid hues over the next few weeks.

The ways you can see autumn leaves in the area are as variegated as the colors they turn. If you like to see the sights while you exercise, we've got suggestions for where to bike and walk. If the freedom of driving your own car appeals to you, we've got roads to suggest. And if you'd rather sit back and let someone else take the helm, a fall bus ride or train trip could be just what you're looking for.

Following are some suggestions for enjoying the scenery, whatever the speed. Some events take place for one weekend only, so be sure to plan accordingly.

Biking: Kitsap Color Classic

Bikers can take in Kitsap County's maple, elm, alder and poplar trees this Sunday via several loop routes in the Kitsap Color Classic bike ride.

The routes, ranging from 13 to 65 miles in length, are all scenic rides starting in Kingston. You can pedal along Hood Canal or Puget Sound, past Poulsbo's Norwegian kitsch or historic Port Gamble. The latter was modeled after a Maine town and has fall colors rivaling New England's.

The Cascade Bicycle Club's ride is open to all, and is designed for all skill levels.

If you can't make the event this weekend or prefer solitary rides, stop at the Kitsap Peninsula Visitor and Convention Center in Port Gamble for a bike map, which details several bike routes on the peninsula.

Driving: Chuckanut Drive, North Cascades Highway

If the car is your vehicle of choice, you can't do much better for fall leaf viewing than Chuckanut Drive.

Red vine maples and yellow big-leaf maples in stream gorges complement the red bark and berries of madronas and greens of Douglas firs along this scenic road.

The winding 22-mile route, which hugs the rocky shoreline above Samish Bay and Chuckanut Bay, goes north from Burlington, Skagit County, through Skagit Valley farmland, past Washington's first state park, Larrabee, and into Bellingham's historical Fairhaven District.

There are lots of roadside pull-offs, so you'll have ample opportunity to get out and enjoy the foliage, along with spectacular views of the San Juans on clear days.

Burlington is the starting point for another gorgeous fall drive: The North Cascades Highway.

Most roads through the North Cascades are good autumn drives because of the high elevations, but the North Cascades Highway (state Highway 20) is one of the few places where you can see the rare subalpine larch.

Smaller than the more common Western larch (which can also be seen along this road), the subalpine (or alpine) larch grows only in the highest altitudes of the inland Northwest.

The light-green needles on the tree - often mistaken for an evergreen - turn a dramatic yellow in autumn before falling to the ground. Clusters of subalpine larches sit just east of Washington Pass, in the Okanogan National Forest.

The western stretch of the drive, before you enter North Cascades National Park, winds through hillsides covered with big-leaf and vine maple.

By bus: the Cascade Foothills

Sure, you can ride King County's Metro buses any day, but the vehicles making the four-hour fall foliage tour on Oct. 19 are not your typical buses.

The Metro Employee's Historic Vehicle Association's buses are fully restored classics from the 1950s and 1960s, brightly painted to match the coats they wore when they operated in the King County area.

There's a 1963 red-and-gray flexible bus and a 1959 green-and-white GMC, both with plush, comfy interiors.

The trip is equally colorful, winding along tree-lined, hilly back roads and main thoroughfares in Enumclaw, Maple Valley, Black Diamond, Issaquah and other King County communities.

The drivers are volunteers, many of them past and present Metro employees. They will stop for lunch and leg-stretching half-way through the tour.

By train: Lake Whatcom Steam Train

A longtime favorite for fall leaf-viewing is the Lake Whatcom Railway's autumn tour. This year the tour is on Oct. 18.

Ride in plush, antique passenger cars pulled by a pre-World War I steam locomotive on an old railway. Often, an open observation car is attached to provide even better views of the fall scenery.

The route parallels state Highway 9 north of Wickersham, Whatcom County, and then heads west through a maple- and alder-studded forest past Mirror Lake. If the day is clear, you'll have excellent views of Twin Sisters Mountain and Mount Baker during the seven-mile, 75-minute ride.

Walking: Washington Park Arboretum

Of course, Seattle's Washington Park Arboretum is always an excellent option for fall foliage. With more than 2,000 varieties of deciduous trees in its 200 acres, there's autumn eye candy around practically every turn on its winding roads and trails.

The park offers free guided walks most Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. Groups of 15 or fewer can make reservations for weekday guided walks for $10 per group ($5 for students and Arboretum members).

Volunteer guides lead the one-hour educational tours through the most stunning fall foliage in the park, discussing features of the trees and arboretum history.

Whichever place you choose and however you choose to get there, get out and see the leaves soon. Autumn is one of our area's most beautiful times, andin the Evergreen State, reds, yellows and oranges don't last forever. ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you go:

-- Sunday's Kitsap Color Classic organized bike ride is 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Register at the Masonic Lodge in Edmonds (515 Dayton St.) for $15, which includes round-trip ferry fare to Kingston. Or, register in Kingston at Kingston Classic Cycle (10978 Highway 104) for $13, which does not include ferry fare. For more information, call the Cascade Bicycle Club at 206-522-BIKE, Ext. 17, or visit its Web site: http://www.cascade.org

The Kitsap Peninsula Visitor and Convention Bureau is on state Highway 3 in Port Gamble. It's open daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (360-297-8200).

-- From Interstate 5, take Exit 231 near Burlington, Skagit County, to get on Chuckanut Drive (state Highway 11) going north. To drive it southbound, take Exit 250 in Bellingham and follow the signs.

-- Take Exit 230 from I-5 to reach the North Cascades Highway. The road closes when snowpack blocks high passes, usually in November. Stop in the U.S. Forest Service/National Park Service station in Sedro-Woolley, Skagit County, for road information. Here, you can also pick up a free hour-long tape of descriptions and stories about state Highway 20, which you can return at visitor centers and ranger stations further along the road. For more information, call 360-856-5700.

-- The Metro Employee's Historic Vehicle Association's Cascade Foothills trip on Oct. 19 leaves at 11 a.m. from Second Avenue South and South Main Street in Seattle. Passengers are taken on a first-come, first-served basis; $5 for adults, $4 for people 65 and older and children 2 to 11. For more information, call 206-633-4590.

-- The Lake Whatcom Railway's autumn leaf tours are Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; $10 for adults and $5 for youths younger than 18. The railway is in Wickersham, 10 miles north of Sedro-Woolley, on state Highway 9. For reservations, call 360-595-2218.

-- Free guided walks through the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle depart from the Graham Visitors Center Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. There are no tours during Husky home football games. Groups of 15 or fewer can call to arrange guided walks during the week for $10 ($5 for students and Arboretum members). For more information, call 206-543-8800.