Fall color in the Midwest doesn't last long, so it's worth planning the drive rather than hoping you catch it on the way to somewhere else. Here are three routes near Kunes markets worth setting aside a day for, each with its own scenery, history, and the kind of vehicle that suits it best.
Door County, Wisconsin
Peak color along the Door Peninsula typically runs from early to mid-October, a week or two behind the rest of Wisconsin thanks to the moderating effect of Lake Michigan on one side and Green Bay on the other. The drive up County Road 42 or Highway 57 toward the tip of the peninsula runs about 80 miles round trip from the base of the county, longer if you wander onto the side roads.
Stop at one of the county's orchards for cider and a bag of apples, or pull off at Eagle Bluff or Ellison Bluff for a view over the water that's hard to beat once the color turns. The area's Scandinavian roots, brought by Belgian and Icelandic settlers in the 1800s, still show up in small-town architecture and in the stave church replica near Ephraim.
A vehicle with real cargo room earns its keep here for hauling apples, pumpkins, and gear back from the orchards, and all-wheel drive is worth having once the county's back roads get their first wet leaves of the season. Arrive early at the popular overlooks. Parking fills up fast on peak-color weekends, and cell coverage gets spotty the farther up the peninsula you go.
The Great River Road Through Iowa's Bluffs
Northeast Iowa's stretch of the Great River Road follows the Mississippi through some of the most dramatic terrain in the state, where the bluffs rise sharply above the water rather than the flat farmland most people picture. The full stretch from Dubuque north to the Minnesota border runs roughly 60 miles, easily a half-day drive with stops.
Pikes Peak State Park, just outside McGregor, has the best overlook on the route, with the river splitting around islands below. A few miles north, Effigy Mounds National Monument preserves more than 200 mounds built by Indigenous peoples over a thousand years ago, many shaped like birds and bears, a reminder that this landscape has drawn people for a very long time before it became a scenic drive.
Fuel range matters more here than in Door County, since gas stations thin out between the small river towns. A vehicle with strong highway range makes the longer stretches easier, and the winding, hilly sections reward something that handles elevation changes without feeling strained. Trailheads at Effigy Mounds fill early on fall weekends, so plan to arrive by mid-morning if you want an easy parking spot.
Galena, Illinois and the Mississippi Corridor
The drive into Galena along the bluffs of the Mississippi corridor is one of the more dramatic approaches to any small town in the region, with the road curving along the river before climbing into a town that looks largely unchanged since its lead-mining and steamboat heyday in the 1800s. It's a compact drive, around 30 to 40 miles depending on your starting point, easy to pair with a full afternoon in town.
Galena's downtown is a National Historic Landmark District, and the home of Ulysses S. Grant, given to him by the town after the Civil War, sits on a hill overlooking Main Street and is open for tours. The brick storefronts and hillside staircases give the town a distinct 19th-century river-town character that's rare to find this well preserved.
This route doesn't demand much from a vehicle mechanically, so it's a good match for something comfortable and fuel-efficient, especially if you're pairing the drive with a full day of walking Galena's hilly downtown. Parking on Main Street gets tight by midday on fall weekends, so a spot in one of the lots just off Main is often the easier bet, and it's a short walk from there into town.
Find the Right Vehicle for Your Route
Whichever route you choose, the right vehicle makes the drive easier: cargo space for orchard hauls in Door County, dependable range for the longer stretches along the Iowa bluffs, or a comfortable daily driver for a Galena day trip. Stop by your nearest Kunes location to talk through which vehicle in our inventory fits the drive you have in mind.
