MILLINOCKET, Maine — In Millinocket, local businesses are anticipating this fall to be a busy one as tourists seeking fall foliage flock to the highland region.
The recent rain and autumn chill are setting up the area to have vibrant colors and a spike in tourists, Caleb Laberge, manager of Knife Edge Brewing, said.
"I think a lot of people are going to make the trek up here," he said. "I know for one my parents are going to be driving three-and-a-half hours just to see leaves this weekend."
He feels this year's total solar eclipse put Millinocket on many people's minds. Laberge estimates that Knife Edge Brewing, New England Outdoors, and the rest of the Katahdin Resorts property had well over a thousand visitors for the eclipse.
"A lot of people were talking about like, 'Man, we've got to come back up here this summer. We're definitely going to plan a trip this winter,'" he said. "I think a lot of those people we ended up seeing again."
Tom Bell owns Golden Road Crossing in Millinocket with his wife. Having spent 30 years in the region's tourism industry, he has seen the region gain popularity.
"It happened during COVID," Bell said. "Folks were showing up in the woods seeing what Katahdin and this whole north woods region had to offer."
According to the most recent Maine Foliage report released Wednesday, the Millinocket area and other northern Maine regions are at peak color. Areas to the south are at high to low color and expected to get more colorful as the season progresses.