Fall colors splash across the hillsides and hollows of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park/Harold Jerrell

There are national park units long-accepted for their fall colors, and then there are the surprising destinations that brighten up the landscape. Here are a handful of them for your consideration.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

At Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, colorful hardwoods abound along the park roads beginning in late September, and peaking in mid- to late- October.

Sections of Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive are lined with maple, beech, and birch trees that form a gorgeous canopy for windshield touring. The reds and yellows of the maples and beeches vividly contrast with the white birches, and the nearly white dunes and the blue of Lake Michigan provide a dramatic background.

Recommended drive: Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, with its covered bridge and hardwood forests, is idyllic as the fall colors peak.

New River Gorge National River, West Virginia

The focus of New River Gorge National River usually is the river, but in fall the West Virginia mountains are ablaze with colorful hardwoods that challenge New England’s show. Here the color peaks about the third week of October. Enjoy them from a seat in a raft or while hiking or biking the trails that wind through the forests.

Recommended photograph: Visit Sandstone Falls to catch the sun’s rays setting the hardwoods’ leaves ablaze against the cascading falls.

Walk into the colorful landscape of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore/NPS

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Kentucky/Virginia/Tennessee

Enjoy the fall colors as Daniel Boone did by heading to Kentucky and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Here the Pinnacle Overlook (elevation 2,440 feet) offers spectacular views into mountains and valleys in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee—and of course the namesake Cumberland Gap.

Come fall this landscape blazes with color and Skyland Road, the winding, four-mile route that takes motorists from the visitor center up the mountain to the overlook, is a leaf peeper’s delight. Big-rig RVers beware: Skyland Road is closed to vehicles longer than 20 feet.

Recommended hike: Head into the park’s backcountry, but first reserve a couple nights at Martins Fork Cabin with its fireplace and three wooden bunk beds.

Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri

Another water-centric park, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri, lets you enjoy the colorful show from your kayak or canoe.

Leaf peeping from the road in this long, narrow park is easier than you may think, since several state highways cross the park, and other roads roughly parallel the river (much of the time you’ll actually be outside the park boundaries and encountering a mix of farms and forest).

Recommended float: Take your canoe or kayak to the upper reaches of the Current River and string together a couple nights at the backcountry campsites.

Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Head to southeastern Utah to enjoy another fall color display, created by the setting sun’s rays firing the sandstone of Arches National Park. While Delicate Arch offers an amazing glow as the sun goes down, not everyone cares to hike to the arch. Other great spots abound, however, from the Windows Section to the Fiery Furnace. And the golden cottonwoods against the blue sky are electric.

Canyonlands National Park next door shouldn’t be overlooked. The best viewing, though, is in the Needles District, about an hour’s drive from Moab. Here the minarets and pinnacles in various shades of red, tan, and cream are showcased both by the sunrise and the sunset.

Head down into the wash of Horseshoe Canyon— another long ride from Moab, but well worth it—and you’ll hike beneath glowing cottonwoods while en route to one of the grandest collections of pictographs on Earth, the Great Gallery.

Recommended hikes: Take the Primitive Trail via Landscape and Double O arches in Arches National Park, and the head at least partway down into Chesler Park at Canyonlands National Park.

Fall's colors come at sundown, too, as this shot of Turret Arch at Arches National Park demonstrates/NPS, Kait THomas