KXRB logo
Get our free mobile app

It's no surprise to any of us living here, but Minnesota has just been named a Top State To Visit This Fall by a new national survey.

When it comes to those spectacular fall colors, Mother Nature really does a nice job here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Packing the kids in the car and heading out to check out those gorgeous reds, oranges, and yellows displayed on the foliage across our beautiful state is a trip many Minnesotans do every year.

And now, maybe a few visitors from other states might head up to our neck of the woods to do a little leaf peeping, as well, courtesy of Minnesota's ranking as one of the Top States To Visit During Fall. The survey was put together by the number crunchers over at LawnStarter, and according to their 2023 survey, Minnesota ranks as the #8 state to visit during autumn.

READ MORE: America's #1 Drunkest City for 2023 is Right Here in Minnesota

To come up with their results, LawnStarter looked at four different categories:

  1. Fall Scenery - Number of weeks with fall foliage, and number of scenic drives
  2. Outdoor Recreation - Number of national and state parks, hiking trails & camping
  3. Entertainment - Number of attractions attractions and festivals
  4. Safety - Risk of hurricanes and wildfires

Then, they assigned values to those metrics based on 100 points and came up with the following rankings.

  • Fall Scenery -  Minnesota ranked 8th
  • Outdoor Recreation - Minnesota ranked 22nd
  • Entertainment - Minnesota ranked 17th
  • Safety - Minnesota ranked 7th
MN's Tettegouche State Park - Photo by Gustavo Tiffer on Unsplash
MN's Tettegouche State Park - Photo by Gustavo Tiffer on Unsplash
loading...

Overall, those rankings combined to rank the Land of 10,000 Incredible Fall Colors Lakes as the #8 Best State to Visit During Fall for 2023. Here's the rest of the top ten:

2023's Best States to Visit This Fall (per LawnStarter)

  1. California
  2. New York
  3. Washington
  4. Michigan
  5. Pennsylvania
  6. Vermont
  7. Oregon
  8. Colorado
  9. Minnesota
  10. Maine

Without delving into all of the details, I'm a little surprised that California ranked as high as it did. I mean, the Golden State is beautiful, with its majestic Pacific coast, redwood forests, and deserts, but does it really get a lot of those incredible fall colors that we get here in Minnesota? Hmm...

Meanwhile, if you're looking for a way to check out those gorgeous colors this year, keep scrolling to check out the Must-Drive Roads in Every State!

Listen to Curt St. John in the Morning
Weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5

See the Must-Drive Roads in Every State

More From KXRB