We have seen a real shift in the weather over the month of September, and as October rolls in — so does the fall color season and the stream of tourists that come with it.

Peak leaf viewing is mid-September to mid-October, according to Tom Nemacheck, executive director of Upper Peninsula Travel and Recreation Association. However, traffic is generally pretty steady until Halloween.

“We have actually enough events in some of the communities here that there’s legitimate fall traffic right to Halloween,” Nemacheck said. “People are still coming up for colors usually but now there’s activities from the middle of October on.”

The U.P. sees people from all over the country and world this time of the year, Nemacheck said. While some travel to lighthouses, waterfalls and other popular sightseeing locations, they’re generally drawn to the Great Lakes shoreline, he added.

“Some people aren’t aware colors change inland first and then changes toward the Great Lakes,” Nemacheck said. “If they come up a little early, they’re surprised there’s not a lot of fall color near the lakeshore, but if they were to leave the shoreline and go in a couple miles and drive down a secondary road, they could jump literally from an area that’s at 20 percent and all of a sudden see 80 to 100 percent (foliage).”

UPTRA releases an update of fall foliage on its website every Wednesday, which can be viewed at www.uptravel.com/fall-color-reports-56

In a currently active USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice 2018 poll, people can vote on the “local experts and editors” top 20 fall foliage destinations in the U.S. The U.P. was in first place on Wednesday, but the leaderboard has now been closed until noon Oct. 12 when the winner will be announced.

Pollsters are able to vote once per day until noon Tuesday at www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-destination-for-fall-foliage.

We urge our readers to go and vote so that the rest of the country will know what we already know — the U.P. is a beautiful place to visit all year long, but there’s simply no better place to view the fall colors than right here.