Harvesting time; A worker pumps cranberry fruit from a bed.

Turning leaves are not the only source of fall color in rural Wisconsin, where 110,000 acres of cranberry bogs glow red each autumn under cool blue skies. During harvest season, visitors can visit the cranberry-growing areas by car, tour bus or bicycle, and see how this tart indigenous fruit is grown, collected and prepared.

When to Go

The cranberry harvest typically begins in late September and continues through most of October.

Accommodations

See www.visitwisrapids.com for a list of hotels in the city of Wisconsin Rapids at the heart of the state's primary cranberry growing region, or choose from numerous inns and resorts in the scenic Wisconsin Dells area (www.wisdells.com) about an hour's drive south.

Dining

Savor locally harvested berries any number of ways along the Cranberry Highway, in baked goods, ice cream, sauces and salads.

What to do

• The Cranberry Highway: A 50-mile route through the cranberry bogs of central Wisconsin. Drive yourself, or sign up for a guided tour offered by the Wisconsin Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau also has mapped out a 24-mile mountain bike route through the same countryside.

• Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center: Refurbished cranberry warehouse houses a historical collection of machinery used by Wisconsin cranberry growers dating back to the 1870s, a display focusing on Native American cranberry harvests, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, a cranberry test kitchen and a gift shop featuring cranberry-colored glassware, cranberry wines and other unique products. See www.discovercranberries.com.

• Ocean Spray Receiving Station: Call ahead (715-421-5949) to schedule a free tour of the cranberry processing center in Babcock, 20 miles west of Wisconsin Rapids on Highway 80/173.

Insider Tip

Jo Jo's Chocolates in Camp Douglas (608-427-3811, www.jojoschocolates.com) sells tasty chocolate-covered cranberries and other cranberry-based confections available only when the berries are ripe.

Posted September 2006.

Information

Wisconsin Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 800-554-4484, www.visitwisrapids.com
Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 800-432-8747, www.travelwisconsin.com

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Photo copyright Teryl R. Roper