Grand River ValleyBy Vincent William Wine

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Guest FavoritesWine & FoliageRed Wine Lover
Vincent William, Lake Erie, OhioThe winery, restaurant and inn behind this guide.
Autumn treetops in orange and red across Madison, Ohio, seen from above at sunset
Vincent William Wine

Ohio Fall Foliage Map: Things to Do near the Winery

Three covered bridges, a boardwalk above the Grand River, an observation tower over Lake Erie and a state park on the shore, all within 15 miles of Vincent William Wine, where the day ends.

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Stops
7
Distance
60.4 mi
Drive time
124 min

Stops

  1. Lake Erie Bluffs

    Climb the 50-foot observation tower for a view over 670 acres of woods and wetlands and 9,000 feet of Lake Erie shoreline. Bald eagles are often seen here.

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  2. Hogback Ridge Park

    A 1,300-foot accessible boardwalk and overlook above the Grand River, with timber steps down to the floodplain. Four miles from Vincent William.

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    Woods along the Grand River at Hogback Ridge Park in Madison
    Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli from Pennsylvania, USA · CC BY 2.0

  3. Harpersfield Covered Bridge

    Ohio's third-longest covered bridge, 228 feet across the Grand River since 1868. There is a walkway, and a small park at the north end for a picnic.

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    The Harpersfield Covered Bridge over the Grand River
    Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from USA · Public domain

  4. Mechanicsville Covered Bridge

    Probably the county's oldest covered bridge and its longest single span, on a quiet road southeast of Geneva.

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    The Mechanicsville Road Covered Bridge in Austinburg Township
    Photo: Photo by and ©2004 Homefryes · CC BY-SA 2.5

  5. Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge

    At 613 feet, the longest covered bridge in the country, high over the Ashtabula River gorge. The small Riverview covered bridge is down below.

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    The Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge above the Ashtabula River gulf
    Photo: Adam Moss from East Amherst, New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0

  6. Geneva State Park

    Finish on the lake: 698 acres of shoreline, trails and a marina, five miles from Vincent William.

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    The breakwater light at the Geneva State Park marina on Lake Erie
    Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0

  7. Vincent William Wine

    Five miles west of the state park: dinner in the dining room over Lake Erie, or a room for the night.

    Lake Erie behind the Vincent William Wine estate
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How We Chose These Stops

Northern Ohio usually peaks around the third week of October, and Ashtabula County holds its Covered Bridge Festival the weekend before, October 10–11 in 2026. These are the places near us where fall is the reason to go. The details come from Lake Metroparks, Ohio DNR and the county's bridge records.

Vincent William Wine

Add a winery or two in the planner. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday; the inn's rooms are booked separately.

Visit Vincent WilliamGuest Favorites from the lake

More Day Trips

A bottle of wine being poured at Vincent William Wine

8 stops · Guest favorites

Vincent William Guest Favorites

The six wineries our guests come back and tell us about most. The loop starts and ends at Vincent William in Madison, so dinner or a room is waiting when you get back.

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The M Cellars tasting room, terrace and vineyard from above

6 stops · Red wine

For the Red Wine Lover

Most of the valley pours sweet and fruit wines. These wineries make serious dry reds: Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Dornfelder and a Meritage blend. The day ends with our own estate Cabernet Franc on the lake.

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The garden entrance at Harpersfield Vineyard

6 stops · White wine

For the White Wine Lover

Start with Riesling on the lake, then Riesling by a creek, Chardonnay and Grüner Veltliner from vines planted in 1979, a Sémillon poured in an old church, and the vineyard that planted European grapes by Lake Erie in 1968.

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South River Vineyard

6 stops · Ambiance

For the Ambiance

Five wineries people remember for where they sat as much as what they drank, and our own stone house on the lake to finish: a horse barn with a fireplace, a patio in the woods above the Grand River, a pond, and a church moved here from another town.

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Timber framing above the tasting bar at Cask 307

6 stops · Mixed group

Beer, Wine and Spirits

For the friend who does not drink much wine. Every stop also pours beer, cider, cocktails, mead or bourbon.

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The stone mansion at Vincent William Wine behind a red maple in October

7 stops · Fall Saturday

The Wine and Foliage Day Trip

The fall day we would plan for a friend: a boardwalk over the Grand River in the morning, estate wine among the vines, an 1868 covered bridge, lunch by a wood fire, a last glass on a patio above the river, and dinner on the lake.

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Red and orange maples above the rooftops with Lake Erie behind

7 stops · Autumn wineries

Wineries in Fall Color

Six wineries at their best in October: vineyards to walk, a trail down to the river, a patio in the woods and a fire for when it gets cold. The day ends on the lake at Vincent William.

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Markko Vineyard

5 stops · Far corners

Off the Beaten Path

Five wineries 13 to 30 miles from the Madison and Geneva cluster, each worth the drive: a meadery, a 1930s racehorse stable, a frozen wine dessert, a vineyard with rooms, and one of Ohio's first European-grape vineyards.

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Fossil Creek Winery

5 stops · Underrated

The Underrated Valley

Five wineries rated 4.6 or higher on Google that most people drive past. None has more than 135 reviews.

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Sources and photo credits

Drive time from OpenStreetMap routing, checked 2026-09-22, without stops or traffic. Ratings are Google snapshots from 2026-09-09.

Photographs

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