For example: A few Septembers back I was admiring the view from the Robin's Roost, a quirky rental cottage perched amid the branches of a mature maple in the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary, when my wife pointed and exclaimed, "Check it out: The leaves are starting to turn!"
I followed the line of her gesticulations and quickly – perhaps too quickly – echoed her enthusiasm: "Ah yes. Lovely! I can't believe it's almost fall."
But my reaction was nothing more than a feeble charade. After all, I'm red-green colour-blind.
For one in 12 men and one in 200 women, give or take, fall's arrival can be frustrating. While others admire the fiery foliage, we must make do with vistas that lack the same dramatic contrast between red, orange, yellow and green hues.
But there is hope. Across Canada, a wide range of experiences combine prime colour-viewing with diversions that require no red-green visual acuity to appreciate.
Here, then, are dozens of options that will please leaf-peepers and leaf-liars alike.
Robin's Roost Treehouse, Ingleside, Ont.
The gloriously windowed Robin's Roost provides a uniquely elevated vantage point from which to admire more than the forest canopy surrounding the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary's tidy campground. While sipping coffee under the spreading maple that bursts through the Roost's wraparound deck, I watched as great blue herons foraged in the nearby St. Lawrence River.
Several hundred yards beyond, an enormous ocean freighter chugged across the horizon. Then, after preparing lunch on the two-bedroom A-frame's barbecue and grabbing some complimentary binoculars, I set out on one of six self-guided walking trails to explore the sanctuary's 9,000 hectares of forests, fields and boardwalk-bisected wetlands.
Canyon Sainte-Anne, Beaupré, Que.
The phrase "just sit back and relax" has never really applied to Canada's many ziplines, but this changed with the 2017 launch of the Air Canyon in the Canyon Sainte-Anne nature park.
Sitting in comfortable-looking two-person cable cars, visitors whiz down a 396- metre-long steel strand at up to 50 kilometres an hour as they cross the 90-metre-deep canyon and pass waterfalls and giant potholes.
Cabot Cliffs, Inverness, N.S.
Don't forget to pack your golf clubs on a driving tour of Cape Breton's famously scenic Cabot Trail. Ranked No. 1 in Golf Digest's top 30 courses in Canada, this year-old public track, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, pairs 18 holes of challenging links-style play with exceptional views of the rugged coast and surrounding highlands.
Upla, Stouffville, Ont.
This new addition (pictured above) to Treetop Trekking's extensive ropes course in the Bruce's Mill Conservation Area offers a massive network of interconnected trampolines, connected slides, ramps, and forest pathways. It's great for younger kids (starting at age 5) who aren't quite ready for the high ropes. Adults, however, should heed this warning: Chasing the brood through Upla is great fun, but it's surprisingly exhausting as well. Be sure to bring lots of water and take plenty of breaks.
Lake Superior Water Trail and Lake Huron North Channel
Two of the longest sections of the Trans Canada Trail are also among the most beautiful in fall. The mixed-surface Lake Huron North Channel passes various scenes immortalized by the Group of Seven as it winds 375.3 kilometres between Sudbury and the densely forested Gros Cap Bluffs just west of Sault Ste. Marie.
Cyclists and hikers must then pick up paddles for the Lake Superior Water Trail, which stretches nearly three times as far across its namesake Great Lake. Between Gros Cap and Thunder Bay's Fisherman's Park, 16 access points provide docks, composting toilets, bear-proof garbage disposal and recycling containers. The autumn splendour of the Algoma coast was especially revered by Canada's most famous painterly collective, and is home to Pukaskwa National Park's Mdaabii Miikna Trail, a 24-km alternative to the Coastal Hiking Trail.
Agawa Canyon Tour Train, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
The Algoma Central Railway's one-day tours whisk visitors 183 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie, past the remote forests, lakes and rivers of the Canadian Shield, to the Agawa Canyon Wilderness Park, which can only be reached by rail or hiking trail. Here the train stops, letting day-trippers explore a network of trails leading to various waterfalls and a lookout perched more than 75 metres above the canyon floor. For visitors who want to stay awhile, the railway also transports hikers, anglers, rock-climbers and ATV buffs who are keen to explore the region’s wild rivers, cliffs and backcountry trails.
Parc Omega, Montebello, Que.
This 890-hectare wildlife park is justifiably renowned for letting visitors feed deer and elk by hand while driving or strolling through the bucolic property in the Gatineau Hills. Doing the same at the Wolf Observatory is forbidden – and for good reason if the feeding-time frenzy I witnessed was any indication.
Billed as the world's first enclosure devoted to grey wolves, the facility features a glass-enclosed ground-level viewing area and a tiered rooftop platform.
Larch Valley Trail, Banff National Park, Banff, Alta.
Aspens and willows add pleasing bursts of fall colour to the Banff townsite and its sublime surroundings, which can be viewed from nearly 900 metres up in the Banff Gondola's Sky Bistro, or from the 10-km-long Banff Commonwealth Walkway. The biggest autumn draws, however, are the stands of sub-alpine larches that blanket the occasional mountainside in gold. Starting at the Moraine Lake Lodge, which can be reached via a free shuttle service, hikers can make the steep 4.3-km trek to the aptly-named Larch Valley, which is made all the more spectacular by the soaring backdrop of the Ten Peaks.
Treetop Haven, Albany, PEI
If treehouse stays and train trips seem like old hat, there's always this collection of five geodesic domes set amid 20 hectares of birch forest. Each dome is mounted on a 3.5-metre-high deck and includes a bathroom, kitchenette, bedroom, barbecue and private hot tub, with a wall of triangular windows framing the foliage outside. A variety of getaway packages include massage, yoga and guided strolls known as "forest bathing."
Nordik Spa-Nature, Chelsea, Que.
You've admired (or pretended to admire) the fall leaves, so why not use them for some detoxifying flagellation?
This 100,000-square-foot spa complex in the verdant Gatineau Hills is launching a namesake treatment for its nine-month-old banya space that houses a Russian sauna, exfoliation room and yoga studio. By brushing and then striking guests with bunches of birch branches infused in hot water, the hour-long banya treatment is said to reduce inflammation, relieve joint pain and relax muscles.