Folks tend to forget Idaho when they're planning a fall color run. They'll point at New England, or maybe Michigan's UP, and leave it at that. Their loss. MSN laid out a scenic route through the state's parks built around exactly that: fall color, a good road and a camping trip to hold it all together.

The route threads through state parks where the forests shift toward that gold and copper you chase in October. You get river bottoms, mountain passes and plenty of pull-offs where nobody's rushing you along. Tell you what, that last part matters more than the colors. Out here in October you can stand at an overlook and hear the creek under you instead of somebody's exhaust.

What makes a loop like this work is the camping. In my experience there's no cleaner way to wake up than a cool fall morning in a tent with frost on the rainfly. Before you count on a site, call the park or check Idaho State Parks' site for fall availability, because seasons and services vary from park to park. And bring the sleeping bag rated lower than you think you'll need. Mountain country in October doesn't negotiate.

And the road itself is half the point. Winding pavement, elevation changes, stretches where the trees close in overhead and then open up to a valley you didn't see coming. That's the test I always come back to: does the drive itself hold up when the destination is just a campground and a campfire? From everything this route promises, I'd say it does.

If you go, don't dawdle on the planning. Fall color anywhere doesn't last, and a hard wind or an early cold snap can thin a hillside in a hurry. I've watched it happen in the Ozarks, and I expect it works the same out west. Check the local conditions before you roll, and if the timing's already past you, well, there's always next year.

Makes me want to add a leg of Idaho onto my own fall run this year. The Ozarks are calling like they always do, but a man only gets so many Octobers with a full tank and no place he has to be.