Fall foliage in Aspen, Colo. (Photo by Burnham Arndt)

Summer is history for most of the country and leaves are getting ready to turn colors. Before you rush out the door to admire autumn's colorful display, look to the Internet for guides to some of the best places and times for ''leaf peeping.''

Warm up by reading the Autumn Leaves articles at GORP, the Great Outdoor Recreation Pages — www.gorp.com/gorp/features/fall/fall.htm — and follow links within the articles to reach more GORP articles. For example, start with ''Autumn Exposure'' and read down to a link to a feature on Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest; once you're there, click on ''auto tours and fall foliage'' for short descriptions of scenic road trips.

GORP also has foliage features for the Midwest and the South, and a few in the West.

Next, go to the U.S. Forest Service fall color Web site — www.fs.fed.us/news/fall.shtml — for color conditions around the nation.

At that and other sites, you might have to keep checking to see when they start up their reports of peak color areas for the 1998 season. Some sites, however, started in early September.

If you're in New England or headed there, look at fall color tips from New Hampshire state government — www.visitnh.gov/foliage.html — or in New Hampshire's White Mountains — www.whitemtn.org/report.html .

Vermont is represented with Vermont Only — www.vtonly.com/foliage.htm — the electronic version of Vermont Living magazine — www.vtliving.com/foliage — and Scenes of Vermont — www.scenesofvermont.com .

If you're planning a trek to Maine, try the state government leaf page — www.state.me.us/doc/foliage/foliage.htm . And Destination Maine — www.destinationmaine.com/foliage/foliage.htm — has a calendar of expected peak colors by region.

Elsewhere in the Northeast, try Rhode Island — www.projo.com/special/foliage/main.htm and New York's Adirondack Park — www.adirondacks.com/fallreport.html

If the Midwest is your bailiwick, Wisconsin's state travel page — badger.state.wi.us/agencies/tourism/guide/travnews.htm — boldly announces ''there's no better place to savor breathtaking fall color.''

Minnesota also puts out state foliage updates — http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fall_colors/index.html — and consider Michigan's Traverse City area — www.ring.com/travel/color.htm .

In the Southeast, try Asheville, N.C. — www.ashevillechamber.org/leaf.htm — which promises to provide information beginning in late September.