AUGUSTA - Peak foliage color will cover southern Maine and all coastal locations during the next seven days, according to the Department of Conservation's final fall foliage report of the season.

Forest rangers are observing peak color along the coastline from Kittery to Eastport, and over interior locations from Sebago Lake to Augusta and Bangor.

A colorful drive for the weekend is the recently designated Evans Notch Scenic Byway following 60 miles of Route 113 from Standish in southern Cumberland County to Gilead and the White Mountain National Forest in Oxford County.

Route 17 between Augusta and Rockland is now lined with spectacular foliage, and the colors are at their best along the Park Loop Road inside Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, said the report.

Foliage color has begun to turn past peak in the western mountain towns of Rangeley, Farmington and Carrabassett Valley, but there are still plenty of leaves to look at.

Blue Hill's 3rd Annual Foliage Food and Wine Festival (www.bluehillpeninsula.org) is Oct. 16-19, and Hallowell's annual Fall Festival (www.hallowell.org) happens Oct. 17-19.

To provide the most accurate foliage information, rangers report statewide conditions once a week during foliage season. The reports are posted online at http://www.mainefoliage.com, and visitors to the Web site can sign up to receive the weekly reports by email or RSS feed.

Foliage fans can also submit their best Maine foliage photographs to the site's Photo Gallery. One image is featured on the site each week, and all submissions are considered for the gallery archive.

For more information about events and activities happening in Maine this fall log on to http://www.visitmaine.com.