CNN || Mass appeal in the Berkshires

The fall foliage has always made Massachusetts' Berkshires region one of America's most beautiful driving destinations. But lately, the thriving art scene is drawing its own share of peeps.

Norman Rockwell lived in the Berkshires for 25 years, and one look at the area's quintessentially New England main streets and white picket fences makes it clear where he got his inspiration. The Norman Rockwell Museum, celebrating its 40th anniversary, has 772 paintings and drawings, 323 Saturday Evening Post covers, and his actual home studio, which was reconstructed in an exhibition space (9 Glendale Rd., Stockbridge, 413/298-4100, nrm.org, $15).

The area has been home to a wide range of creative masters. Take the writer Edith Wharton. If your knowledge of her work begins and ends with "The Age of Innocence," visit The Mount Estate & Gardens, her former house and grounds in Lenox (2 Plunkett St., 413/551-5111, edithwharton.org, $16).

The author had a passion for architecture and landscaping, and she designed the house and its three acres of gardens. Wharton was also fascinated with the supernatural -- she wrote ghost stories on the side -- and legend has it that her house is haunted. Fridays from June to October, a 90-minute tour called Friday Night Fright explores the spookiest parts of the estate ($20).

Scenic Route 7 is the main artery that threads the region's towns together. About 12 miles north of Lenox on the route is Pittsfield, where the Shakers settled in 1783. There are 20 barns, workshops, and houses at the Hancock Shaker Village, including a furniture shop, where tools scattered across the workbenches create the sense that the Shakers have just stepped out for lunch (1843 W. Housatonic St., 413/443-0188, hancockshakervillage.org, $16.50). Budget Travel: See the Berkshires for yourself