WNCOutdoors.info Blog

The fall color this season hasn’t been as bad as some predicted, but at the same time, hasn’t been that great either. Muted to bright yellows are quite common, as are leaves that are turning brown and falling directly off the trees this season. However, pockets of excellent color are out there too, and even “so-so” color is pretty to look at. If you haven’t gotten your foliage fix, now is the time - this week into this weekend should be “peak” at mid to lower elevations, although some color will linger into the following weekend, especially down the escarpment in the Piedmont region.

The fall color season has really cranked up in the last week or so. Some high elevation areas peaked last weekend, and mid elevation sites should be peaking this weekend into next at lower elevation sites. As usual, fall color will probably last into early November for areas at the bottom of the mountains.

Intensity wise, it’s been a strong moderate year. Maples and sourwood are reaching brilliant orange to red colors, while most other species have stuck to yellow. Quite a bit of the color is vivid and saturated while, unfortunately, a good portion of the trees are going straight to barren brown - probably due to the drought. Tuliptrees at lower elevations are changing sooner than the rest, so some of the valley color may be out-of-sync. It’s not been a disappointing season at all despite what the forecasters said in response to the drought, and the rain this week should make the overall scenery much more exciting. Clear, cool weather returns for the weekend. Get out the cameras and hit the trails!

Saturday, October 6 is “Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day” at Dupont State Forest. (more…)