Fall Color Report for the week ending October 26, 2012
Fall color in
Shenandoah National Park is well past peak in the higher elevations (between
Skyland Resort and Big Meadows), and is just past peak in the lower
elevations. However, there is still
plenty of color to be seen here. The
sassafras, sumacs, poison ivy, and Virginia creepers are still providing lots
of vivid color throughout the park, and some of the oaks are at their loveliest
now, wearing their muted shades of rust, cider, saffron, and cranberry – a
Thanksgiving plate of hues.
But ‘muted’ is
definitely the word of the week now, when it comes to fall color in Shenandoah
National Park. Most of the vibrant oranges and scarlets and bright golds have
blown away or fallen to the forest floor, especially in the Park’s higher
areas. Warm browns and cinnamons have replaced most of the more fiery colors of
autumn in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some lavender and white asters are hanging
on, still blooming, but many have finished flowering for the year and won’t be
seen again until next fall. The milkweed pods have opened and are showing – and
releasing -- their ghostly white, downy insides.
This is a great time
to visit Shenandoah National Park!
October crowds are beginning to thin out and it’s not yet gotten
bitterly cold. The vistas are wider
because the leaves are gone; you can see for miles and miles, across the
Shenandoah Valley and the Piedmont. The air is clear, the skies are often
bright blue, and you couldn’t ask for better hiking weather. Plus, it’s hard to beat the fun sound of
leaves crunching underfoot as you tread the park’s trails!
We hope you have enjoyed this year’s weekly fall color reports. This is the last update to the fall color
report for this year.
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