Post date: 09/18/2025
I took my first fall foliage drive of the season this morning, to both check out how the colors are doing and to see how long I could be out and about, given I had my surgery just over a month ago. I’m happy to report that both tasks were successively accomplished – I was in the car about an hour and a half, traveled about 46 miles, and, was able to see the current state of the leaves. This is about how far I must travel to do lab work, so it wasn’t too much of an exertion. I did no hiking though – not up to that yet. Just drove and stopped at overlooks.So, here’s my report. Leaves are...
Post date: 09/18/2025
Foliage Report for September 16, 2025I need to post this update to my previous report, because since that posting, since there have been some new developments, plus a lot of color has started showing up in the High Country (at least in some places). If any information is wrong here, it is partly due to the fact that no one now answers the phones at the visitors center, possibly due to budget cutbacks that have severely curtailed services at most National Parks this year, and so I can’t get up-to-date information for you.Most importantly, Mt. Mitchell State Park (milepost 355 on the Blue Ridge...
Post date: 09/11/2025
Fall Color Report for September 11, 2025This year we are all hoping for a great fall leaf color season. So far, the weather is cooperating, with lower than normal temperatures here in the High Country (this morning’s low was 45ºF) and mostly sunny skies. If this trend continues for the next 3-4 weeks, then we should have great color on time. That means Oct 12-20 between 3,000-4,000’ elevation, a week earlier if higher, and a week later if lower. I’ll post some graphics soon to illustrate this.Right now we are seeing just the beginnings of fall leaf color in the mountains, while urban street...
Post date: 10/28/2024
Fall Color Report for October 27, 2024 This past week the NPS opened up a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway from near Bamboo Gap north of Blowing Rock to Beacon Heights below Grandfather Mt. Today I drove down to Linville and got on the BRP at Beacon Heights and headed north. Around 1 pm it was socked in with low hanging clouds and visibility was very poor. I was driving only 25 mph it was so foggy. But even in such conditions, there was much to see. Plus, the BRP assumes a completely different persona when it’s foggy out. It makes you focus on what’s happening locally, like in your...
Post date: 10/17/2024
Some Thoughts About This Year’s Fall Leaf ColorsToday I went out to just north of Blowing Rock where I had great views to the east. As you can see from the photos, the lower elevations are still mostly green. These trees may still change and show good color in the next two weeks, but as you can also see from the other photos, most of the leaves above 3,000’ elevation have already fallen off. Hurricane Helene blew a lot of leaves off, and those that remained began dropping before they turned colorful.Officially, the entire Parkway is still closed, but a few sections are not gated and there...
Post date: 10/17/2024
Folks, given the devastation and lives lost from Hurricane Helene, it no longer seems appropriate to provide fall leaf color notifications for this season. While this time of year gives many people great joy, it is simply not as important right now as focusing on helping everyone in this region who was affected by the storm to get their lives back together.Given that over 300 roads are impassible and many others precarious, it is also not safe to be out on many of the mountain roads looking at fall leaf color. At this point, the entire Blue Ridge Parkway, the main thoroughfare for leaf...
Post date: 09/23/2024
Fall Color Report for the Week of September 22, 2024This past Thursday I took off early (predawn) and headed over to Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This high elevation site is about 20 miles north of Asheville and about 15 miles south of the entrance to Mt. Mitchell State Park.There is a parking lot and trailhead just a quarter of mile north of the visitor center where you can start an easy hike up to some rock bunkers that give you panoramic views north and south of the mountains and valleys. I highly recommend this hike, which is not a difficult one.This is turning out to be an...
Post date: 09/16/2024
Fall Color Report for September 14, 2024(you can find this on the Fall Color Guy Facebook page and there you can read comments about the photos posted with this report)Today I report on town and gown color for Boone, North Carolina and Appalachian State University. Although it’s still early in the season, I am seeing a lot of trees turning color in town and on campus. The forests surrounding Boone though, are still a luscious green.I also sense, as many of you may too, that colors are coming along slightly early this year. But don’t get too caught up in that – a warm spell in the next two or...
Post date: 09/03/2024
Fall Color Report for Week of September 1, 2024Click HERE for the Fall Color Guy Facebook link with photos.It’s still a little early for fall colors, but surprisingly, as many of you have noticed from the photos by Tom Mabry and others, some trees are turning early. I recently drove from Boone to Atlanta for the holiday break to see my son and his wife and their one and a half year old son, Oliver, my first grandson. As you may expect, he’s very cute, and in the imitation phase now – you do something, and he mimics it back at you.A variety of trees are showing color now, some at high...
Post date: 10/16/2023
Fall Color Report for the Week of October 14, 2023Today started off in mist and drizzle, although it was relatively warm. We almost canceled our trip because of the dreary conditions, but seeing light off to the northeast where we were headed spurred us on and that turned out to be the right decision, as the day consistently got better weather wise and by the afternoon we had partly cloudy skies with occasional bright sun. Today’s fall foliage reporters became a trio that included myself, of course, plus my wife Claudia, and my companion for the last two weeks, Eduardo de Campos. Having...