Jet -- I was at Falls of Hills Creek and Cranberry two weekends ago; that area was just prior to peak at that time. I'd be willing to bet it is past peak, but if you are passing through the area on the way to New River, it's worth a look. Being at lower elevation, I would bet the New River area would be good; I'm headed to the Cheat River drainage on that theory. Have a great time!
dsjtecserv wrote:
Jet -- I was at Falls of Hills Creek and Cranberry two weekends ago; that area was just prior to peak at that time. I'd be willing to bet it is past peak, but if you are passing through the area on the way to New River, it's worth a look. Being at lower elevation, I would bet the New River area would be good; I'm headed to the Cheat River drainage on that theory. Have a great time!
Dave
Thanks for the heads up, I might pass on Falls of Hills since I've been there before if time is tight.
Jett, I hope you had better luck than I did. I guessed wrong about the Chaet River drainage; it looks like the west side of the Alleghenies had more wind and most of the leaves had dropped. I got a few nice shots with isolated trees, but not as good as it should have been. On the way home I noticed that the east side is still pretty intact and looks good.
Getting much needed new tires on the car this morning then heading up on the BRP. Some hard rain last night. The color on the mountain is getting brighter and best guess is for a peak this coming weekend south of Asheville. Unlike last year with a brilliant few days, this year seems to be a slow smolder. I'll know more when I get up there in a bit.
This year is so hard to figure here in WNC. Most of the leaves at the higher elevations above 5500' are gone now after last night's hard rain and wind. It was a brisk 45º with a 20mph wind at Richland Balsam at noon today. The mid elevations are in various stages of peak, green or rust. Everyone has a different idea of peak color so I'll just say if you come up this way between now and the end of the month you will probably find good color somewhere. The leaves aren't the best this year but there are places that in the right light are quite nice. I'd say this weekend might be about as good as it gets but each spot will vary. Here are a few pics I snapped to show various color on the drive home.
The upper part of NC 215 about 3 miles north of the BRP.
I visited the Blue Ridge Parkway and GSMNP this weekend. I didn't go any farther north on the BRP than Waynesville. I saw a lot of brown leaves. There were some yellows mixed in, but the colors up high are mostly brown, yellow, and bare. Balsam Mountain road was a decent drive, but still a lot of dull colors. I thought the best colors in the whole area were north of Smokemont campground up toward Newfound gap and down the other side. Clingman's dome seemed past peak. Cades Cove was actually pretty nice. I didn't expect that. There were a lot of green maples throughout most of the park.
dsjtecserv wrote:
Jett, I hope you had better luck than I did. I guessed wrong about the Chaet River drainage; it looks like the west side of the Alleghenies had more wind and most of the leaves had dropped. I got a few nice shots with isolated trees, but not as good as it should have been. On the way home I noticed that the east side is still pretty intact and looks good.
Dave
Blackwater Falls area was past peak but the falls were nice. The New River Gorge area in southern West Virginia was near peak, this weekend should be peak for that area.
Though the fall color in the mountains has since been obliterated by the recent wind & snow up there, I just came back from another trip to find some nice fall color at metro-city elevation now - specifically Denver through Boulder. I'm sure the other Front Range cities will have some nice color now too. Boulder overall has some nice color right now, though most of it is just a bit past peak. The best spots that I saw today were around Boulder Creek near the Library and Municipal Court, going a bit into Canyon towards Boulder Falls.
I love how the fall color in Colorado just rolls down in elevation as the days go by. It's nice to not have to drive so far into the mountains now, so daily photo outings will be possible...
TN/NC. Drove the Foothills Parkway East, Tail of the Dragon, and Cherohala Skyway today. The Foothills Parkway is about 25%-35% with good color in places. The Tail of the Dragon on US129 is about 60%-70%. And the Cherohala Skyway varies with elevation. 3000' - 50%, 4000' - 75%, 5000' - Past Peak. 9 1/2 hours. Makes for a long day. But, it's a trip that I like to take every year. BTW, Bald River Falls was "roaring" as Peter Lik might say.
Travis Rhoads wrote:
NCAndy...tell those leaves to hold on to their trees for a few days...we head up that way Friday afternoon!
Have a great trip! I haven't been to Highlands recently but I'm sure there will be some color wherever you go. We had a bunch of rain on Monday so the waterfalls should have decent flow. Get an early start to avoid the traffic around town.
