Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.
No new reports from the ground here this week.
Still greenStartingNearly peakPeakPast peakNo fall canopy we forecastInside the line, each band of elevation is painted on its own date.
Around Mokelumne Wilderness Alpine County holds most of the wilderness and is starting to turn today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 19 days earlier than the wilderness’s own stands: the wilderness is still green. Amador County, to the west, is 15 days behind.By elevation The wilderness runs from about 5,584 to 8,953 feet. That’s 33 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 25, the low ground holds until about Oct 21, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 5,000 to 6,000 foot band.
9,000–10,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 254%
8,000–9,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 138%
7,000–8,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 636%
6,000–7,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1414%
5,000–6,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 216%
SepOctNov
Height off 3DEP inside the wilderness’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the wilderness stands in it.
Set the days you can be here. Everything under them answers for those days, not for peak.
Sunday 25 October to Monday 26 October
You’ll find it leaves down up high, just past peak lower down.
Up at 8,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 1; down at 7,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 14. Pick your elevation for the day you come.
8,000–9,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 1
7,000–8,000 ftFadingpeak Oct 6
6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 14
Where to drive
Sonora Pass (Route 108), about 26 miles · June Lake Loop (Route 158), about 74 miles · US Route 395 (Eastern Sierra), about 94 miles
What turns
Fremont cottonwood, California black oak, white alder, willow, blue oak
What turns, and when
Fremont cottonwood24%
California black oak17%
white alder16%
willow16%
blue oak10%
bigleaf maple6%
Also named across California, outside what the canopy read measures here: Quaking Aspen.
Eastern Sierra aspens turn brilliant gold against granite walls, black oaks in Yosemite Valley go bronze and russet, and cottonwoods line the desert creeks in pale yellow.
This forecast is built from the species that stand here, their elevation and this September’s weather, and corrected in season by cameras, foresters and our own crew. Out here we score it against NASA's satellite record of when the canopy shuts down, read inside each unit’s own boundary: two dates in three land within 12 days of it. How this map is made
