Roadsides and wetland edges turn first, and the woods behind them run a few days later.
No new reports from the ground here this week.
- 3,000–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 307%
- 1,000–2,000 ftStill greenpeak Nov 44%
- 0–1,000 ftStill greenpeak Nov 976%
- -1,000–0 ftStill greenpeak Nov 109%
Height off 3DEP inside the forest’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the forest stands in it.
That’s 3 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.
Plan this tripIf you can only come on certain days
Set the days you can be here. Everything under them answers for those days, not for peak.
Saturday 7 November to Sunday 8 November
You’ll find it peak color up high, nearly peak lower down.
Up at 0 feet the stands peak around Nov 9; down at 0 feet they hold on until about Nov 10. Pick your elevation for the day you come.
- 0–1,000 ftPeak colorpeak Nov 9
- -1,000–0 ftNearly peakpeak Nov 10
- Where to drive
- Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 145 miles
- What turns
- white oak, red maple, northern red oak, shagbark hickory, blackgum
What turns, and when
- white oak21%
- red maple21%
- northern red oak20%
- shagbark hickory10%
- blackgum7%
- sweetgum6%
Also named across South Carolina, outside what the canopy read measures here: Tulip Poplar.
The Blue Ridge escarpment in the northwest corner produces mountain color that drops off dramatically into the Piedmont, with maples and tulip poplars providing the best displays.
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. We score it here against 7 long-running forest cameras: two dates in three land within 13 days of the camera’s own peak. How this map is made