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 Obed Wild and Scenic River Nearly all of the river is in Morgan County, which is still green today.By elevation The river runs from about 999 to 1,478 feet. That’s 3 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Nov 1, the low ground holds until about Nov 3, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 1,250 to 1,500 foot band.
1,250–1,500 ftStill greenpeak Nov 162%
1,000–1,250 ftStill greenpeak Nov 229%
750–1,000 ftStill greenpeak Nov 35%
SepOctNov
Height off 3DEP inside the river’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the river stands in it.
See it now PhenoCam Network, Oak Ridge camera, 45 km away, captured Sep 25.
That’s 5 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.
Set the days you can be here. Everything under them answers for those days, not for peak.
Saturday 31 October to Sunday 1 November
You’ll find it peak color.
That's the day our forecast puts peak color here.
1,250–1,500 ftPeak colorpeak Nov 1
1,000–1,250 ftPeak colorpeak Nov 2
Where to drive
Cherohala Skyway, about 69 miles · Newfound Gap Road, about 82 miles · Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 144 miles
What turns
white oak, northern red oak, red maple, shagbark hickory, tulip poplar
What turns, and when
white oak30%
northern red oak21%
red maple20%
shagbark hickory10%
tulip poplar5%
blackgum5%
Also named across Tennessee, outside what the canopy read measures here: Sourwood.
The Great Smoky Mountains produce a warm, layered fall where tulip poplars turn gold, sourwoods go crimson, hickories fade to bronze, and the ridgelines recede in hazy waves of color.
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 16 long-running forest cameras: two dates in three land within 7 days of the camera’s own peak. How this map is made
