Natural History Wanderings

California Fall Color has a fall color report from a road trip to a number of urban areas.

A road trip from the Sierra Foothills to Silicon Valley and back, today, provided opportunities to see how color is developing along the I-80, I-680 and I-880 corridors. In a word, it is “glorious.”

GO NOW! – 75 – 100% – Sacramento – Piles of leaves along Sacramento streets are a sure sign that the fall color is past peak on some species. Sycamore are among them, though other large species in Sacramento are still yellow and orange, with spots of red. Land Park, south of U.S. 50 and the Fabulous 40s in midtown have the best displays of color.

GO NOW! – 75 – 100% – Walnut Creek, Dublin – Native oak are softly pastel orange, while exotic species are blazing.

GO NOW! – 75 – 100% – Silicon Valley – The Santa Clara County communities of Campbell, Los Gatos and San Jose are dressed in fall foliage. Brilliant stands of gingko are found along the boulevards. Before it became known as Silicon Valley (for the silicon chips produced here by Intel), the Santa Clara Valley was known for growing fruit (apricots, plums and other tree fruit). Today, a pomegranate bush along Pine in San Jose was heavy with ripe fruit.

See photos and more reports at: California Fall Color