Natural History Wanderings

Updated 10/3/14

Blue Ridge Parkway Fall Colors Tracker has the following fall color report

October is upon us, and the mountain foliage, true to form, is beginning to make the transition to the color that brings so much attention here in the fall. Typically, the Blue Ridge Parkway experiences the much-anticipated change in fall foliage around the middle of October. Many factors, however, contribute to variations in when and where colors will peak. The Parkway stretches almost five hundred miles north to south, meanders from the east- to west-facing slopes, and most importantly, varies in elevation from just under 650 feet at James River in Virginia to over 6,000 feet south of Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina.

Many visitors have been frustrated trying to go to one spot on one day in October, hoping to find the leaves in full color. A far better plan is to drive some distance on the Parkway, changing elevations and north-south orientation. Anyone who does this from now undil mid- to late-October will catch at least some of the pretty color that we’re famous for.

See rest of post and photos at: Blue Ridge Parkway Fall Colors Tracker

Blue Ridge Parkway Journeys also has a fall color and wildflower report at Blue Ridge Parkway Fall Color Report – Early October 2014.