Natural History Wanderings

Great Smoky Mountains National Park reports

Many high elevation areas (above 4,500′) are near, to slightly past, peak this week. Areas around Newfound Gap are colorful now. There is still some green at the higher elevations though, which means color will continue to develop over the next few days. The weather forecast is predicting rain storms with gusty winds on Friday, with rain continuing on Saturday. This may strip some leaves off high elevation trees. Depending on how the storm develops, views along the first half of Clingmans Dome Road and in the higher reaches of Newfound Gap Road should be good though early next week.

Middle and low elevations are still predominantly green with a scattering of fall color here and there. The fall leaf season in these lower elevations is still a few weeks away, but signs of change are becoming more noticeable as many of the greens are beginning to fade, giving hints of the colors that will develop later in the month. Some vibrant reds have developed on dogwoods, sourwoods, and a few maples. The vivid red leaves of Virginia creeper vine are very noticeable climbing tree trunks now. Overall however, there’s not a great deal of fall color in the lower elevations yet — give it a few more weeks!

Fall flowers such as purple asters, white asters, black-eyed Susans, pale jewelweed, and goldenrod continue to bloom in profusion along roadsides and trails.

For fall photos and updates from the park, visit our official facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/GreatSmokyMountainsNPS

You can also check out the park’s webcams to see how fall colors are progressing:
Purchase Knob (high elevation)
Look Rock (middle elevation)