Fall Peak Leaf Season Best Color Dates for 2012 in Great Smoky Mountains Tennessee

Fall is the time in the Smokies when the trees leaves change to outrageous colors and the carpet of brilliant colors climbs up more than 6,000 feet to the tops of the Great Smoky Mountains where a bright red leaf may be next to a yellow leaf and even a green leaf and this year looks like the best leaf season to be in many years.

Peak leaf season for 2012 in the Smokies will be starting this week for the high elevations and the leaf peepers will be able to see brilliant leaf colors in the high tops of the Smokies for at least 2 weeks at which time the fall peak color will be great and just starting in elevations of around 2,500 feet in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee.

All of the pictures in this story about peak leaf season in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge have been taken in the past few days from places down by the city of Gatlinburg all the way up to the Newfound Gap parking area and in-between. As you can see, the bright fall leaf colors are already starting to happen in the Smokies.

In the mid elevations of the Smoky Mountains where you will find most cabin rentals and scenic lookouts the best fall colors in general will be the second and third week of October 2012. Hardwoods, which show the most brilliant reds and maroons, will be peaking 3rd week in October and the peak leaf season should end around the last week in October.

These estimations of peak fall colors in the Smokies are from air and soil temperature and moisture readings that show that unless the weather patterns change drastically, we should have long leaf duration meaning trees will hold their leaves longer.

What we are hoping for here in the Smokies, particular around the lower elevations in Gatlinburg, Wears Valley and Pigeon Forge is that we continue to get some light rain as we have had in the past few nights to keep the plants well hydrated so that the leaves will stay up and a sharp cold front comes in or we have some very clear nights with temps dipping into the 40's to make the red colors in the leaves pop.

Our leaf season did not get an early start because our weather has just been too nice during the daytime and with less cloud clover and warmer temperatures even high up in the Smoky Mountains the plants internal clocks think it is still late summer and are not shutting down the leaves for fall and turning off chlorophyll production which keeps them green.

Based upon the present long range Smokies Weather reports the light rain of the past few days with slightly cooler temperatures and the upcoming light rain with overcast skies the color should kick in just slightly past normal, but the good news is also that all indications are for one of the brightest and best fall leaf seasons in years.

The Smokies can use another great leaf season as we suffered a few duds where heat stressed and dehydrated trees and bushes dropped leaves quickly during heavy winds that came with fall thunderstorms. The good news is that there are so many different trees in the Smokies that peak at different times so that even these "bad leaf seasons" were still better than most other leaf seasons in the US.

So what will be the best weekend exact day of peak leaf season to see the fall colors in the Smoky Mountains? It all depends on where you want to look at leaves, but be assured; you will have great leaf color for the next 4 weekends with the best fall colors the second and third week of October from most of the Smokies and even some left the first week of November.

What we are waiting for to set peak color in motion is our first heavy frost that will be in higher elevations before the mid and lower ones. We also have 8 of the next 24 days predicted to have rain - none of which are on weekends and that will really help keep the leaves up longer and the colors brighter.

No matter what time you come to the Smokies between now and the end of the first week in November you will be able to see fall colors depending on where you are willing to look and the best peak colors will be from mid to late October for most of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Enjoy your leaf peeping this fall in the Tennessee Smokies!

More About Peak Leaf Season in the Great Smoky Mountains:

• Peak Leaf Color Season Dates In Cades Cove and the Great Smoky Mountains for 2012
• Peak Leaf Season Dates For Fall of 2012
• Smoky Mountains Fall Color Season: Where and When To See the Best Leaves In 2010