2013 Fall Peak Color In The Great Smoky Mountains Has Started!

After losing more than 2 weeks of being able to have full access to everything in the Great Smoky Mountains due to the government shutdown, everything turned around just in a nick of time to be able to catch to beginning of the 2013 fall peak color in the Smokies.

Even with the prospect of a government closure that kept people out of our beloved national park, it did not stop the leaf peepers from coming to the Smoky Mountains and who could blame them?

As a matter of fact it appears that what few regulars who come every autumn to the Smokies to see the leaves change each year that didn't show up were replaced by many new fist time leaf peepers. You just needed to drive through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Tennessee to see how busy we were.

With the very wet spring, summer and early fall in North Carolina and now the mild temperatures with mostly sunny days, the fall peak leaf season is generally running a few days late in most areas and the same for Tennessee.

Normally you would expect to see a lot of bright reds at the highest elevations along with some deep maroons of early hardwoods starting to show for days now. Instead, yellows and oranges are still the dominant changing colors and the cooler weather that started last night is just starting to bring out the flame reds.

The Blue Ridge Parkways no has some areas of full peak and the light greens and yellows are as low as the Chimneys Overlook on Newfound Gap Road with full color stating on the Alum Cave Hiking Trail parking.

The vista at both Newfound Gap and the Oconaluftee Overlook just a little south of the Gap on the North Carolina Side is really starting to look beautiful. Further south at the swinging bridges overlooks you can see we have another week to be in real peak.

Fall Color at the Swinging Bridges

By the time you work just another 1,000 feet down in elevation along Newfound Gap Road, you are still predominantly dark and light green.

Little River Road, Lakeshore Road, the Foothills Parkway East and west all still mostly green and when you look up at the peaks in the distance the oranges and reds are getting more prevalent on the ridges every day.

For the most part, Cades Cove does not really have great color yet and the best way to enjoy it is long range looking from Rich Mountain across the valley. The hike to Gregory Bald is fantastic right now and will be for another week up top.

Looking Down at Cades Cove from Rich Mountain

Cherokee Orchard Road behind downtown Gatlinburg and the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail have some nice color, but again this is really getting better by the day and will start peaking by the weekend. Be sure to past Grotto Falls and up to Brushy Mountain and the visibility has been good and the vista fantastic.

Cosby, Big Creek, Deep Creek and Elkmont all have spectacular color in spots as you hike up higher and best yet, the weather is amazing for hiking and though it is fairly crowed in the park, many trails are not overrun especially during the week.

The river in Greenbrier is just beautiful and has about 2 weeks of color left in spots. Do not miss out on Ramsey Cascades or the Pinnacles. Though the cascades water flow is light right now, the changing color in the forest is worth and the view from the Pinnacles today was breathtaking.

Greenbrier Tennessee - Pigeon River
 

Bluff Mountain, Ski Mountain and chalet Village all have some color coming in with a ways to go and Brothers Cove which is all decorated for fall looks like it will have some real vibrant color this year.

Be sure to take some pictures on the overlooks on the Gatlinburg Bypass which is a week to peak. The Spur leaves may drop before they hit peak as some have done in other places. If the leaves start falling here, be sure to check out Tremont which should be in peak at that time.

Fall Color in Cataloochee

The fall color will be peaking this week in Cataloochee and the elk are still putting on a show and rutting. Color will last into next weekend.

All said we will have good color this year and so far with real staying power. We may be a few days later than expected due to so many sunny days but then again, those were fabulous days to be outside enjoying the beautiful fall weather in the Smokies.

Related Fall Color Reports for 2013

• Fall 2013 Leaf Season Color for Great Smoky Mountains
• 2013 Fall Peak Color Smoky Mountains National Park
• 2013 Smoky Mountains Leaf Color Peak, Start and End

Fall Color Report for 2013 Leaf Season in the Great Smoky Mountains

Right on time in the Smokies we have seen fall color in some random trees and bushes such as sourwood and dogwood for the past 2 weeks, and yellows in hardwoods such as oaks above 5,000 feet for more than a week.

Late summer and early fall have been a mixed bag between dryer than normal on the Tennessee side and wetter than normal on the North Carolina side. This very strange combination has mean for a bumper crop of apples, but lousy acorns due to the stress.

The fact that we have good apples has us very excited as that is usually a good indication of a great autumn for color. The fact that the acorn crop is light means that the bears will be moving around looking more for food to fatten up for the winter.

The great news for leaf peepers looking to enjoy a both long colorful fall leaf season in the Smokies is that stressed trees and bushes often produce the best fall color. The trick is not to have too much stress which can cause a tree to go from green to brown and dropping its leaves within a day or 2.

Fall Leaf Season along Newfound Gap Road

To get the best fall leaf color possible, just as the leaf is turning off sugar production, you want a cold snap to convert the sugars in leaves such as maples into bright reds and hot oranges. Not enough cold and when the green goes, all what remains are yellows - still a very pretty sight.

Some places have many of the same species of tree or bush at the same elevation with the same exposure. When this is the case, you get a mass of basically the same color all at once. The peak leaf season in that case may only be a few days, but it can be quite spectacular.

The Smokies on the other hand vary greatly in both diversity and environment. Just go to Gatlinburg and look up at Mount LeConte and you are looking at more than mile in elevation gain - the most dramatic elevation change east of the Mississippi.

You also do not have 10, or 20 different species of trees growing in the Great Smoky Mountains, you have more than 100. There are more local native tree species growing in the Smokies - most of which produce color in the fall - than there are in the entire European continent!

The timing on all the trees as to when they shut off their leaves and produce the bright colors that remain in the leaves are all different. Even for the same species of tree, since elevations, canopy cover, soil types and conditions vary so much, so does the peak leaf season for each species of tree in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Since we have hundreds of different trees with different leaf colors in the fall peaking at different times, you can see that coming to the Smokies in autumn to see the leaves change; you have a window of 2 to 3 weeks minimum when the leaf color is great.

Bad weather conditions such as an extreme drought, or a huge wind storm or rainstorm that blows down leaves can reduce this window by a week, great conditions such as light moisture when needed, light winds and real cool nights to process the sugars can extend a peak leaf season to 4 or more weeks of color.

To time peak fall color in the Smokies it depends on where you want to see it peak. Even then it is part science and park art. We all know for example that folk legends such as the position and width of the bands on our wooly caterpillars is not an accurate predictor of how cold it will be during the winter. A coin toss works even better on average!

The biggest variable is weather conditions as to when the peak begins. Leaves turn off their green color which is chlorophyll and become colorful as both light and the temperature changes. When the days become shorter, less light means less sugar is produced triggering a fall shutdown of the Chlorophyll producing parts of the leaves. Continuous bright sunny days mean that the fall season will start later and thus peak later.

Darker, cloudy and rainy day's make plants start turning into fall colors faster, thus moving the peak season start and end sooner. With all this going on, temperature has an effect too so you can see since weather patterns can change real fast in the mountains, what can look like a late peak season can turn into a normal fall peak season in days.

Right now we are just starting to peak at the highest elevations which are generally only producing yellows at around 5,000 feet. Higher points such as along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the 6,000 foot range are seeing bright reds in some bushes and trees. If you are high up and looking down along the higher ridge lines, the fall colors including reds and oranges will really start to pop by next weekend.

Most people do not have the ability to be along higher ridge lines so the fall color when it moves to the middle and lower ridges will offer both better fall color long range views as the ability to be closer at the mid line where you will find many cabins and scenic pullouts so you can see the leaves with their fall colors up close in person.

The best time to enjoy peak season fall color in Cades Cove is right about when the mid range comes into color. For some reason the valley does not hold color long and f you wait too long for it to creep down the mountain, the tops of the mountains around Cades Cove are already done.

Cataloochee and the bald at Max Patch are at least a week earlier to fall peak leaf season than the lower parts of Tennessee such as Cades Cove.

Of course the best you can ask for is when the tops are at the tail end of peak, the mid and low elevations are at peak and there is a dusting of snow up top. If you are lucky enough to catch this, the contrast is thrilling and makes for postcards perfect pictures.

Long range forecasts today show the possibility of a dusting of snow in high altitudes on the 20th, 24th, 25th and the 31st. For most of this week we are expecting highs in 70's, and for the rest of the month in the 60's.

If you are coming here for a visit to see fall colors during October, pack warm clothes if you plan on going to the upper parts of Newfound Gap Road or on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is open all the way through to Virginia as we already have had lows up there in the 40's for days.

As long as the rain predicted for the 16th and the 17th is a gentle, long, soaking rain, some of the tail end of the fall color in hardwoods such as red oaks will still be visible in the Great Smoky Mountains and valleys such as in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg into November. In 2005, reds were still nice the second week in November.

The best bet to be sure to see the best fall colors in the Smokies is the 3rd week in October, you might not have full great color in the hardwoods and valleys, but you will be sure to have the mid elevations very bright and colorful. Even if a huge storm blows through, there will still be fresh fall color peaking everyday further on down below every few days.

Winter Snow Storm Sneaks in While Fall Colors Peak in the Smokies

While fall color was peaking in the Great Smoky Mountains, Hurricane Sandy did plenty of damage up and down the eastern US coastline before turning west and further ravaging areas inland. Fortunately, for the Smokies of East Tennessee, we just saw some much needed rain for a few days in the lower elevations and beautiful snow up top above 3,000 feet.

Weather forecasting though a science, is not always accurate - especially in the Great Smoky Mountains where a few thousand feet can be the difference between torrential rains or beautiful sunshine and in the winter the difference can be a blinding blizzard, or a gentle rain.

For more than 3 days the East Tennessee Smoky Mountains were under a winter watch and the a winter warning with predictions of high winds ranging from 25 - 35 mile per hour an accumulations that were estimated to be no more than 17 inches in the worst hit.

The first of the winter storm hit us on the 28th after much of the fall peak leaf season in the very high elevations of the park were already over. While color was still very nice in the 2,500 to 3,500 foot range, little was left when the first snowfall of the 2012 season fell on the Smokies.

The main road that runs through the park Newfound Gap Road US 441, which takes you from Cherokee North Carolina all the way up to Tennessee border at Newfound Gap with an elevation of 5,046 feet, and then back down to the city limits of Gatlinburg Tennessee, was the first road to close due to snow and ice.

US 441 was opened back up after a day's worth of plowing and sanding by the Great Smoky Mountain National Parks road crew and then had to close the next afternoon as the snowstorm picked up in intensity and with the dropping temperatures, part of the road started to freeze up.

While this was happening higher up, in the lower elevations started to experience cooler weather in the 40's which made some of the fall color especially reds and oranges pop up and moved the peak fall color elevation zone down to under 2,000 feet.

Most cabin rentals are in elevations that range from 1,000 to 2,200 feet so this was the best time to see bright fall colors in the Smokies without having to drive. In the national park, color was sporadic at this point with some of it gone in the lower elevations, but plenty to be found above 2,000 feet...go figure!

Frustrating to all of us, when Newfound Gap Road closed the second time, the mountaintops stayed hidden in clouds and storm weather so we could not see the huge amount of snowfall they received. Mount Le Conte reported 3 to 4 foot drifts!

Today the weather finally broke and the crews working diligently got to reopen Newfound Gap Road this afternoon and what were treated by was a close up look to a winter wonderland!

One of the most popular pullouts along Newfound Gap Road is the Carlos Campbell Overlook looking out at Mount LeConte (pictured above). This is just a few miles from the Gatlinburg park entrance and the Sugarlands Visitor center. There was no snow on the ground in this area and you can see that the leaves at this level and below are still very colorful.

Further on up Newfound Gap Road past the Chimney parking area and the Chimneys trailhead are pullouts looking out at the Chimney Rock formations picture above. Some light dusting of snow on the ground and on signs at this point.

At the highest point of Newfound Gap Road is the Newfound Gap Parking area where you can see the back end of Mount LeConte (pictured above) or look out at the mountain ranges in North Carolina (pictured below).

With the cool seasonal temperature that rolled, we are looking at having less than a week before virtually all the color will be gone in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains and at this point almost all of the color is gone in North Caroline.

If you want to see the last of the best fall color for 2012, you had better be here this weekend!

There are very few cabins left to rent in the Smokies and there is a 10% discount on all last minute cabin rentals in the Smokies!

Fall Smoky Mountains hiking color report: Husky Gap Trail

Bright yellow fall colors and more can be found still in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and if you want to go for a hike there are only a few hiking trails with good fall colors left and Husky Gap is one of the best trails left.

The Husky Gap trailhead is right on Newfound Gap Road across from the quiet walkway parking area 3.2 miles in from Gatlinburg Tennessee. This area of Newfound Gap Road has the best color in the whole national park.

This trail goes for about 2 miles up before it meets with 2 other trails and if you take Husky Gap to the end it goes down to Little River in Elkmont. Since it gains in elevation it will take you through various environments which will vary in color intensity.

Since the trail starts out by the most major road in the park for the fist few minutes you will hear the traffic on Newfound Gap, but it won't take long before you will see the fall colors you came to the Smokies to see.

You will pass by a creek that runs down the side of a hollow and onto the trail but the crossing is usually dry. There are some large tulip trees here that have already turned yellow for autumn and some of the trees are already a golden brown.

You can tell there were homesteads here by how flat the land is below the trail and you can even see a stone fence unfolding beneath you.

The trail is littered with many colorful leaves here, reds, oranges and lots and lots of shades of yellow and light greens. The leaves on the trail floor swiftly change color to brown but are rapidly replenished with new colorful leaves.

Some of the large yellow leaves you will see with brown spots are on vines that reach way up into the tallest trees here in the forest are grape leaves. The deeper you go on the trail the more wild grapes you will find.

While the grapes don't really have much fruit to them, they do make up part of the diet for the forest critters here each fall. You may still see some bunches of grapes on the trail floor.

One of the critters in the Great Smoky Mountains national park who loves the grapes is our resident black bear. The hike I just did to make this report I came across to adult bear and 2 cubs from this year.

As you see in the picture one of the cubs scurried up the tree. Even though he was more than 100 feet away, he was too close for comfort. If you see a bear as I did, make noise and don't run away but keep your distance. If they don't move away go back away from them.

Further in you start to get views of Gatlinburg and Mount Le Conte through the trees. The more the leaves fall down, the better you will get a view of the mountains.

The picture below shows the golds, yellows, reds and greens that can be seen through the forest canopy to the mountain on the other side. Though the color is very intense it should still last for the rest of the week.

Further into the trail you find and area with giant rock rubble with mosses and ferns on the left and an area of smaller and medium size hemlocks that are all green.

Keep going and you will go through an area where the grapes have dropped all their leaves and there are brown leaves and skeleton vines reaching up the canopy.

Eventually the colors turn more to reddish browns and tans as you get close to the trail junction. By the time you reach the junction most of the color is gone but if you decide to go further it is a nice hike but there are really no more great fall colors.

On the way back be sure to keep looking out and you will notice through the trees a side view of Mt Le Conte with its distinctive 3 peaks.

Husky gap is a great trail year round and perfect right now to see the fall colors!

The Husky Gap Trail is less than 30 minutes from all of Gatlinburgs best cabin rentals.

Fall color report for Newfound Gap Road from Gatlinburg to Cherokee

Newfound Gap Road (US 441) is the most important and well traveled thoroughfare in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and it connects Gatlinburg Tennessee with Cherokee North Carolina and if you know where to look there are still some great fall colors.

Newfound Gap Road starts and ends is valleys and winds it way up and down some of the highest elevations in the park so when fall comes to the Smokies, the first great color in the trees leaves can be found on this road and the fall colors will last a month or more.

Newfound Gap Road has plenty of pull offs where you can enjoy the fall colors on the hiking trails and quiet walkways that begin on this road and the spectacular overlooks that give you a panoramic views of mountains and valleys.

Surprisingly the best fall color right now on Newfound Gap Road is not at the lowest elevations such as at the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg Tennessee or at the Oconaluftee visitor center by Cherokee North Carolina.

The best fall colors on Newfound Gap Road can now be found on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains national park starting at around mile marker number 3 just under 2 miles south of the Sugarlands visitor center.

The picture above was taken yesterday at the Campbell Overlook pull off which looks out toward Mount Le Conte and Bullhead. As you can see the color runs up and down the mountainsides. Deep and light yellows mix in with some red and light tans contrasting against some remaining green.

The picture below shows Newfound Gap Road yesterday just above the Campbell overlook and you can see how the road is draped in a tunnel of trees with wild fall colors.

Passengers should look up when riding along this road to see how the sunlight makes the leaves glow.

There are a few spots beside the overlook to pull off to take in the fall colors where they are their best right now along the road.

There are 2 quiet walkways along the road where leaves are in peak that allow you to stroll leisurely and either go down to the river or deeper into the woods. There are even abandoned home sites to explore.

Further on up the road toward Newfound Gap and the N Carolina border you will come to the Chimneys picnic area. This is now a great place to have a snack or have lunch and enjoy what is left of the beautiful fall colors.

There is also a nature trail in the Chimneys picnic area well worth exploring to enjoy the colors in the leaves and the beauty of the park.

Past the Chimneys picnic area you will find 3 pull offs where you can look out the mountain called the chimney tops. Here you can look all the way down into the valley and see the distinctive mountain peaks. The fall color here is starting to fade but is still wonderful.

After these pull off the color is still good and you will find 2 more quiet walkways along Newfound Gap Road. By the time you reach the Chimney Tops Trailhead parking area you are past peak fall color on Newfound Gap Road.