Peak Fall Colors Smoky Mountains: Where and When for 2010

If you are looking for the best fall colors set off by a backdrop of stunning mountains such as the Smokies, now is the time to book a leaf peeping trip to the Great Smoky Mountains for the best autumn colors of 2010.

The Great Smoky Mountains encompass such a huge area with lots of different trees showing different colors such as sugar maples, sweet gum, oak, beech, hickory, walnuts, dog wood, tulip poplar and more than a hundred other trees and bushes that will amaze you with their dazzling colors for many weeks.

Some of the best fall colors of the Smoky Mountains are just starting to show in the highest elevations such as the leaves along Newfound Gap Road pictured above in the Great Smoky Mountains national park yesterday. The hot reds, oranges, peach colors and salmons have yet to come out up there.

Just a few days ago, everything was deep green with just a hint of some light greens and a flash of red or deep burgundy from sweet gum and dogwood.

Now the ridgeline's and peaks are highlighted with yellows, reds and oranges which are quickly starting to spread down from little patches to the valleys and hollows throughout the Smokies.

Since the color starts in the higher elevations where it is cooler, the best auto tours to see the leaves change colors right now are along Newfound Gap Road especially above 3,000 feet, the Blue Ridge Parkway which borders the Great Smoky Mountains national park, The Foothills Parkway East by Cosby just outside Gatlinburg, The Foothills Parkways West outside Townsend near Cades Cove past Pigeon Forge and Wears Valley and the infamous Tail of the Dragon.

North Carolina with its slightly higher elevation and cooler temperatures is a about a week ahead in its fall colors than that of the Tennessee side of the Smokies.

Cades Cove in Tennessee has some really good leaf color right now when you look up at Rich Mountain and Gregory Bald however, you may want to take a ride instead this week and next to Cataloochee Valley (Pictured above yesterday) just outside Maggie Valley.

In Cataloochee right now you can see better fall colors, and you can see up close as many a 60 elk in a day during what is now rut season. This is the time of the year when elk which have been introduced back into the area have their mating rituals which include loud bellowing called bugling between the males (bulls) back and forth which echoes in the valleys.

Female elks called cows are still nursing their young calves born this year. The calves still sport their baby spots as their longer winter coat is now growing in. Elk are very social animals that gather and interact with one another within the harem - fascinating to watch and you can get fantastic photographs such as the one taken below last week.

Just as Cades Cove has historic structures, so does the Cataloochee Valley. There are a handful of structures you can explore built in the late 1800's and early 1900's including a church, a schoolhouse and historic home sites.

A 5-mile round trip hike into Little Cataloochee reveals 2 very old log cabins from the 1800's, an apple house and another beautiful church. Al of the hike is right now under a canopy of green and fresh fall colors, which will be peaking next week and should last the month of October.

You will also find in Cataloochee there are miles of hiking trails and some of the best fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains in streams and creeks littered with bright orange and yellow leaves.

The acorn crop which is huge this year is moving lower so seeing black bear in a week or so will be common in the valley. Best time to see the black bear and elk is close to sunrise and the last 2 hours before sunset.

While it is 73 degrees in right now in Gatlinburg, during autumn in the Smokies the weather can change real fast in the Smoky Mountains. Last week there were 2 light dustings of snow on the peaks and the best place to see early snow and the best fall color of any roadway right now in the road off Newfound Gap up to Clingmans Dome.

Up at Clingmans Dome you can also enjoy the Christmassy smell of the fir trees and great views of the national park> You can look down on the cities of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. This is also one of the best palaces to watch the sunset or sunrise so make sure to bring a camera!

The Smoky Mountains are always awesome, but this time of year, no one can beat the beauty of the Smokies showing off its fall peak colors. Stay tuned as we track the best of fall colors in the Smokies for you.

Though some of the best cabin rentals in the Smokies have been booked for month, there are a few left and you can take advantage of the last minute rentals 10% discount on some of them right now!

Smoky Mountains Fall Color Season: Where and When To See the Best Leaves In 2010

The secret is out as to the best place to rent a log cabin to see the fall colors - it is the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.

Sure, there are other great places to see fall colors such as Vermont, New Hampshire and Michigan, but none of these locations to leaf peep in autumn has such a wide variety of trees that change colors, elevations and micro-climates.

This means instead of having a week or two of great leaf colors every fall, the Great Smoky Mountains leaf season ranges for months! The leaves start to change color in the Smokies in the higher elevations during September and the hardwoods trees such a red oaks will have bright flaming colors in the leaves typically in November - sometimes as late as Thanksgiving!

Why does the leaf season peak last so long on the Smokies and what is the best time to see the fall colors at their peak? The fall color peak varies each year by weather and the peak for each location in the Smoky Mountains can vary by weeks compared to another location a mile or so away.

The weather of a prior spring and summer can change how brilliant the colors will be as well as the lasting power of each leaf with its brilliant color from red to oranges to yellows on a tree or bush. Add into the mix that weather during the fall can contribute to how long the peak color will last during a given year.

Changes is sunlight trigger when leaves "shut off" and go dormant for the winter and the green color in the chloroform inside each leaf in the fall fades and the yellows and orange colors now show through. Less sunlight happens each day in the fall occurs as sunset comes earlier each day and very cloudy or rainy days can trick the leaves in the trees and bushes that change color think its later in the season.

The colder weather that occurs later in autumn turns some fall leaves such as those in oak trees and maple trees changes the sugar that is left in the leaves into bight reds, purple and some salmons. The timing and duration of cold snaps can intensify, accelerate or decelerate these colors coming at the fall peak of these trees.

All of these factors combined as well as the fact that there are more different species of trees that change colors all at different times and at different colors growing in the Great Smoky Mountains and the national park than there are throughout all of Europe. With the 5,000 plus foot variation in elevation and huge differences in sunlight exposure between ridge-lines, hollows and valleys extend what should be a week-long peak for a single species of tree, to 3 or more weeks to see great leaf color in the same tree!

All of these factors together mean there is no single day or week for peak leaf season in the Great Smoky Mountains. What you can count on is a range with the month of October being most brilliant in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge area that includes the same basic peak season in Wears Valley, Walden Creek, Sky Harbor, Townsend, Brothers Cove, Caney Creek, Bluff Mountain, Greenbrier, Elkmont, Cades Cove, Pittman Center, Cosby and the surrounding areas in the Smokies.

Going over Newfound Gap to Cherokee, Bryson City , Maggie Valley, Asheville and Waynesville, the peak starts earlier because of a change in elevation and temperature. This way guests who stay in East Tennessee at the earlier part of leaf season in September can take a short drive to see the peak in the mountains and come back home to a cabin surrounded by the lush green privacy!

While leaf season is peaking, the acorn crop is crop is as well which means besides lots of squirrels running around eating and burying acorns this is peak season for seeing black bear in the Smokies looking to out on some extra pounds before winter when they tend to almost hibernate in what is called winter sleep.

While black bear will be active during park leaf season all over the Smokies, the best place to see them will be in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains national park at the first hour or so of daylight and the last 2 hours before sunset. As it gets later in the fall black bear may be active eating acorns and scrounging for other food all day long.

The best place to rent a cabin during the fall leaf season during peak color in the Smoky Mountains depends greatly upon what you are looking for and when you plan on staying on the Smokies. Some people want complete seclusion on their vacation while some want to be high atop a mountain ridge looking out for miles at the fall colors and still others don't want to brave steep roads and driveways and prefer to be close to a river to catch some trout while the weather is still nice.

Besides log cabins for rent in the Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg areas of the Smokes, there are chalets for rent as well. What's the difference between a chalet and a cabin? Cabins have wood walls and ceilings and usually hardwood floors while chalets typically have walls and ceilings that are painted or wallpapered drywall. There are plenty of Pigeon Forge Chalet Rentals as well as those in Gatlinburg.

Another place to see great colored leaves in the Smokies beside the national park is in America's favorite theme park in the Mountains: Dollywood. As a matter of fact, Dollywood if often the people's choice winner of the best theme park in the US and the are plenty of great cabins for rent next to Dollywood. Peak fall colors in and around Dollywood is around the 2nd to 3rd week in October.

Therefore, with so many choices, it may not be easy to find the best place to rent a cabin on the Smokies during peak fall colors by yourself not to mention many a vacation has been ruined by a bad "rent by owner" experience so what should you do? Rent form a reputable cabin rental management company such as American Mountain Rentals or Brothers Cove and you are sure to have a great leaf peeping vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.

More About Peak Leaf Season in the Great Smoky Mountains:

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

When is the best time to see fall colors in the Great Smoky Mountains?

The Smokies are renowned for having some of the best fall colors when the leaves change in autumn but with as large as the Great Smoky Mountains are where the best place is and when is the best time to see the foliage in peak colors is not a simple answer.

The reason why there is no exact day for the peak colors in 2009 or the perfect places to see the autumn leaves is that there are so many places - hundreds of them to catch breathtaking fall foliage bursting in all the colors of the rainbow.

There are many reasons why the fall colors in the Smokies attract so many people to come see them. One of the most import reasons is that in the Great Smoky Mountains national park there are more than 100 species of trees and hundreds of different species of bushes that all change color.

Since the falls leaves colors during leaf season vary for many reasons and one of the main reasons is which species of trees or bushes are changing as all of the different trees and bushes show a different range of colors. This is what makes the Smokies a great place to see the leaves change as there is a wide range of colors everywhere you look and it is best to go to a few places to see the wide range of fall foliage colors.

Other key factors the effect when the leaves change color in the Smokies as well as the intensity, duration and where to see the change in colors are temperature, moisture, exposure to sunlight and even soil composition.

Since there is a huge difference in elevations from Pigeon Forge Tennessee, Gatlinburg and Cades Cove on the low end to Clingmans Dome, Mount Le Conte and the Blue Ridge Parkway as a higher elevation and where you are in elevation and location will change to surrounding temperatures of the trees as well as exposure to sun, the same species of tree such as a sugar maple tree can display wild vibrant fall colors in some places weeks before it does in others in the Smoky Mountains.

So if you ask when do the leaves start to change colors in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Wears Valley, Cades Cove and all throughout the Great Smoky Mountains national park the answer is they already have started this year in late August!

Look carefully in the Smoky Mountains right now and you will see in the dark green canopy touches of color in a few random leaves in the dogwoods, maples and sourwood trees especially at the higher elevations such as along the Foothills Parkway. But you don't want to come here to just see a few random leaves change color - you want to see the fall colors at their peak in the Smokies!

Count on being able to see fall colors popping out in mid to late to late September 2009 but the real displays will start to be fantastic in October and will still be sowing into November. It is not uncommon to see nice vibrant deep reds and maroons in the hardwoods in the Smoky Mountains such as the oak trees as late as Thanksgiving but you will be far past peak at that time.

So what are the predictions for the 2009 leaf season in the Great Smoky Mountains? Actually the predictions are for an extremely good leaf season in both color and duration if the weather continues to so cooperative!

In the past 2 years in the Smokies there have been record breaking droughts. The lack of water stressed the plants and the colors were actually very good. Temperatures were also much higher during the peaks in summer and even late spring also stressing the tress in bushes in the Smoky Mountains.

Though last year the color of the leaves during the fall season were good, they were lacking in duration and when it would rain, it washed down many leaves prematurely and even though fall leaves are colorful on the ground, for the best impact you want to see is the colorful leaves in peak longer on the trees.

This year 2009 we have made up for the past few years of lack of water and the health of the forests and mountains are fantastic! Add to this cooler than normal temperatures all spring and summer long and you have a recipe for beautiful leaf colors as well as duration where the beautiful brightly colored foliage stays on the trees longer during leaf season along with a greater range of colors all showing at the same time.

Because of the very good weather we have had in 2009 including the cooler than normally temperatures we are experiencing right now in the Smoky Mountains, it is likely that the fall leaf season will start earlier this year and the peak leaf season may run only until the 2nd week in November.

As we had done last year, we will do fall color report updates to let you know where to go to see the best fall colors in the Smoky Mountains and the best places to stay to see the fall colors in 2009. Our updates will also be broadcasted on Twitter and our new Face Book account.

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

Gatlinburg Fall leaf color report for Mount Le Conte in The Great Smoky Mountains

It's autumn in the Great Smoky Mountains and the peak leaf season has started in the higher elevations of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and we still have a week before the colors starts to saturate the lower elevations.

The picture below of the city of Gatlinburg was taken on the first overlook on the Gatlinburg Bypass; the road that connects the Spur section of the Foothills Parkway with the Great Smoky Mountains national park. As you can see there are little spots of bright leaf colors in the trees in the higher and mid elevations and the lower elevations of the Smoky Mountains are still a beautiful deep dark green color.

One of the most prominent features of the Great Smoky Mountains that can be seen from as far away as Sevierville and towers over the beautiful scenery Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee is Mount Le Conte.

This stunning triple peak mountain is the second tallest in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and is 6,593 feet tall is slight bit shorter than Clingmans Dome which stands at 6,643 feet.

You can clearly see in the picture below that Mt Le Conte's peak is not sporting a snow dusting yet but a deep green of the pines and firs found on the top of this awesome mountains.

There a 5 ways to hike up to the peak of Mt Le Conte. You can hike up to Mt Le Conte from 3 trails in the Roaring Fork Section of the Great Smoky Mountings national park by the City of Gatlinburg. These hiking trails are The Rainbow Falls Trail, the Trillium Gap Trail and the Bull Head Trail.

The other 2 ways to access the peak of Mt Le Conte is from Newfound Gap Road. Your choices are the Alum Cave Hiking Trail on the Tennessee side and via the Boulevard trail off the Appalachian Trail access from the Newfound Gap parking area on the North Carolina and Tennessee border.

Right now Newfound Gap Road is the best road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park to see the best fall colors in the trees. The higher you go the better they are but color can now be seen on the lowest part of the road near the national park headquarters at Gatlinburg.

Clingmans Dome Road which connects to Newfound Gap Road near the Newfound Gap parking area is 7 miles of twists and turns by colorful trees as it climbs up to Clingmans Dome offering stunning fall color views and vistas that allow you to see range after range of mountains. The fall colors are still good here today but will fade faster on Clingmans Dome Road as it is the highest elevation road in the national park.

Since we had just checked the fall colors by going up to Mt Le Conte on the Trillium Gap trail a few days ago with a stop off on Brushy Mountain which overlooks Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, this report was made by hiking up the Alum Cave Trail off Newfound Gap Road.

The Alum Cave hiking trail is the most popular way to reach the peak of Mt Le Conte and is best in spring through fall as it ices up in the winter and can be quite dangerous.

The Alum cave hiking trail takes a course through various elevation gains, along river beds, past a natural arch you must climb through, past a huge cave and over peaks and along shear edge cliffs so the views are stunning and passing so many features you get a chance to chase the fall color longer than on most trails.

While some of the leaves on the trees along the start of the trail have fallen, it still has a tremendous feeling of green with all of the Rhododendron bushes that are along the trail. Bright yellow leaves are still in the trees and orange can be seen interspersed with tall green trees.

The first part of the Alum Cave Trail is rather level even though it is always slowly climbing up the valley alongside the river. Make sure to take pictures along the way of the old trees, the twisted and worn tree roots and the stream with crystal clear water and pretty small waterfalls.

After almost a mile and a half of hiking you cross a log bridge with a handrail and you are now at the Arch Rock a natural structure that you must climb up through. Don't worry stairs and handrail cables have been added. The steps are usually wet so hold onto the handrail cable as you climb up and down the Arch Rock.

Once you pass through Arch Rock the elevation gain while hiking increases in intensity and the views will become spectacular. Long vistas and beautiful fall colors great you at every twist and turn of the trail. Expect some bright reds, some oranges and lots of brilliant yellow fall leaves and deep greens of evergreens - hemlocks, spruces and firs.

At about 2 miles into the hiking trail you arrive at Alum Cave. Stop and stay here for a while and soak in the views as well as the beauty of the cave its self. Not only have rare minerals been found here at the cave - not found anywhere else in the world, this is also the site of an historic civil war battle which made its way down the mountain hillside all the way to the city of Gatlinburg call "White Oak Flats" at the time.

As you can see by the picture of the cave the fall colors are clearly showing at this elevation and the sunlight during the day will change the colors in the rocks around the cave.

Often water drops down from about the cave and in the late fall and wintertime will form ice. Be careful as when a day becomes warmer or in high wind, icicles have been known to come crashing down on the trail below.

From here you are another 3 miles to the peak of Mt Le Conte and the views become more impressive as the climb becomes more intense and difficult. Red and yellow bushes in the foreground give way to yellowing trees in the valleys set of by the deep greens of the evergreens and trees yet to turn.

So far none of these areas are past peak but some are just at peak fall colors right now. The walking is tougher here with wet rocks and narrow walkways. While you must watch where your feet go on this section of the Alum Cave Trail, you have to stop and take in the views constantly.

The closer you closer to the top the more spruce and fir trees you will encounter. These trees will stay deep green year round and look incredible later in fall and in winter when covered by with a dusting or a deep coat of snow.

As you climb higher you will also see more deep and light green moss on the sides of the trail and the trees will become shorter. In here it fells like Christmas year round with the beauty of these natural Christmas trees and the heavenly scent of them that perfumes the air.

By the time you reach the peak of Mt Le Conte there is only fall colors to appreciate on the distance as what few trees have that live this high up that change color have done so almost a month ago.

Make sure to check out both the cliff side area as well as Myrtle point on the other side of the peak of Le Conte. By now you will be thankful if you packed a hat, glove and a coat as it always is windy and cold up here!

Best places to stay to see the fall colors in the Smoky Mountains

Though the weather in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina feels like late summer, the fall colors are starting to show. Red, yellow and orange leaves in the trees are now on mountain and hill sides and even the woods in some of the lower elevations. Now is the time to come rent a cabin in the Smokies and enjoy the change of seasons with fantastic fall colors.

Millions of people come to the Smoky Mountains to see the change of the seasons and see the splendor of autumn colors since there are more 100 species of trees which change colors in a variety of shades and over a period of more than a month making areas like Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville Tennessee the best place to see the change of seasons.

Color changes start where it is cooler in the higher elevations and work their way down the mountainside making for a spectacular leaf season and since the highest peaks are visible renting a cabin in Pigeon Forge or the surrounding towns of Gatlinburg and Sevierville is the best place to stay in order to catch the best leaf color change in the Smokies.

Even if you rent a cabin before or after the peak in the leaf season which runs from October into November - the most vibrant colors would be at most a few minutes away.

In the lower elevations of the Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee area the tress and bushes normally show of their autumn colors late into November.

Book your cabin in the Smokies now as many people who come to enjoy the colors of fall in the Smokies come back every year and reserve their cabins early.

The pictures in this article are all taken from American Mountain Rentals Cabins in the Tennessee Smokies. American Mountain Rentals has cozy honeymoon cabins for rent all the way up to huge luxury cabin rentals that can sleep more than 30 people.