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

Cabin Rental Property Management in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville and Wears Valley Smoky Mountains in Tennessee

For many the idea of owning a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Wears Valley or Sevierville is a dream come true.

What can make it even better is when an experienced cabin rental company in the Smokies manages your property so that instead of just being an expense for a homeowner, you can rent your cabin or chalet when you and your family are not using it, and produce rental income.

Now may be the time for you to think about purchasing a cabin or vacation home for rental income since Real Estate prices in the Smokies are still lower than what they should be. The Smoky Mountains are only slightly down in visitation, despite the economy and the price of gas, and are still doing far better than other tourist destinations.

If you are already own rental property in or around the Pigeon Forge Tennessee Smoky Mountains and are not happy with your rental income and how your property is being managed, now may be the time to consider moving the management of your property over to a company that has the experience and resources to make you and your renters happy.

What you need in a property management company for your vacation rental unit in the Smokies is one who knows the area inside and out, knows their customers and what it takes to make them happy and how to market your rental cabin or chalet as well as how to protect your investment.

American Mountain Rentals, is a premier cabin rental company in the Smokies which has been located conveniently right off the parkway in Pigeon Forge Tennessee for around 10 years and they are now looking to manage more cabin and chalet rentals in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Wears Valley and Sevierville Tennessee. At this time, no condominiums are being considered nor are marginal cabins short on amenities or any cabin rentals in less desirable locations.

Presently American Mountain Rentals manages more than 160 rental properties in and around the Pigeon Forge area and has the staff and resources to handle another 40 more units while still being able to maintain the attention to detail and customer service their homeowners and renters have come to expect.

Besides having their own large screened staff of cleaning and maintenance personnel so that and all the units on their rental program are cleaned and maintained to the highest standards, they have two offices in the Smoky Mountains staffed with experienced reservationists and office personnel with a great knowledge of the property being managed and the area so they get more reservations for your rental unit.

All rental property being managed is aggressively marketed on at least 2 of cabin rental web sites for the Smoky Mountains: American Mountain Rentals, AMR Cabins, Brothers Cove and Pigeon Forge Chalets and well as through social media. Offline there are mailers, magazine ads and radio spots to promote vacation rentals in the Smokies.

They have a Pigeon Forge Booking engine that updates the rental properties calendar in real time and integrates with their accounting system so owners monthly statements and year end tax information packets are always on time and accurate. Can your present property management company say this?

So if you own a great cabin, chalet or A Frame vacation home for rent in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Wears Valley, Walden Creek, or Sevierville Tennessee, and you want a property management company who will manage your rental unit(s) as if they were you own, and has the experience not only do the job right, but also maximize your cabin rental income, look no further than American Mountain Rentals.

Cabin Rental Property Management Application Form.

Fall Color Peak in the Great Smoky Mountains: Where to Go and What to Do Part I

If you are looking for the best peak fall colors in the Great Smoky Mountains, it just does not get better than this! The next 2 weeks will be the best time to come to the Smokies to leaf peep and even 3 weeks from now, you will still be able to find great fall foliage colors in the Smokies.

This year the weather has not allowed for a very productive berry and acorn crop so animals such as black bear, elk and deer can be easily seen in and around the Great Smoky Mountains national park foraging for food. This year's weather in the Smokies has also another bonus for people coming here on vacation - bright brilliant fall colors from the mountain peaks to the valleys that will stick around longer than usual.

An early spring made for great wildflowers and being dryer than normal for much of the year, there were very few rain-out days where you had to sit in your cabin rental or worse yet, hotel room. This fall has also been dry with few storms and just enough moisture to keep the leaves on the trees, so as the days get shorter and the temperature drops we can have the most vibrant colors.

Weather predictions call for continued mostly dry weather - great for leaf peeping to see the best colors from your car or by hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains national park with just enough moisture to keep the leaves with fall color on the trees longer than usual.

As of today, there is peak color along the top of the Great Smoky Mountains and all along the Blue Ridge Parkway that starts right at the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains national park. Just along Newfound Gap Road from Gatlinburg Tennessee to Cherokee North Carolina the approximately 33 mile drive is loaded with fall color and there is still some vibrant greens in the lower elevations.

Newfound Gap Road (US 441) has dozens of pullouts where you can safely enjoy and photograph the great fall colors in the mountains, streams and rivers and the waterfalls that are all right by the roadway.

Some of the best sweeping vistas of fall color can be found by Newfound Gap at the Tennessee-North Carolina border. The best fall color this morning was at 3,400 and above. While you are up top, be sure to take the 7-mile drive up Clingmans Dome Road to the second highest point east of the Mississippi. Bring a jacket or sweatshirt, as it can be at least 10 degrees color up top than what it is in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge.

Great fall color can also be found on the other major roads in and around the GSM national park, such as the Foothills Parkway East between I-40 and Cosby, State Road 321 between Cosby and Gatlinburg, the Spur between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Wears Valley Road 321 between Pigeon Forge and Townsend running through Wears Valley, and the Foothills Parkway West from Walland to the parks Abrams Entrance.

Roads inside national park that have the best drives to see the fall colors besides Newfound Gap Road are Little River Road Between Gatlinburg and Townsend, Laurel Creek Road from Townsend to Cades Cove, The 11 mile Cades Cove Loop Road (the mountains are covered in color!) and the 2 exit roads from the Cove: Rich Mountain Road to Townsend and Parsons Branch Road to the Dragons Tail.

There is also a lesser used motor trail just behind the city of Gatlinburg off Cherokee Orchard Road. The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail has fantastic color and stunning vistas showing off great fall color, lots of black bear activity, historic cabins, barns and buildings and access to many hiking trails of various difficulties. The most stunning hiking trail right now to see fall foliage is the Trillium Gap Hiking Trail to Brushy Mountain - a moderate 6 mile round trip to the most stunning year round views in the park.

Between Gatlinburg and Townsend, just off Little River Road is the Elkmont section of the park where you can also see plenty of fall colors and easy access to the Little River Hiking Trail, which is very gentle to walk trail right along a beautiful river with many waterfalls, huge boulders and beautiful views and again, great fall color!

Lastly, fall color means it is also elk rut season in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. In 2001 and 2002 a total of 52 elk were introduced back into the wilderness in a remote part of the Great Smoky Mountains national park. The herd now numbers 140 and the fall colors are at their best this week in the Cataloochee Valley where many of the large male bull elk bellow and fight each other to gather of group of female elk cows to mate.

If you have not seen elk in rut, this is not something to be missed. Best viewed the first and last 2 hours of daylight. Be sure to maintain at least the legal distance of 150 feet from any elk - or bear for that matter.

The 10 mile drive into the Cataloochee Valley and the roads within the valley have great colors and some stunning long sweeping vistas. For the more rugged, you can drive a 20-mile dirt road from Cosby all the way into Cataloochee.

The best location to stay in the Smokies to see the best fall colors in the Great Smoky Mountains is in the Gatlinburg - Pigeon Forge area of Tennessee. There is nothing better than to come back to a beautiful cabin and after a great dinner, slip into a hot tub or watch the flickering flames in the fireplace with someone special.

Fall Color Peak in the Great Smoky Mountains: Where to Go and What to Do Part II will have up to the minute fall color updates as well as more activities that make the Smokies Americas favorite vacation destination.

Best fall drives to see the fall colors in the Smokies: Foothills Parkway

As each day passes the best fall colors are in smaller and smaller pockets such as the Foothills Parkway west starting just outside of Townsend on 321 which ends at US 129 which becomes the famous Tail of the Dragon.

Right now the best fall colors and long vistas of color in the Great Smoky Mountains are found on the Foothills parkway. This 14 mile stretch of beautiful roadway has little traffic, stunning overlooks and a short hiking trail with a stunning view.

This is one of the few places that is under national park control that you can look out at a spectacular long range vista of cities and towns all the way out past Knoxville.

The picture above was taken yesterday of one of the long vistas looking out over Maryville and beyond. There are 3 great pull offs on the right hand side of the Foothills parkway that all have spectacular views - stunning at night too!

The fall colors along the Foothills Parkway vary from bright glowing yellows to deeper gold and tans along with bright and deep reds. Some of the flame oaks are now showing off crimson red and deep maroons in pockets and slowly tuning brown.

Watch as you drive by the colorful fall leaves on the side of the road or there is a stiff wind and the leaves flutter like snowflakes. Take advantage of the pulls off to the right that look out over the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

At about 9.5 miles in there is a large pull off with an observation area near the parking lot as well as the trail head for the Look Rock observation tower.

The tower is little more than a 1/2 mile in on a small paved easy hiking trail that takes you through wooded area. Most of the leaves here on the nature trail have fallen but there is still color to be found.

The forest floor here has some pretty large builders and old rotting logs covered in dark green moss with light green lichen. These look beautiful against the browns, tans and yellows of the leaves on the forest floor.

Before you reach the Look Rock Observation Tower you will pass by 2 buildings that are fenced off. There building contain weather and air monitoring equipment to keep track of the air quality which is increasing being assaulted by ozone mostly from coal burning power plants and automobile exhaust.

The Look Rock Tower is a modern concrete structure and you ascend 2 ramps without stairs to get to the observation area up top.

As you walk up the ramps you are ascending up into the canopy of the trees to get your birds eye view at the top. keep your eyes out for squirrels racing around and jumping from branch to branch knocking down the fall leaves.

The view at the top of Look Rock is fantastic and the mountain right across as seen in this picture was glowing with reds and maroons as well as some of the valleys.

Up here you have a 360 degree view and when the visibility is good you can see all the way out to the Cumberland Plateau and across way into the Great Smoky Mountains national park and the of the beautiful fall colors.

Less than 1/2 an hour away from all this beauty you will find more than 150 top rated cabin rentals in the Smokies.

November report on the best Smoky Mountains drive for fall color

Fall colors in the trees are at peak or past peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park but there are places to go where you can see the best fall colors in the Smokies that have a ways to go before they too are gone.

The drive in Cades Cove as always is stunning and even though most of the leaves have fallen from the trees in the Cove, there are still lots of yellow, deep and bright red and burnt orange and tan along the mountain sides that are still visible and showy.

You will also catch great fall colors from yellows to light greens that are very intense along Laurel Creek Road the road that takes you from the Townsend Wye to the entrance of Cades Cove.

The best fall color on Laurel Creek Road can be found from starting at about 5 miles is as you ascend the road up to Incline Gap and Crib Gap. There is a pull off on the right hand side of Laurel Creek Road here, use it!

The best drive in and around the park to see fall colors right now is inside Cades Cove on Rich Mountain Road. The entrance to Rich Mountain Road is just a little past Hyatt Lane and across from the Missionary Baptist Church on the right hand side.

Since Rich Mountain is past Hyatt you can circle around the back of Cades Cove past Hyatt Lane, past the 2 beautiful overlooks, the Abram Falls parking area, the Cades Cove visitor center and then circle back on Hyatt Lane.

Rich Mountain Road is less than 7 miles long but can take and hour or more to drive. This road is not paved and does have a few ruts and protruding rocks so you must drive slowly - but it is well worth it since much of Rich Mountain Road is at peak color in the foliage right now so be sure to take your time and drive slowly looking all around.

Deer and black bear are often on this road and a great time to start this tour would be around 4 pm so you stand the best chance to see wildlife and have the best afternoon sun. You should also be out of the park and on the main road far before sunset.

As soon as you get on Rich Mountain Road you start to gradually climb and right away you will get to see great fall colors and now you are away from all of the Cades Cove traffic.

If you want to stop to take a picture, be sure to pull over to the side of the road so you can let someone pass you. There are 3 trailheads on this and plenty of places along the road where you can just wander off into the woods.

While the fall colors right now on the start of the drive are in clumps right now, everything will be in full flaming colors in only a few days.

About a 1/3 of the way in on Rich Mountain Road there is an opening on the canopy on the right and you see the spectacular view of the whole Cades Cove valley and the mountains that ring it in full fall colors in the picture below.

Keep your eyes open for the Indian Gap Trail Trailhead that comes before Cold Spring Gap less than 2.4 miles in. This trail still also has some nice color and even if you walk in 15 minutes or so you will enjoy it.

After you cross Cold Spring Gap and go further in you will see a quick overlook looking out to Townsend. The foliage is still thick so the view is not as nice as it will be when the leaves are down.

You have 2 more trailheads to pass before you leave the Great Smoky Mountains national park. The first will be Rich Mountain Loop Trail on the right hand side with very limited parking. This is a very long trail with some very nice overlooks and can take you all the way back into Cades Cove.

The next trailhead is for the Ace Gap Trail on the left hand side with ample parking right which is just before you exit the part.

Right now the first mile and a half on the Ace Gap trail has some great color, of course you can hike in further if you wish to. Right now this is one of the best fall color hikes in the park and if you have the time hike it!

Rich Mountain Road closes in winter and since it is in full peak colors for leaf season now is the time to take a drive on this scenic road in the Smokies.