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.

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