Fall Color for October 21st 2013 in the Great Smoky Mountains

Last night was another cool night and tonight it will dip into the 40s again and the cool weathers timing is perfect as the leaves are just starting to change in the lower elevations and is in peak higher up.

In an around Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg it was bright and sunny and in the mid 60s today with no real traffic what so ever compared to the weekends in fall. Many restaurants did even have lines.

Cades Cove remained busy today with a moderate flow of well moving traffic except for the 3 black bear jams. You can tell the bear are desperate to fatten up as one was working the trees in the first field near the horse stables and another by the exit of Cades Cove Loop Road in the middle of the day. It isn't often you get to see black bear so easily in the middle of the day in Cades Cove when it is not raining.

Bears need to fatten up now in the fall before they slow down for the winter and these bear were working the cherry, oak trees as well as the Persimmon trees whose fruit will be much sweeter after the first frost.

Little River Road and Laurel Creek Road all still all leafed in boasting various shades of green and some yellows with an occasional red.

Even the waterfall by the Sinks has yet to color in, but with near or at freezing temps for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night, you can be assured that the bright color is right around the corner.

Fall color has crept further down on Rich Mountain, Cove Mountain, and Mount LeConte with the brightest color up high still a few days away. The view from Clingmans Dome was wonderful.

 

The hiking trails were fabulous from Greenbrier to Tremont and even the very busiest trails such as the Little River Trail pictured above today were still quiet and peaceful.

As you walked along the trails, you hear the rustling leaves underfoot and the bright blue sky set off the color in the leaves in the trees above or on vines growing on the trees like the flame red Virginia creepers.

Deer were out on 3 trails which is fairly unusual that they are so brave in the Smokies. They now have their darker grayish winter coats and like the bears are looking to take advantage of the few easy acorns left to find.

The squirrels are sill chattering at one another as they do in the fall and they are in a mad rush to make the most of what's left of the red oak and white oak acorns littering the forest floor.

It doesn't just look, feel and sound like fall, it smells like fall too. In the daytime you can smell the fresh leaves and in the evening, those lucky enough to have a wood burning fireplace are making themselves cozy in front of it while that wonderful smell of seasoned wood burning is in the air.

The exciting part is, we know it is just going to keep getting nicer and nicer day by day as the fall peak runs from the mountain peaks into the valleys.

If you haven't booked a cabin to come and enjoy the fall peak season, don't even bother trying to this weekend as any good unit is already booked.

If you are smart, take advantage of a last minute deal during the week when the traffic is light, trails are emptier, restaurants have no wait and you can still get a great deal and see what could be the best peak fall leaf season in years!

Latest 2013 Great Smoky Mountains Fall Leaf Color Peak and the Start and End of Fall Color

If you look carefully you will see it. It's happening all around Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and in a few places in Sevierville too. They won't be ready to be turned on for a while, but when they do, boy will they shine!

What am I talking about? The Christmas Winterfest in the Smokies lights of course and you know what it means when they start putting up the Christmas lights in the Smoky Mountains? Fall color is right around the corner!

So far we are having what many feel is one of the nicest later summers and early falls in decades and they few days of rain we have gotten are just what the trees and bushes need to show off the most brilliant fall colors possible.

Temperature highs are still in the mid to low 70's during the days and the upper 50's to 60's which are ideal with the bright sunny days. This current trend will allow leaves to produce the most sugar and staying power for the brightest reds and oranges.

Early predictions for fall color in 2013 are very good and seem to be getting better by the day. The temperature drops have been consistent and steady and huge swings upward which would stress the leaves more have just not happened yet.

This year's Smoky Mountain acorn mast crop is also fairly sub-par, especially in white oaks. Combine this with a very good apple crop and all indications are for a long and brilliant fall peak leaf season for 2013.

So what will be peak fall color for the Great Smoky Mountains this year? Going by the spring wild flowers, bird and insect movement and the elk rut which was about a week late, it looks as though depending on elevation peak will fall from the early part of the last week in October for the valleys and as early as the 2nd week of October from 3,000 to 4,500 feet, sooner for up to 6,000 feet. Above that there is not really any color as you are in more fir environment which stays green year round.

While with a very damp Spring and Summer is behind us, current long term predictions are for an average fall precipitation and potentially cooler than normal temperatures. My opinion is it is just too soon to call it.

Some minor leaf color changes can already be observed at 1,500 feet and higher, dogwoods and sourwoods getting a burgundy to flame red color in a few branches above 3,000 feet today and lighting of the deep greens can be observed on Cove Mountain in Wears Valley, Some spots on Bluff Mountain, Shields Mountain near Dollywood, Mount LeConte and just below the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

I just returned from the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way to Mount Mitchell and so far a few bushes in the highest elevations are showing of color but we are a week or more away from brilliant color covering large swathes on Grape Yard Ridge, Looking Glass and the Balsam Mountain area which looks even further away.

Cades Cove and Roaring Fork are also showing no lighting and real fall color yet however there are a few spots high up on Rich Mountain Road the unimproved road between Cades Cove Loop Road and Townsend Tennessee.

You are sure to find nice color from the 1st week in October, great colors the second week and breathtaking the 3 and 4th week. Expect some color to still be good through the first week in November in areas such as Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. If conditions continue, it is possible there can be great fall color in some place for 2013 as late as the second week in November. It has happened before and so far the conditions are good for long staying color.

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