Native black oaks have taken charge of the autumn show in Plumas County where they are suddenly showing brilliant tones of lime, yellow, orange and red.
Color spotter Jeff Titcomb reports that the black oak are now the dominant color provider along Hideaway Road in Greenville and the Canyon Road to Round Valley. Both are glowing boulevards lined with the sturdy beauties.
Approaching Lake Almanor, black oaks dapple the sky with bright color while rosy Pacific dogwood mix in on the forest floor.
Black oaks are California’s Halloween tree, with their often brilliant large orange leaves and black stems, branches and trunks. Jeff believes the black oaks to provide more durable color than other Plumas County species, brightening the forest with changing color for as much as a month.
He writes, “The trees with full sun exposure sure seem red and then down the spectrum with some green still showing… they deepen every single day, and the sun shining through the canopy is like a dream.”
Color spotter Karen Moritz says Plumas County’s legendary golden splash of bigleaf maple have not popped, as normal, this autumn, with disappointing color. Dogwood have provided some color, as seen in John Sheehan’s shot of Big Creek Rd. taken to Buck’s Lake, and as previously reported in the Round Valley.
Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Round Valley – Take the Canyon Road from Round Valley toward Lake Almanor to pass through a boulevard of colorful black oak trees. Big Creek Rd. toward Buck’s Lake has spots of rosy dogwood.
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