Fall color is fleeting along the Redwood Highway, where color appears by specie of deciduous plant.
Presently, it’s almost Past Peak in Del Norte and northern Humboldt Counties, though, North Coast color spotter Max Forster reports, “you will find groves where individual bigleaf maple and patches of vine maple are still on full display.”
What affects the fall color is the proximity deciduous plants have to the redwoods. He observes, “Maple that catch more sun throughout the day peak earlier, while those that have survived primarily under the redwood canopy can peak much later in the season.
Deciduous plants to be seen along the Redwood Highway include: Bigleaf maple (yellow), Red alder (yellow), Gray Alder (yellow), Mountain alder (yellow), Bitter cherry (red/orange), Vine maple (chartreuse), Black cottonwood (gold), Oregon crab apple (orange/red) and Western poison oak (crimson). These often appear as glimpses of bright splashes of color within the evergreen redwood forest. rather than as bold swaths.
Patches of color are now being seen on the Howland Hill Road in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, along the Newton P Drury Scenic Parkway in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and at Lost Man Creek in Redwood National Park.
One of the beautiful colors of the North Coast is brilliantly crimson Western poison oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum. Max says the poison oak is just beginning to peak and finds that similar to bigleaf maple, those “under the redwoods have another week or so” until peak. 
- Del Norte County – Peak to Past Peak, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
- Redwood National Park, Orick – Peak to Past Peak, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
- Avenue of the Giants – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Humboldt Redwoods State Park – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
