What is California Fall Color?
CaliforniaFallColor.com is a seasonal news site that reports on autumn’s show throughout California. The site is written, edited and published by Lara Kaylor, a travel and outdoor journalist.
The site was founded in 2009 by John Poimiroo, a career travel writer, photographer and destination marketer. At the time, he represented destinations in the Eastern Sierra and found that there was no comprehensive and topical resource for knowing where fall color was peaking in the Golden State. So John created the site to better inform leaf peepers and fall color photographers who he termed “color spotters” of where fall color was developing throughout California.
In 2023, Poimiroo retired from the site and passed the baton to Kaylor to keep the word of fall color in California going.
How It Works
Reports and photographs on this site are provided by volunteer color spotters, public land agencies and destination marketing organizations (DMOs), as a service to others.
We are unable to confirm the accuracy of any report and are dependent upon our color spotters for their veracity. If you find a report to be erroneous, please comment or email: editor@californiafallcolor.com, and we will investigate.
Over time we have learned that one person’s Past Peak is another person’s Near Peak. When in doubt, look at the date a photograph was taken as guidance to that location’s degree of color change.
Leaf Peep Like a Pro
At californiafallcolor.com, we think keeping the beautiful places we are exploring each year pristine for generations to come is important. There are plenty of places to capture fall color so
get out and explore. Perhaps you’ll discover an area that hasn’t even been photographed before and garner the honor of a “first report.”
Since we think outdoor ethics such as respecting the environment as well as other color spotters around you are so important, we encourage everyone who is out appreciating fall color to adhere to the following standards.
The Leave No Trace principles are always the best jumping off point for conversations like these. We’ve adapted them to fit fall color viewing and photography.
- Plan Ahead — by planning, you reduce the chance you might harm the environment you visit; bring the proper equipment to capture the scene sustainably;
- Travel on Durable Surfaces — walk on established trails; use established roads; be cautious not to create new ones or damage the environment;
- Dispose of Waste Properly — carry a litter bag and put all trash into it and it into a trash container; recycle recyclables;
- Leave What You Find — every leaf, branch, stone has a purpose; treasure them by leaving them behind; do not prune foliage for a better picture;
- Respect Wildlife — keep your distance; never approach closer than they are comfortable; do not feed or pick up wildlife; travel quietly (except if necessary to warn animals)
- Be Considerate — do not trespass; respect private property; fly drones only where permitted (never over private property); should a drone crash on private property do not retrieve it without the permission of the land owner; stand a good distance from nearby color spotters to respect their space and experience — find your own spot and make your image your own; do not park in the middle of a road and block others while you are taking your photographs.
To these principles, we add these ethical standards of nature and wildlife photography:
- Limit post processing to: cropping, color and white balance correction, and adjusting contrast, highlights, shadows, vibrancy, sharpening and sizing;
- Shoot what exists in reality, as you envision it;
- Employ caution when using filters; acceptable are polarizing, split neutral density, star and black and white filters (red, orange, yellow and green) when used appropriately, but warming, cooling, sunset and rainbox filters insert unnatural elements;
- Express your vision, not someone else’s.
