http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-11-13 22:07:402016-11-17 11:45:41Napa Valley: A Blend of Spring and Fall
Redbud, liquidambar and tupelo, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia (11/9/16) Frank McDonough
Paper whites, Chinese parasol tree, birch and maple, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia (11/9/16) Frank McDonough
American elm, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia (11/9/16) Frank McDonough
Arboretum Fountain, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia (11/9/16) Frank McDonough
Pomegranate, Japanese maple (red), Gingko, LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia (11/9/16) Frank McDonough
Peak autumn color has now dropped below 1,500′ in elevation. As a rule of thumb, that means there’s another two to three weeks of peak color to be enjoyed.
California’s lowest elevations, are absent of big, bold forests full or aspen, bigleaf maple, or dogwood.
Instead, finding fall color is tougher going. The state’s best color spotters find it by searching river and stream banks, orchards, vineyards, urban forests and arboretums.
Two of the best arboretums to see gorgeous fall color through the end of the month are the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley and the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia.
What is special about arboretums is that a variety of exotic and native trees can be seen together, at peak. And, because they are all identified, you know what peaks when.
As seen in Frank McDonough’s photographs from the LA County Arboretum, redbud are nearly past peak (just as they are at 800′ in the Sierra Foothills), though other species, like the American elm shown here, still have a way to go.
There’s little question that, in November, the going get’s tough for color spotters. Though, the best of them keep going outdoors to find it in the most amazing places.
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia (482′) – Patchy (10-50%)
Black oak, Clear Creek Trestle, Plumas County (11/4/16) Dennis Hayes
Railfans consider the Keddie Wye to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Western Pacific Railroad World.
It is a railroad junction in the form of a “wye” on the Union Pacific Railroad in Plumas County at the town of Keddie. The wye joins the east-west Feather River Route with a branch line (the “Inside Gateway”) north to Bieber. What makes the wye so attractive is that locomotives and their trains traveling across it provide photogenic subjects for train spotters.
Though, at this time of year, orange-colored peaking black oak in the forest near the wye are just as attractive to color spotters, as Dennis Hayes demonstrates in his vibrant photograph of the Clear Creek trestle taken on Hwy 70/89 over Spanish Creek, about 1/3-mile northeast of the Keddie Wye.
Keddie Wye, Plumas County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Bigleaf maple, Sanborn County Park, Saratoga (11/9/16) Leor Pantilat
Bigleaf maple, Sanborn County Park, Saratoga (11/9/16) Leor Pantilat
Bigleaf maple, Sanborn County Park, Saratoga (11/9/16) Leor Pantilat
Bigleaf maple, Sanborn County Park, Saratoga (11/9/16) Leor Pantilat
Bigleaf maple, Sanborn County Park, Saratoga (11/9/16) Leor Pantilat
Bigleaf maple, Sanborn County Park, Saratoga (11/9/16) Leor Pantilat
Bigleaf maple, Sanborn County Park, Saratoga (11/9/16) Leor Pantilat
The Santa Cruz Mountains have lovely pockets of fall color: at Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge RR in Felton, at Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Boulder Creek and along Skyline Drive.
Sanborn County Park (Santa Clara County Parks District) is an oft-overlooked location to spot bucolic color. It’s found by taking Skyline Blvd./Hwy 35 from Patchen Pass to Saratoga Gap.
Color spotter Leor Pantilat scores a first report for this location and reports that along the way, “You’ll drive through some fantastic sections of yellow and orange bigleaf maples. The bigleafs are the best they have been in years after slightly above normal precipitation last winter (bigleafs like water).”
He opines, “In the preceding drought years a good deal of the leaves fell prematurely before turning. Black oak is also peaking with California hazelnut providing some extra color in the understory. At this location the peak should continue for another week or so… until the next winds blow through.
The park has over 22 miles of trails. Hike of the Week is the Lake Ranch Trail, a shaded, easy hike between Lake Ranch and Black Road.
Sanborn County Park, Santa Cruz Mountains – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-11-09 15:37:312016-11-09 21:45:08First Report: Sanborn County Park, Santa Cruz Mts.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-11-07 15:01:532016-11-09 21:51:55Sequoia National Park - A Palette of Color
Uvas Canyon County Park, Morgan Hill (11/5/16) Tracy Zhou
Uvas Canyon, near Morgan Hill in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains, is a cool, refreshing forested getaway for residents of Silicon Valley (Santa Clara Valley).
It is a Santa Clara County Park with 7.2 miles of hiking trails including a one-mile waterfall loop that travels along Swanson Creek past several waterfalls and cascades.
At peak, bigleaf maple provide bright yellow contrast to emerald mosses that grow upon boulders in the creek.
Color spotter Tracy Zhou visited on Saturday, to find the maples nearly past peak, though still colorful.
The forest trail is carpeted with buff-colored spent leaves.
Uvas Canyon County Park, Morgan Hill – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
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Uvas Canyon County Park, Morgan Hill (11/5/16) Tracy Zhou
Uvas Canyon County Park, Morgan Hill (11/5/16) Tracy Zhou
Bold color remains to be enjoyed in Yosemite National Park though most of the maple and dogwood have another week of peak before they’re gone, reports color spotter Son H Nguyen.
Son traveled the Wawona Road (CA-41 – south entrance) from Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point on Saturday and found the color from Tunnel View to Glacier Point to be “amazing. Golden oak dominated the mountain, dogwood and maples just turned.”
One of the most photographed fall color locations in the national park is Fern Spring.
It is passed soon after entering the floor of Yosemite Valley (by CA-120 [north entrance] or CA-140 [west entrance]) and turning onto South Side Drive.
Fern Spring is tucked away in a small turnout surrounded by bigleaf maple, black oak and dogwood.
Fern Spring, Yosemite Valley (11/5/16) Son H Nguyen
South Side Drive, Yosemite Valley (11/5/16) Son H Nguyen
Yosemite Valley (11/5/16) Son H Nguyen
Merced River (11/5/16) Son H Nguyen
Black oak, Yosemite Valley (11/5/16) Son H Nguyen
Son found the color at Fern Spring to be past peak, though the fallen leaves floating in its dark pool and occasional pink and yellow highlights from surrounding dogwood and bigleaf maple still make it worth visiting for a few more days.
Color along the Merced River is near past peak, though glimpses of beautiful color are still hanging in there.
The best color to be found in Yosemite Valley are the black oaks near the base of Yosemite Falls that have turned bright orange. A few have gone “straight to brown, already.”
Vince Piercey was there this past Thursday and captured some of the turning leaves beside Lower Yosemite Fall.
Yosemite National Park – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Best color to be seen is among the black oak at the base of Yosemite Falls.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-11-07 08:29:472016-11-09 21:47:38Yosemite: At Peak for a Week
Lavezzola Creek, Downieville (11/5/16) Philip Reedy
Lavezzola Creek, Downieville (11/5/16) Philip Reedy
Lavezzola Creek, Downieville (11/5/16) Philip Reedy
Last weekend’s storm kept a lot of photographers and color spotters from visiting locations where autumn color was peaking.
That happened to Philip Reedy, who returned to Downieville, in the northern Gold Country, yesterday to find the color just past peak along the North Yuba River and spent bigleaf maple leaves washed onto its banks.
He noted that a few bigleaf maples persist in speckling the forest with yellow, though it’s evident from his pictures that while the fly fishing is surely fun, fall color spotting is at the end of its run.
For the best fall color now in the northern Mother Lode, Philip recommends lower elevations along CA-49 on the drive to Downieville, the North Yuba River west of Downieville, at lower elevations along CA-49 and beside Lavezzola Creek, north of Downieville.
Downieville – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Spots of bright color can still be seen near Downieville at the northern terminus of the Gold Country, though it is fading.
William Croce calls Bishop, the Round Valley and US Hwy 6, a “Nice consolation prize for those of us who missed the good stuff in the high country.”
Indeed it is. Too many color spotters give up on Bishop once the aspen have peaked up Bishop Creek Canyon, but they’re missing out on the beauty that William found… tall Frémont cottonwood carrying loads of yellow, gold and lime color in Bishop and along US 6, past Laws.
Bishop color spotter Gigi deJong reported today that there’s “a mix of color, ranging from light yellow, to burnt orange, to a few small patches of crimson & red,” in and around Bishop with “a lovely line of trees glowing gold bordering Bishop Middle School at W. Line & Home Streets.”
That hardly resembles a consolation prize, and neither do William Croce’s photographs.
Leaf Cookies, Freeport Bakery, Sacramento (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
The most satisfying leaves of autumn are Leaf Cookies sold at the Freeport Bakery in Sacramento.
Buying a half-dozen of them has become a sure stop on a routine fall color drive that I take each November along the American River to Sacramento and back.
Mormon Island (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
Mormon Island (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
The drive begins in Folsom where Mormon Island Wetlands and the boulevards of Folsom are near peak. Frémont cottonwood at the wetlands preserve (part of Folsom Lake State Recreation Area) began showing yellow in September, though they still have lots of green, lime and fresh yellow in them.
Guarding Rooster, Fair Oaks (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
Posing Rooster, Fair Oaks (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
Plaza Park, Fair Oaks (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
Continuing west on US 50, I exit at Sunrise Blvd. for a visit to downtown Fair Oaks where, near Plaza Park, roosters hold court, crowing, scratching and otherwise guarding their turf.
The roosters are part of the charm of Fair Oaks, a rural town that is now surrounded by suburbia and has become an oasis of authentic shops, cafes and restaurants.
Strutting Rooster, Fair Oaks (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
Curious Rooster, Fair Oaks (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
Seeing Red Rooster, Fair Oaks (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
Returning to US 50 and traveling on to Sacramento, I exit and tour “the 40s,” Sacramento’s tony residential area, so named because it is comprised of avenues numbered in the 40s.
16th Avenue, Sacramento (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
41st Avenue, Sacramento (11/5/16) John Poimiroo
Along the avenues, leaves that have fallen from the capital city’s towering London planetrees are blown into piles to be scooped up by city street cleaners and taken away.
London planetrees are a variety of sycamore. Their leaves are a mix of chartreuse and orange-brown. Presently, they’re near peak.
Sacramento prides itself as a city of trees and nowhere is that more evident than at William Land Park, south of downtown or on the drive into Sacramento International Airport, where trees are planted by species in a grand arboretum that leads to the airport’s terminals.
No wonder, Leaf Cookies are so popular in Sacramento.
American River and Sacramento – Near Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! –
