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Fall Color Guy: Color To Peak at 3,000 Feet Tuesday, Wednesday of This Week

Autumn colors have been a bit late arriving in the North Carolina High Country this year, but the foliage show is beginning to get dramatic. This photograph taken Monday from the Blue Ridge Parkway shows that peak color is probably just a few more days away on the southern slopes of Grandfather Mountain. To see more fall color photos, visit Grandfather Mountain's 2016 Fall Color Gallery at www.grandfather.com. Photo by Jim Morton | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation
Autumn colors have been a bit late arriving in the North Carolina High Country this year, but the foliage show is beginning to get dramatic. This photograph taken Monday from the Blue Ridge Parkway shows that peak color is probably just a few more days away on the southern slopes of Grandfather Mountain. To see more fall color photos, visit Grandfather Mountain’s 2016 Fall Color Gallery at www.grandfather.com. Photo by Jim Morton | Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation

By Jesse Wood

Over the weekend, the Fall Color Guy, Howard Neufeld, a biology professor at Appalachian State, published his latest fall color report after travelling the Blue Ridge Parkway from Blowing Rock to Grandfather Mountain.

Like he predicted last week, fall color has certainly erupted in the High Country. Colors, however, are still about a week behind schedule compared to previous years, Neufeld noted. But that’s closer in line than the two-week delay that existed before the colder weather arrived (and left) several days ago.

“The highest elevations were just about at peak today, and there were some nice colorful maples, deep purple American ashes, and Mountain Ash trees with their bright red fruits. The birches lost a lot of their leaves in the high winds of last weekend,” Neufeld wrote. “However, the most of the maples held on to their leaves, and they are starting to show as bright red on the landscape. Sugar maples are turning yellow/orange now, and the magnolias are yellowing and turning chocolate brown. The oaks, which are always late turners, are just starting to show some coloration, and so once these other trees are past their peaks, the last hurrah of color will be from these trees.”

Neufeld said that peak color for elevations around 3,000 feet will occur on Tuesday or Wednesday, although color should “still be good” next weekend.

Click to read his entire report and find out where the best viewing spots will be following next weekend as color makes its way down the hillsides.