High Country Sees a ‘Burst’ Of Color, Likely To Peak in Boone, Blowing Rock Mid-October

By Jesse Wood

In his latest fall color report, ASU Biology Professor Howard Neufeld, also known as the “Fall Color Guy,” notes that a “burst” of color has arrived in the High Country.

“Last Sunday, I said the word to describe the forests then was ‘green.’ But now, just one week later, the hillsides are showing color, some of it quite good. The best color so far is between Grandfather Mountain and Rough Ridge along the Blue Ridge Parkway. For some reason, this area always develops the brightest colors, and does so first in the High Country,” Neufeld wrote on Sept. 20.

Neufeld also said that Price Lake near Blowing Rock and Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway are other areas starting to show some color

Trees turning colors are yellow buckeyes – which are among the first to lose its leaves this time of year – maples, sourwoods, pin cherries, tulip poplars, sassafras and more, according to Neufeld’s latest report.

“If I were to rate the degree of color change now in the High Country, I’d say it would be a 1 on a scale of 10. Although this week may cause some to think the colors will be early this year, I caution that a warm up in the next few weeks could delay it and put it back on schedule. So, at this point, I’m still predicting that peak color in the Boone/Blowing Rock area will still be mid-October,” Neufeld wrote.

Read the entire report on Neufeld’s “Fall Color Guy” Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FallColorGuy/timeline?ref=page_internal