It's Time to Celebrate Fall Foliage

We are in the midst of the season's great spectacle. Let's celebrate it!

Right now in much of the northern hemisphere, the outdoors is bursting with fall colors of reds, yellows, oranges, and browns.

While a few places (like New England) have already passed peak foliage, in most places the leaves are just beginning that inevitable shift from green…to gone.

This week-by-week map of the continental US is a useful tool for figuring out when the fall foliage might peak near you.

Though of course, each tree operates on its on specific schedule. Some don’t even begin to turn colors until after the other trees are done.

This photo of Cottonwood trees along the Columbia River in Oregon was taken on December 1. These Cottonwoods don’t begin to change their colors until November.

Fall foliage is spurred by the nights growing longer and cooler. As we enter into the darker time of year, the production of chlorophyll slows and eventually stops.

As chlorophyll’s green pigment fades away the other pigments are unmasked and burst forth (see this helpful USDA explainer for details) .

Fall foliage is one of the most visible - and sensational - reminders that nature is always in process.

The only constant in this world is change, and sometimes that change manifests in loss. Fall colors convey how beautiful and poignant that can be.

Observing Fall Colors

Below is an illustrated guide to some of the common types of fall foliage. This includes the familiar sugar maple, pin oak, and ash trees, as well as more regionally specific trees like Big Leaf Maples.

You can also download it below to print, share, or use as you see fit.