Home > Plan a trip > Touring > Fall color > Pursuing the hues

Pursuing the hues

With luck, leaf peepers in the Upper Midwest can squeeze six weeks of color out of fall.

Fall foliage in Devil's Lake State Park.

As anyone who’s ever planned a fall trip knows, peak leaf color can be elusive.

Betting on a burst of spectacular color is like plugging nickels into a slot machine. To win, all of the figures have to line up: the right number of warm days and cool nights, the right levels of sugar produced, the right amounts of moisture.

In 2009, much of the Upper Midwest was dry in June and July and wet in August. In September, temperatures became unseasonably warm.

Still, many naturalists predicted that color would come early, and some said it would be a great year for leaf peepers. But late September was cold and rainy. Then the winds came. In some places, leaves fell off the trees still green.

“When I was less experienced at this, I would make bold predictions, and invariably I was wrong,’’ says Bob Sprague, longtime naturalist at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. “So now I stick to saying, ‘It’ll be the same as it ever was.’ ’’

In this region, leaf color lasts for at least six weeks — eight, if you count the sumac that turns scarlet in early September. Maples turn first, then aspen and oak. Tamaracks provide a late wave of yellow and gold.

Late September is peak in the inland forests — Chippewa and Superior national forests in Minnesota, Chequamegon and Nicolet in Wisconsin, Ottawa and Hiawatha in the Upper Peninsula — and it comes a week later along the shores of Lake Superior.

Leaves turn later the farther south you go, except on such peninsulas as Door County, where peak may come as late as the third weekend in October, and other areas wrapped by the heat-retaining waters of Lake Michigan.

In southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, oaks turn warm shades of cinnamon and ocher and often keep their leaves well into November; I’ve seen pleasing pockets of late color on the ridges around Galena and along the Wisconsin River valley.

In Milwaukee, willows along Lake Michigan can remain a glowing gold into the second weekend of November.

State and national forests have the largest diversity of species, so their display of color lasts longer. In Chequamegon National Forest around Cable, I’ve seen solid color from late September to the middle of October, when the tamaracks stage their last hurrah.

Even if you’re too early, you’ll see lots of sumac, and you'll catch prairie grasses and wildflowers at peak — blazing star, aster, blue vervain, goldenrod. If you're too late, you still might see lots of vivid red in the forest, if it’s been a good year for mountain-ash berries.

The Porcupines' Lake of the Clouds in autumn.

In fall, the view of Lake of the Clouds from the Porcupines' Escarpment Trail is spectacular.

The only way to increase your odds of seeing peak color is by placing more bets — that is, by moving around. Here are the best places to look during each week of the fall-color season.

For updates, subscribe to weekly color reports from Wisconsin and Minnesota; Michigan sends out a fall-color report, but you can get it only by first signing up for the monthly newsletter on its poky site.

The Minnesota state parks also post handy fall-color information, and the rangers of Superior National Forest in northeast Minnesota produce a poetic and lovely fall-color blog.

And if you wonder what causes fall color, see What makes leaves turn color?

Third week of September

You should see the start of fall color in north-central Minnesota. Many people think the North Shore has Minnesota's best color, though it's lined with conifers. Instead, check out the hardwood forests of lakes country, around Brainerd, Park Rapids, Bemidji and Grand Rapids.

Nature centers have the widest diversity of trees and thereby the best color. In Brainerd, walk the trails of the 540-acre Northland Arboretum, which also is a trailhead of the Paul Bunyan State Trail, which, like all bicycle trails, is a good place to spot color.

From a car, take in the colors from one of Minnesota's scenic byways, such as the 54-mile Paul Bunyan north of Brainerd or the 47-mile Edge of the Wilderness out of Grand Rapids.

Wisconsin's Rustic Roads also are fun to explore; for fall color, try the 12-mile RR 60 between Boulder Junction and Star Lake in northeast lakes country.

In northeast Minnesota, drive the Gunflint Trail and the inland forests of the North Shore, especially between the Caribou and Sawbill trails around Lutsen, where there are many sugar maples. For hiking, the two-mile Oberg Mountain loop is almost required in fall.

Fourth week of September

This is when serious color starts showing up in northern inland forests. It’ll be a good time to go waterfall-hunting in Nicolet National Forest in northeast Wisconsin, around Florence and Marinette.

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has perhaps the best color of all; the inland trees should be vivid in the Porcupines and in Ottawa National Forest east of Ironwood.

There should be good color in north-central Minnesota, where Itasca State Park is a favorite spot to hike and bike.

Color also will be showing along Lake Superior on Minnesota’s North Shore; go along on one of the Superior Hiking Trail Association’s guided hikes. But be sure to reserve lodgings up to a year in advance, because this area is very popular in fall.

First week of October

In October, rowers glide through the Mississippi River gorge in Minneapolis.

The marquee spots in the north woods should hit peak this week. The northwestern Wisconsin town of Cable is one of the region's best places to see it; stop by the chamber of commerce or the Cable Natural History Museum to pick up a map of three fall-color driving routes on marked roads.

It’s also a great place to hike; try the Forest Lodge Nature Trail, the North Country National Scenic Trail past Rainbow and Porcupine lakes and the trail to Morgan Falls and St. Peter’s Dome.

In Michigan's Porcupines, the Escarpment Trail from Lake of the Clouds should be gorgeous. Along the Presque Isle River on the other side of the park, old-growth hemlocks will provide a dark-green counterpoint to turning trees around Manabezho, Manido and Nawadaha falls.

And color still should be good along Minnesota's North Shore.

Second week of October

Door County should hit peak this week, with the most color along the Green Bay side of the peninsula and along inland roads, such as County Road Q from Baileys Harbor to Ephraim and County Road F from Baileys Harbor to Fish Creek.

For hiking, try heavily wooded Ellison Bluff Park, on the headlands just west of Ellison Bay, and the Mink River Estuary, between the village and Rowleys Bay.

In south-central Wisconsin, colors in Devil's Lake State Park stay vibrant into the third week of October.

Door County has 28 state natural areas; try Logan Creek south of Jacksonport, which has many sugar maples. While you're there, visit Cave Point County Park, just across Clark Lake on Lake Michigan.

In Minnesota, state parks along the St. Croix River — Wild River, Interstate, William O’Brien — should still look bright.

In the Twin Cities, colors start to brighten in the Mississippi River gorge between Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Along the Mississippi in southeast Minnesota, Great River Bluffs State Park near Winona has five overlooks; try a hike to Kings Bluff on Kings Bluff Nature Trail.

Just to the west, the bluff country around Lanesboro and Harmony will be glowing gold. Drive there on Minnesota 16 from La Crescent, which follows the Root River and is known as the Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway.

On the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi, bird-watchers should get an eyeful by going bicycling on the Great River State Trail, which starts in Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge and heads south to Onalaska through the the bottomlands of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

And northeast Iowa should be beautiful, as usual. Climb the bluffs above Marquette to Effigy Mounds National Monument, where 11 miles of hiking trails wind through oak and aspen forest on the rim of the bluff, affording spectacular views of the Mississippi River Valley. The wheelchair-accessible Boardwalk Trail goes to the Yellow River bridge and has good views of fall color to the north and south.

Not far south, past McGregor, Guttenberg has a mile-long city park lined with maples that turn a brilliant orange. For more about fall in northwest Iowa, see One fall swoop.

Third week of October

Wisconsin 107 between Merrill and Tomahawk.

In mid-October, a marsh along the Wisconsin River near Tomahawk glows.

By now, the colors will be mostly yellows. But one year on the third weekend in October, I found fantastic color at Devil's Lake State Park in south-central Wisconsin that included a blanket of reds and oranges, and the northern entrance was enveloped in yellows so bright I needed sunglasses.

In the north woods, most of the color will be yellow. In boggy areas across northern Wisconsin, especially in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, tamaracks will be at peak and glowing gold. The tamarack looks like an evergreen, but it's a deciduous conifer whose needles turn color just before they drop.

On hiking trails, color will be on the forest floor instead of overhead. That makes one trail in particular even more scenic when leaves fall: the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, which winds 1,000 miles through Wisconsin.

Without the full forest canopy and underbrush, hikers can see what the Wisconsin Glacier left when it retreated: a lumpy quilt of conical hills, high ridges and long hillocks called kames, drumlins and eskers.

Stretches go through some of Wisconsin’s most scenic areas: the Blue Hills near Rice Lake, Chequamegon National Forest in Taylor County (for more, see Tracing the Ice Age Trail), the Baraboo Hills near Wisconsin Dells and the Kettle Moraine east of Madison. For more, see Greatest hits of the Ice Age.

For other nice displays this week, try Door County and the Mississippi River valley between Iowa and southwest Wisconsin.

Fourth week of October

In the bluffs of southeast Minnesota, Whitewater State Park retains color into late October.

Places that have a lot of oaks still will be showing beautiful hues of bronze, cinnamon and russet. One year, I spent this weekend in southeast Minnesota's Whitewater State Park and was amazed by the widespread color on the bluffs, set off here and there by the greens of spruce and fir.

Another year, I saw lovely tawny colors around Galena on the ridges of southwest Illinois, which has many oaks. This is a good time to get in an early shopping trip to scenic areas. In addition to Galena, try the Amana Colonies in southeast Iowa and Cedarburg, just north of Milwaukee.

Fallen leaves also reveal greater expanses of glowing stone in areas that have a lot of outcroppings. In the Wisconsin Dells, tour boats take passengers past the famous sandstone formations until the end of October. And in fall, the popular area is very mellow.

In the north woods, color is iffy this week, though it’s my favorite time to go hiking: Views are better when leaves are down, the crowds are gone and the rifle season for deer hasn’t yet started.

Try hiking along the North Shore, where red mountain-ash berries often provide bright dots of color. And after the big Minnesota school break the third weekend of October, hotel and cabin rates drop and stay low until ski season.

And anywhere along Lake Michigan is a good bet — its warm waters slow the approach of winter along its shores. Try bicycling on Milwaukee's Oak Leaf Trail along the river and lakefront, where willows turn golden two weeks later than other trees.

After that, head south, along the Mississippi on the Great River Road and into Missouri, where the air will be warmer and the trees still turning.

Last updated on September 1, 2010

E-mail:
Name:
Zip Code:

Other stories in "Fall color"