Carmel River, Garland Ranch Regional Park (12/10/20) Sam Reeves
Garland Ranch Regional Park in the Carmel Valley preserves cottonwood, alder, sycamore and willow woodlands along the Carmel River in the Upper Santa Lucia Mountains of the Central Coast.
Late to peak, this part of the Carmel Valley looks much like it has for millennia. Garland Ranch was the first acquisition of the Monterey Peninsula Park District and it reflects its venerable wildness in both riparian and savanna environments.
Sam Reeves sent these views of its idyllic scenes.
Garland Ranch Regional Park (12/10/20) Sam Reeves
Garland Ranch Regional Park (12/10/20) Sam Reeves
Garland Ranch Regional Park (12/10/20) Sam Reeves
Garland Ranch Regional Park (12/10/20) Sam Reeves
Garland Ranch Regional Park (12/10/20) Sam Reeves
Carmel River, Garland Ranch Regional Park (12/10/20) Sam Reeves
Western sycamore, Garland Ranch Regional Park (12/10/20) Sam Reeves
Garland Ranch Regional Park, Carmel Valley (400′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It!
The Forest of Nisene Marks SP, Aptos (12/4/20) Sam Reeves
The Forest of Nisene Marks in Aptos is an example of forest regeneration.
Almost all of the redwood forest within the forest (south of Santa Cruz) “was clear-cut in a 40-year logging frenzy from 1883 to 1923,” explains California State Parks. “When the loggers left the Aptos Canyon, the forest began to heal itself; now, the scars grow fainter with each passing year. The Forest of Nisene Marks is a monument to forest regeneration and the future—it is a forest in a perpetual state of becoming.”
Bigleaf maple, The Forest of Nisene Marks SP, Aptos (12/4/20) Sam Reeves
Aptos Creek, The Forest of Nisene Marks SP, Aptos (12/4/20) Sam Reeves
The Forest of Nisene Marks SP, Aptos (12/4/20) Sam Reeves
Bigleaf maple, The Forest of Nisene Marks SP, Aptos (12/4/20) Sam Reeves
On a “First Report” visit this week, Sam Reeves found “still plenty of maple action everywhere on Aptos Creek. The only challenge was the sun and shadows. It was difficult to get a maple in full view without a big contrast range, but I found one exception on Aptos Creek Road. A cloudy day would probably yield the best results.”
The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park still retains fall color along both the road and the creek. Sam observes that because “the canyon is wind protected from the normal northwest flow, so it should be good for another week.”
The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, Aptos (164′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
https://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttps://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2020-12-06 11:46:122020-12-06 11:46:38Forest of Nisene Marks
It’s Orange Friday, the day following Thanksgiving Day when California overcomes tryptophan-induced lethargy and goes outdoors to enjoy fall color before it’s gone.
On the San Francisco Peninsula, tall gingko biloba are littering city streets with gold.
Mountain View (11/2/20) Vishal Mishra
Palo Alto (11/2/20) Vishal Mishra
Palo Alto (11/2/20) Vishal Mishra
Mountain View (11/2/20) Vishal Mishra
Elsewhere in the Bay Area, American beautyberries (Callicarpa americana) provide holiday ornamentation at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden and fallen leaves are now strewn across Berkeley.
Down south, the place for peak color is the LA County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens in Arcadia. Orange-toned crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia) now dominate and more color is revealed each day to mid December.
Wisteria and grape vines, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (11/25/20) Frank McDonough
Gladiolus and crepe myrtle LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (11/25/20) Frank McDonough
Crepe myrtle, Bauer lawn, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (11/25/20) Frank McDonough
Crepe myrtle, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (11/25/20) Frank McDonough
Crepe myrtle, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (11/25/20) Frank McDonough
Crepe myrtle and white birch, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (11/25/20) Frank McDonough
Pomegranate, LA County Arboretum, Arcadia (11/25/20) Frank McDonough
Along the American River, cyclists, skaters and walkers on the 32-mile American River Parkway are enjoying one of the most colorful autumns in memory.
CSU Sacramento (11/25/20) Steve Arita
CSU Sacramento (11/25/20) Steve Arita
CSU Sacramento (11/25/20) Steve Arita
Guy West Bridge, American River (11/25/20) Steve Arita
American River, Sacramento (11/25/20) Steve Arita
Guy West Bridge, American River (11/25/20) Steve Arita
Guy West Bridge, American River (11/25/20) Steve Arita
In the Gold Country, “Maple Lane,” a boulevard of maples leading to the Empire Cottage at Empire Mine SHP is at peak and will remain good through this weekend. So, spend your Orange Friday weekend being filled with the beauty of this lovely and historic place.
Maple Lane, Empire Mine SHP (11/25/20) Steve Arita
Or at old Monterey where gingko biloba, Asian maple and sycamore dress city streets with gold, yellow and chartreuse-colored leaves.
Monterey (11/26/20) Sam Reeves
Monterey (11/26/20) Sam Reeves
Monterey (11/26/20) Sam Reeves
Monterey (11/26/20) Sam Reeves
Monterey (11/26/20) Sam Reeves
Monterey (11/26/20) Sam Reeves
But, don’t plan to go swimming in Davis where backyard pools are covered with leaves.
Backyard pool, Davis (11/26/20) Philip Reedy
Unless you’re a duck. This pintail drake just enjoyed his morning bath at the Colusa NWR.
Morning bath, Pintail duck drake, Colusa NWR (11/25/20) Philip Reedy
Today is just another Orange Friday. It’s a day best spent outdoors enjoying fleeting moments of California Fall Color.
Anson Davalos didn’t get far on his morning run through Scotts Valley before realizing he was carrying his phone and needed to record the beauty he was seeing.
Scotts Valley (11/21/20) Anson Davalos
Scotts Valley (11/21/20) Anson Davalos
Scotts Valley (11/21/20) Anson Davalos
As he ran through its neighborhoods his run was interrupted with stops to photograph peaking water birch, sycamore, gingko and pear.
Scotts Valley (11/21/20) Anson Davalos
It’s peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains and everywhere else below 1,000′ in elevation. The vibrance of neighborhood trees right now is breathtaking, even at dawn.
Coast redwood, bigleaf maple, Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Ry (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
The San Lorenzo River travels down from redwood forests in the San Lorenzo Valley to Santa Cruz. As this gentle stream descends, it passes through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and near the Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton.
Monterey Peninsula color spotter Sam Reeves and I share a love of similar places. I spent my youth on another peninsula, the San Francisco one – where Sam enjoys exploring – and later, headed marketing at the Roaring Camp Railroads, where he makes an annual trek. Often, I’d leave the caboose containing my office, that sat on a railroad siding beside the state park, and spend my lunch break walking through the Joseph Welch Grove of Big Trees.
Welch was the first person in California to preserve the redwoods from being cut and this grove and those at Roaring Camp stand as testament to his pioneering private contributions to conserving old-growth redwoods. In a sorry twist of fate, Henry Cowell, who profited from clearing the Santa Cruz Mountains of redwood forests and whose family donated the land he’d denuded to the State of California, got the park named after him, while Welch – the true savior of the redwoods – remains little known.
Welch Grove of Big Trees, Roaring Camp Railroads (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Ry, Roaring Camp Railroads, Felton (11/20/20) Sam Reeves
A mix of winter deciduous foliage grows in the forest, including dispersed pockets of orange black oak, yellow bigleaf maple, orange-yellow valley oak, rosy creek dogwood, golden black cottonwood, orange-yellow blue elderberry, crimson poison oak, yellow box elder, orange-russet western sycamore, lemon-colored alder and scarlet bitter cherry berries.
Reeves visits the Welch grove and park each autumn. About today’s trip he said, “it did not disappoint. The bulk of fall color is located on the trails adjacent to the San Lorenzo River. Maples, cottonwoods, alders, and sycamores were all at peak colors.”
Peak often lasts through the Thanksgiving weekend. You’ll find “some isolated color in the redwood loop, but not as much as you will see next to the river. There’s also opportunities to see fall color south of the redwood loop at Garden of Eden, and the Rincon on Highway 9.” Fall Creek remains closed due to fire lines that were made there in August.
At Roaring Camp, the sycamore near the depot are fading. Though colorful maples line both the narrow gauge and standard gauge right of ways into the redwoods. A ride on the narrow-gauge line takes passengers up through the redwood forest, over trestles to the summit of Bear Mountain; one on the standard-gauge line travels down beside to San Lorenzo River to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Spots of bright color are seen along both routes.
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, Felton (285′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
https://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttps://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2020-11-20 21:43:402020-11-21 09:19:47San Lorenzo River
Frémont cottonwood, Pinnacles NP (11/11/20) Sam Reeves
“Pinnacle” means the culmination, but at Pinnacles National Park, east of Soledad, fall color still has a couple of weeks until it pinnacles.
Pinnacles NP’s landmark deciduous trees are valley oak (Quercus lobata) and Frémont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), and Sam Reeves was there this morning “in hopes of seeing the colorful cottonwoods on Chalone Creek.”
Frémont cottonwood, Pinnacles NP (11/11/20) Sam Reeves
Frémont cottonwood, Pinnacles NP (11/11/20) Sam Reeves
He’d seen colorful images posted on Google in Nov., 2014, “and thought I could time it out right for this year.” What he found is that much of San Benito County seems to be behind schedule. “Many of the vineyards, creeks, and the national park are still green with slight hints of yellow.
Frémont cottonwood leaves, Pinnacles NP (11/11/20) Sam Reeves
This means it might well be prime to visit on Orange Friday (the day after Thanksgiving Day) when most Californians forego crowded malls for fall color viewing (Yeah, right).
California quail, Pinnacles NP (11/11/20) Sam Reeves
Sam saw a couple upsides of being there early: 1) Pinnacles NP isn’t charging fees during the pandemic, and 2) California quail (Callipepla californica) were putting on a show by scurrying about.
A good railroad always arrives and departs on time.
The same can be said of fall color at the Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad in Felton (Santa Cruz Mountains), where bigleaf maple, western sycamore and black oak dress its historical train depot with yellow, chartreuse, lime and orange each November.
This past Saturday, Melani Clark, superintendent of the railroad, took this image of steam rising and autumn color falling as the Dixiana stood ready for its run through the redwoods to Bear Mountain.
Autumn weather has been kind to the Santa Cruz mountains where warm, clear days have created ideal conditions to enjoy a walk through a redwood forest and train rides to the summit of Bear Mountain and down to Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay.
Roaring Camp Railroads (285′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
https://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttps://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2019-11-13 14:57:392019-11-15 20:25:14Always on Time
Valley oak, Ventana Wilderness (11/11/19) Leor Pantilat
Black cottonwood, Ventana Wilderness (11/11/19) Leor Pantilat
Valley oak, Ventana Wilderness (11/11/19) Leor Pantilat
Color spotter Leor Pantilat found valley oak, black cottonwood, bigleaf maple and grasses to be providing the color, with Western sycamore estimated to peak later this month.
The Ventana Wilderness is known for its steep, sharply crested ridges and deep v-shaped canyons. This wild area east of the California highway 1 near Big Sur also has red and white alder and creek dogwood which are now past peak.
Poison oak enveloped by coastal fog (10/10/19) Mark Harding
Paso Robles, on the Central Coast, is named for its oaks, which are mostly Live Oaks (evergreen). Of its many oaks, only Valley Oak is deciduous.
There is color to be found on the Central Coast, when you look for Fremont cottonwood, bigleaf maple, box elder, California sycamore, creek dogwood, California ash, vineyards, willows and poison oak.
Though, CaliforniaFallColor.com receives few reports from the Central Coast, because the region’s mild climate doesn’t encourage the development of deciduous plants. Those that are native there, also grow in colder areas of California.
Central Coast color spotter Mark Harding sends back these images taken in Templeton and Paso, proving that fall color does appear along the coast.
Poison oak and Spanish moss, Santa Rosa Creek Rd., Paso Robles (10/10/19) Mark Harding
California sycamore, Old Creek Rd., Paso Robles (10/10/19) Mark Harding
Poison oak, Templeton (10/10/19) Mark Harding
Vineyard, Old Creek Rd., Paso Robles (10/10/19) Mark Harding
Apple tree, Los Rios Orchard, Oak Glen Rd. (11/11/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Visiting orchards has become a late-autumn tradition, with Californians heading to Julian for apple dumplings, to Oak Glen for cider-infused mini donuts, to San Luis Obispo for hard cider, to Sebastopol for U-pick apples, to Kelseyville in Lake County for a Pear Belle Helene (pear ice cream sundae), and to Apple Hill in Camino for apple pies.
With so many calories ahead, Southern California color spotter Ravi Ranganathan recommends walking the Oak Glen Preserve Botanical Garden in Yucaipa, soon after the trail opens at 8 a.m. It’s got kid-friendly sections, as well as others that get your heart pumping and “beautiful fall colors along the trail.”
Of course, if that hike works up your appetite, head over to Snow Line Orchard for their delicious apple-cider-infused mini donuts and a glass of freshly pressed cider. Ravi recommends picnicking under an ancient chestnut tree beside an apple orchard.
Julian – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Oak Glen – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
San Luis Obispo – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Sebastopol – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Kelseyville – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Camino – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Chestnut and apple orchard, Snow Line Orchard, Oak Glen Rd (11/11/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Duck pond, Oak Glen (11/11/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Red maple and orchards, Oak Glen (11/11/18) Ravi Ranganathan