Hike of the Week: Doane Valley Nature Trail
Modern Hiker’s Scott Turner recommends the Lower Doane Valley Loop/Weir Trail as an easy three-mile hike on San Diego County’s Mt. Palomar in the Cleveland National Forest. The trail has brief episodes of climbing (300-400′), but is otherwise smooth, well-traveled, easy to follow and travels past some fine black oaks with bold gold and orange leaves.
Temperatures along the trail now hover in the mid to upper 50s, so carry a light layer should warmth be needed. Sturdy shoes should be worn and at least a liter of water should be carried. You will also want to bring along a good camera not just for the foliage but for frequent wild life sightings, including mule deer, wild turkey, bobcats, coyotes, and even banana slugs. Yes, banana slugs!
Mt. Palomar State Park (Peak 75-100%) – Color spotter Scott Turner reports that “Mt. Palomar State Park is at full peak with some really beautiful color in the black oaks and some of the riparian vegetation along Doane Creek and the Weir Trail. Oaks along Thunder Ridge and Boucher Hill are also looking pretty good, but the best color is near Doane Pond and in Lower Doane Valley. Sadly, the foliage near the Observatory is past peak, so there were no classic foliage/Hale Telescope shots to be found. Now is the time to go up, as the Santa Ana wind event forecast over the next few days could have its way with the foliage.” GO NOW!
Hike of the Week: Lower Doane Valley Loop/Weir Trail – Find the trailhead at the Doane Pond parking lot on Mt. Palomar. You’ll need $8 cash for parking. The trail enters a dense patch of willows before crossing the road and descending to follow a creek bank. Continue right onto the Doane Valley Nature Trail when it splits from the Weir Trail (your return route). Follow the Nature Trail until it junctions with the French Valley Trail. Turn left and follow this trail as it splits off toward Doane Valley. At the next junction, turn right to cross Lower Doane Meadow.
After a few tenths of a mile, the trail connects with the Weir Trail. Turn right to follow the trail to the Weir where some of the best fall color is seen. Use extreme caution on the rocks here, as they get very slippery even when dry. Return along the Weir Trail and stay straight at the junction. The Weir Trail will merge back onto the Doane Valley Nature Trail as it passes through dense forest with a number of fully-turned black oaks and riparian vegetation to add a splash of color. The trail will return to the parking lot where your hike will conclude.
Peak of the Week: Valyermo
Valyermo (Peak 75-100%) – Usually, we find Frank McDonough reporting from the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, but this past weekend he traveled to Valyermo, a tiny community in the San Gabriel mountains. He writes, “I was amazed at the intensity of the Fall color. It’s easily 70-80% there.”
Valyermo has not been reported previously on California Fall Color. Kudos to Frank who joins only two other color spotters, this autumn, who provided reports and photos of areas not previously seen on CaliforniaFallColor.com.
Frank notes that the Valyermo area’s location on the east slope of the San Gabriel Mountains is “spared the coastal influence that could make it too mild for good color change, plus the days are sunny and the nights are quite cold for an extended period of time compared to Southern California’s coastal areas.” Of note there is the Abbey of St. Andrews and the “iconic Valyermo post office.” GO NOW!
Santa Cruz Nearly Past Peak
Santa Cruz (Peak 75-100%) – Color spotter Anson Davalos was “soaking up the nice waves and weather” this past weekend in Santa Cruz, while noting that landscaped trees are nearly past peak there, with Chinese pistache, sweet gum, pepper and autumn blaze maple providing hot spots of orange-red, yellow, and auburn. GO NOW!
Upper Sacramento River Swirls Past Peak
Color spotter Cory Poole was out and about the Upper Sacramento River, finding color mostly past peak, though he took this amazing nighttime exposure of fall color and a swirling universe at the confluence of Castle Creek and the Upper Sacramento River.
The Other Napa Valley
Beyond the vineyards, “up the hills west of Hwy 29,” Sandy Steinman writes in his blog, the Napa Valley has “quiet twisty roads” that go through the forest. In these hilly residential areas above the valley, there’s lots of fall color to be seen. Below, some vineyards are “showing a lot of color’ while others are past peak.
One of California’s signature fall color trees, the yellow bigleaf maple, provides the predominant color, though also seen are “Spice Bush, Oregon Ash, Willows, Walnut and Oaks. Toyon (often called Christmas berry or California holly) is showing off its bright red berries.” Less colorful but interesting – he notes – are California Buckeye that have lost their leaves, but whose branches are heavy with fruit. Flitting among the trees, Steinman reports, are colorful “Acorn Woodpeckers and Stellar Jays, who were out in number along with Golden-crowned Sparrows, Turkey Vultures and Ravens.”
Often overlooked for their color are silver Lichens which hang down from trees and cover fences with moody foliage.
Napa Valley (Peak 75-100%) – Steinman recommends these roads to see Napa’s backstage fall show: Redwood Road, Mt, Veeder Road and Dry Creek. He writes, they make a nice loop, though not for much longer, as peak is about over. GO NOW!
LA County Arboretum Near Peak
Southern California is not often thought of as having much fall color, though its mountains have a reasonably long show, its urban forests can have beautiful color (when the Santa Anas don’t blow) and each year we can count on the LA County Arboretum & Botanic Garden to be the final celebrity to walk autumn’s red carpet.
In the mountains, color is now past peak in the Angeles National Forest, north of Los Angeles, though the San Bernardino National Forest, north of San Bernardino, still has nice pockets of peak color at lower elevations such as surrounding Lake Gregory. The San Jacinto Mountains near Mountain Center are peaking and the Mt. Laguna, Mt. Palomar and Julian areas vary from peak to past peak.
Color spotter Frank McDonough of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Garden is California Fall Color’s end-of-season reporter, the counter to Jared Smith’s early announcements from the Eastern Sierra. Frank notes that “All around the Arboretum fall color is starting to subtly appear. The first yellowing signs of color are showing up on California grapes, Crepe myrtles and many others.
“Some trees, like Nyssa (the Tupelo) and certain maples are at their peak while most like Ginkgo biloba and the Pin oak are about halfway to brilliance.”
He wonders if this year “will be a ‘great one’? Hard to tell. Some conditions like low nighttime temperatures and high daytime temperatures have been present but others, especially moisture, have not.”
This autumn occurs in the third year of a major drought. So, such observations have been stated by others who noted drier leaves and short-lived color in specific areas. Though overall (look back at this autumn’s photos for confirmation), the color has been bright and long-lasting.
Drought seems not to have significantly diminished the show. 2014 compares well to other years for the brilliance and duration of California’s fall color.
LA County Arboretum & Botanic Gardens (Near Peak 50-75%) – Frank’s report indicates it’s time to explore our state’s urban forests and arboretums. At the LA County Arboretum & Botanic Gardens, sour gum, chinaberry, Jerusalem thorn, eastern redbud and maples are filling with yellow, golden, orange and crimson color. GO NOW!
Hike of the Week – Empire Mine SHP
Color spotter Barbara Matthews noted on our Facebook page that she took a walk in the woods at Empire Mine State Historic Park, providing this panoramic montage of its trails littered with spent bigleaf maple leaves, inspiring us to name it hike of the week. Way to go, Barbara!
Napa Valley Continues to Glow
Napa Valley (Peak 75-100%) – Reports from the Napa Valley have been that this has been one of the most gorgeous autumns in years. Susan Taylor’s striking photos from this past weekend show what’s happening. GO NOW!
San Francisco’s Washington Thorn Flush Bright Red
When Ben Carlson of San Francisco’s Friends of the Urban Forest asked colleagues what fall color they were seeing in The City, he said they responded, “Not much – San Francisco is always late.”
True. SF peaks from now through Thanksgiving Day, though notable exceptions are the bright yellow of exotic Ginkgos (Ginkgo biloba and American Sweet Gums (Liquidambar styracifluas). Then, Doug Wildman, FUF’s program director, mentioned to Carlson that Washington Thorns (Crataegus phaenopyrums) are showing fall color and red berries throughout San Francisco. He sent these photos of a tree that FUF planted in 1999.
San Francisco (Patchy 10-50%) – The City should be peaking over the next three weeks. It’s now patchy, though SF’s fall color should move to near peak between this weekend and Thanksgiving Day. Beautiful color is seen throughout the city’s neighborhoods, though is best in Golden Gate Park at the Arboretum and Japanese Tea Garden, where it is peaking now.
Shasta Cascade – Peak Descends to the Rivers
This will likely be the last week to see peak color in Plumas, Lassen and Siskiyou counties in the Shasta Cascade region of northeast California. Many of their trees are now losing leaves, though beautiful color can still be found in spots. While these higher elevation areas are moving past peak, all lower elevation areas near the Trinity, Feather and Sacramento Rivers in the Shasta Cascade are now peaking. They will likely carry full peak through next week. Here’s the lowdown:
Butte County (Peak 75%-100%) As reported earlier this week, Esplanade Blvd. in downtown Chico is glorious. A canopy of fully peaked towering trees overhangs the broad boulevard. Bidwell Park and the CSU Chico campus are now painted with auburn, crimson, purple, yellow, gold and orange. Exotic plants are showing brilliant color. GO NOW!
Tehama County (Peak 75-100%) Tehama County, at the north end of the Sacramento Valley, is now peaking. The best color is found beside the Sacramento River at William P. Ide Adobe State Park, the Red Bluff Recreation Area off Sale Lane, Red Bluff River Park downtown and northeast of Red Bluff where Jellys Ferry Rd crosses the river. In Red Bluff, there is lots of color on Main Street, with contrasts of historic architecture framed by trees. GO NOW!
Shasta County (Peak 75%-100%) Towering cottonwood and other riparian trees at Turtle Bay Exploration Park, the McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Garden, at Sundial Bridge and along the Sacramento River Trail are peaking. Anderson River Park in Anderson has a beautiful blend of red, yellow, soft green, and orange, all on one tree. Cottonwood along the river are now losing leaves. GO NOW!
Trinity County (Peak 75%-100%) On Hwy 299 from Redding west to Fortuna motorists pass pockets of golden cottonwood, yellow bigleaf maple and chartreuse wild cucumber, all accented with spots of crimson beside the Trinity River. Weaverville is a must stop on a fall excursion along this route is visiting the interior of Joss House State Historic Park, an elaborately sculpted Chinese temple, with its red and gold carved altar. GO NOW!
Modoc County (Peak 75%-100%) Modoc National Forest is at peak with an abundant display of fall color. GO NOW!
Siskiyou County (Peak to Past Peak) Fall is fading fast in Siskiyou County. In the town of Mt. Shasta, many planted trees have peaked and are now losing leaves. Snow-covered Mt. Shasta provides a dramatic backdrop to the remaining color, though it lacks the luster of the photos taken last week by Cory Poole. GO NOW!
Plumas County (Peak to Past Peak) Plumas County was the first part of the Shasta Cascade to peak and color spotter Karen Moritz there says Plumas is “definitely past peak” though color can still be found in the Feather River Canyon and around Greenville. GO NOW!
Lassen County (Peak to Past Peak) Similar to Siskiyou and Plumas, Lassen County is now past peak, though some areas are still lovely as seen in this photo of a boy taken by Joel Rathje. GO NOW!