Color spotters in Plumas County are just getting into the meat of color season. We rounded up the following happenings from this week.
In Eastern Plumas County, there are still beautiful aspens in higher elevations, such as the hikers in the image below found along the Jamison Creek Trail.
The Quincy area, as mentioned earlier this week, is at 100% peak! Just about everywhere you look, the town is bursting with awesome autumn color.
The oaks are starting to turn along Highway 70 in the Feather River Canyon and will continue to be showy for a few weeks. Highway 89 along Indian Creek is looking quite lovely despite burn scars from the Dixie Fire.
In Indian Valley and Genesee, maples and dogwood are still looking lovely and the oaks are starting to turn. Stop by the Genesee Store (open Friday-Sunday), nestled in the valley for a gourmet meal while you’re out leaf peeping.
Chester, on Hwy 36, is peaking with some amazing colors captured by Jake Edwards, Scenescapery. While you are there, make sure you take in some fall treats at the popular Cravings, or stop in to visit American Interiors in its historical building framed by fall foliage currently at peak.
While leaves along the American River at 3,500′ have peaked and fallen, and the aspens on Ice House Road are long past their prime, colors at Bridal Veil Falls along US Route 50 are still looking quite nice. This was demonstrated by a recent submission from color spotter Rogersl Dunstan.
American River (3,500′) : Peaking – GO NOW!
Color spotter, Gary Hromada caught the tail end of color in the high country in Inyo County during a recent fall color trip to the Eastern Sierra.
Hromada visited North Lake and caught a glimpse of the seasonal changes as freezing temperatures created layers of ice in the lake that made the fall colors even more stunning.
“I camped nearby and it was 20 degrees when I got up for the short drive to the lake,” he exclaimed.
Cold temperatures are continuing and a storm is rolling into the Eastern Sierra this week, bringing some color locations to an end while others are still hanging in there. See the full Inyo County report tomorrow, Oct. 26.
The quaint town of Quincy is peaking and according to color spotter Michael Beatley, it is the very best show in many years and you don’t want to miss it.
An historic town with historic color this year, Quincy is “ablaze with color and so very close to peak,” says Beatley.
“Maples, Sycamores surround the historic Plumas Superior courthouse,” he adds. “Jackson Street has many 19th century homes, lined with maples. Dame Shirley Park next to the courthouse downtown is beautiful, and named after a gold rush lady who wrote the Dame Shirley Letters while living at Rich Bar during the gold rush.”
You don’t want to miss Quincy this year, so GO NOW and enjoy!
Color spotter Jennifer Natale took a drive last weekend on Hwy 88 over to Kirkwood. She stopped at the Hope Valley Red Barn, hiked Big Meadow to Scott’s Lake and then headed to South Tahoe.
She found some nice color along the Kirkwood overlooks and at Sugar Pine Point Park. There was also lots of color at Fallen Leaf Lake and Taylor Creek in South Lake Tahoe that was at or near peak.
Get to all of these areas soon as the color won’t be there for long.
We drove up to Tahoe for the day in order to check on bear damage at our family cabin and found a bright surprise.
Aspen, bigleaf maple, cottonwood and exotics were all aglow with color ringing the lake with a golden necklace.
Nevada City was showing a gorgeous array of color over the weekend when color spotter Lucas Yan visited.
“I would say that the foliage is at 50% with many trees turning orange and red in the streets around downtown,” Yan says. “I expect more trees should be turning in the upcoming week so definitely a great time to go.”
After seeing Yan’s images, we couldn’t agree more.
Take a fall drive from Santa Rosa to Arcata and you just might be as lucky as color spotter Michelle Pontoni last Friday, October 20.
Color spotter Michael Beatley got out last Friday morning and hiked the Cascades Trail. It is 5 miles west of Quincy via Hwy 70 to Old Hwy. According to Beatley, it may be the most beautiful trail in the Quincy area, and after looking at his photos, we couldn’t agree more.
Running above Spanish Creek for 3 miles from Old Hwy. to Barlow Road, the historic trail is lined with Big Leaf maples, dogwood, alder, and Darmera.
“It is so very beautiful at 100% for the maples and 50% for the Darmera,” Beatley said. “Time to go is now within the next few days.