One of the best national parks for spectacular fall foliage

By Laurie Baratti, TravelPulse

As fall arrives within the United States, many foliage watchers eagerly await Mother Nature's annual display of splendor—that’s, when the leaves turn sensible yellows, oranges, and reds. But understanding exactly where and when this phenomenon reaches its peak brilliance in numerous parts of the country requires greater than just guesswork.

National parks are at all times a superb place to see the colourful transformation of trees, because where higher to watch the changing seasons than in places where the forests are preserved and guarded? However, some tree species have greater potential for picturesque coloration than others, and a few parks offer higher access to areas where the kaleidoscopic effect may be seen.

That's why onX, which offers digital maps and other resources for outdoor enthusiasts through a series of apps, recently analyzed its data to find out which national parks are more likely to have essentially the most colourful fall foliage this yr.

According to Frommer's, the corporate applied its Hunt app's “deciduous tree layer” filter to discover parks with the best density of trees known for his or her sensible fall colours, including oaks, maples, hickories and birches. By combining this data with trail length information, analysts compiled a listing of nine parks where visitors have the most effective likelihood of seeing massive amounts of spectacular foliage this fall.

And to find out the best time to go out, the information creators also relied on satellite imagery from 2023 to find out when each of those parks had its best color last yr. This provides invaluable insight for planning your fall trips this yr. Of course, the brightness of fall foliage may be affected by one other crucial factor: the weather, so that you'll want to think about meteorologists' predictions of where fall foliage is more likely to be at its best.

Here is an outline of the national parks with essentially the most beautiful autumn colours in line with onX:

1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee

Distance of the route: 1,025

Tree species: Oak, maple, beech, hickory, birch

Main dates in autumn 2023: 16 to 30 October

2. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Distance of the route: 664

Tree species: Oak, maple, birch, ash

Main dates in autumn 2023: 16 to 30 October

3. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Distance of the route: 311

Tree species: Hickory, maple, beech, aspen

Main dates in autumn 2023: 16 to 30 October

4. Acadia National Park, Maine

Distance of the route: 186

Tree species: Oak, maple, birch, aspen

Main dates in autumn 2023: 16 to 30 October

5. Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

Distance of the route: 186

Tree species: Aspen, birch, beech, elm, ash, poplar, oak

Main dates in autumn 2023: 2 to 30 October

6. Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

Distance of the route: 157

Tree species: Aspen, birch, maple

Main dates in autumn 2023: 16 to 30 October

7. Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Distance of the route: 76

Tree species: made from oak, made from ash

Main dates in autumn 2023: 16 to 30 October

8. New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia

Distance of the route: 73

Tree species: oak

Main dates in autumn 2023: 16 October to 13 November

9. Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana

Distance of the route: 13

Tree species: made from oak, ash, maple, beech

Main dates in autumn 2023: 16 to 30 October

---

Originally published: September 24, 2024 at 12:08 p.m.