State Foliage Reports 2018

[admin]

State Foliage Report September 13th
(This is the first report of the season put out by the Vermont Department of Marketing and Tourism. There will be further reports next week.)

All of Vermont is still very green and in the early stages of color development with nice early colors — particularly yellows — emerging in the northeast and at higher elevations, even in central Vermont. Some dry sites, roadside sugar maples, and red maples in wetlands are showing typical early splashes of red. Overall, things are shaping up quite nicely statewide with trees everywhere beginning to distinguish themselves in the canopy and with a slight detectable change from the deep, lush greens of summer to a range of lighter green hues, signaling that the show is, indeed, beginning.

[admin]

Fall Foliage Report
SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

It’s almost always true that the pleasures of fall in Vermont are best enjoyed outside, and this is especially good advice for experiencing the headlining pleasure of fall in the Green Mountains. The best way to spot the burgeoning signs of foliage in our forests is to get out into them. Views from both the road and the trail will reveal hillsides still predominantly coated in green, though the rich greens of summer have yielded to quieter shades with abounding hints of other fall colors rising.

In particular the yellows, overshadowed by bolder hues for much of foliage season, are gradually emerging as species like ash, cherry, and birch begin to turn. Individual trees—sometimes even just individual branches on otherwise yet-un-noteworthy trees—are also beginning to bare complementary oranges and reds. If you’re leaf-peeping on foot, look for prominent old pasture maples with damaged crowns or branches—easy to spot, even if you’re looking down, by the colorful leaves that have already fallen around the tree.

These murmurs of color are most noticeable in the northeast, where cooler air tend to accelerate foliage conditions earlier in the season than in other parts of the state.


Best Bets (North to South):
– The Northeast Kingdom Byway between St. Johnsbury and Newport along Vermont Route 5A should provide for some prime viewing of the seasonal colors. Mountain bikers can stop at Kingdom Trails in East Burke for some of the top riding in the country. Burke Mountain, with its Hotel & Conference Center, is another beautiful destination to enjoy natural scenery.

– The ride between Montpelier and Danville along U.S. Route 2 comes alive this time of year. While there, veer off to the Owl’s Head Trail at Groton State Forest, where a light hike on the trail will yield some unbelievable vantage points above Lake Groton, Kettle Pond and sweeping vistas of colorful maple trees. While in the area, visit the Great Vermont Corn Maze in West Danville.

– Take Vermont Route 242 between Montgomery Center and Jay, and make a stop at Jay Peak Resort - home to numerous outdoor activities and the Pump House Indoor Waterpark. After winding through Jay, follow the drive south on Vermont Route 101 to Troy for a relaxing spin through some wonderful fall scenery.

[ctyanky]

This latest one sounds like a very "cautious" report and things are still pretty green. Hopefully, the 30s this weekend will spark the change we have all been looking for!

[admin]

Have a look at this around Morgan....color is always guaranteed in northeastern VT! I took this in the late afternoon, It is a HDR image.

http://www.scenesofvermont360.com/folia ... ept19.html

[ctyanky]

I can't believe I'll be there a week from tomorrow!!!!!!!!! I'm getting so excited I won't be able to get to sleep the next seven days!

[Texas_Aggie]

My wife's aunt is visiting Cavendish this week, and took this picture on 9/19/18. I don't know the exact location, but it's somewhere around Cavendish/Proctorsville.

[ctyanky]

Texas: Yep, very early color and getting there. I saw similar change in southern VT last Sunday but more uniform, and the most change was at the top of the mountain in Woodford (near route 9).

[Texas_Aggie]

so here's something that i just randomly discovered. If you go to http://www.wunderground.com, and look at their "wundermap," you can turn on various different layers. One of these layers are weather webcams. A lot of these cameras are pointed at trees. The resolution on them is not always great, but you can definitely use them to gauge color in different parts of the state.

[admin]

State foliage report released September 27th

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

Although Vermont’s famous fall color is still emerging gradually, fall is officially here on the calendar and weather conditions this week are reflecting that, shaping up to kick off much more color to come. Bright sunny days and cool nights, with the occasional gentle rainfall, lead to truly full and vibrant color development, and this is just the weather Vermonters are seeing throughout much of the state.

Hillsides continue to reveal a predominantly pale green hue, with lots of bright yellows now in the mix and more reds and orange beginning to appear, especially in northern areas. Noteworthy, if early, color is being seen around Willoughby Gap in the Northeast Kingdom and across much of the north along upper slopes and in areas of ledge and wetlands. If you have the pleasure of staying put in Vermont for a while, you can also enjoy watching individual trees progress with each passing day, as more and more leaves and branches transform from green to mixes of yellow, orange, or red.

In other places where leaves haven’t yet begun to turn, there aren’t many dropped leaves on the ground. This means that although there’s still plenty of green wherever you look throughout much of the state, there’s promising potential for several more weeks of colorful fall foliage to come. Remember, though, with continued seasonal autumn weather, it can emerge surprisingly quickly.


Best Bets (North to South):
– Take Vermont Route 16 north out of Hardwick and follow it through Glover and into Barton, continuing northwest to Vermont Route 5A, also known as the Northeast Kingdom Byway.

– Follow Vermont Route 5 between St. Johnsbury and Derby, passing West Burke, Coventry, and Newport.

– Take Vermont Route 114 north out of Lyndon, through East Burke, Island Pond, and up to Norton.

– The Crossroad of Vermont Byway, running east along Route 4 passing Rutland, Killington, Woodstock, Quechee and White River Junction.

[admin]

Fall Foliage Report

OCTOBER 4, 2018

With summer weather lingering into fall, parts of Vermont are still green but now with recent cooler air and showers, things are changing quite quickly. In fact, County Forester, Matt Langlais reports that much of Essex County and upper elevations in Caledonia County in Northeastern Vermont are now at or very near peak. Others indicate that upper elevations and wetlands throughout the rest of the state are also suddenly fast-approaching full color, with other areas remaining heavy to green with the yellows really doing much of the work so far.

“It’s as if this landscape is spring-loaded for color right now,” said Michael Snyder, State Forester and Commissioner of Forests, Parks, and Recreation. “The last few years were also exceptionally warm well into fall and great color just seemed to sneak up on us. You can almost feel it happening again.”

Right now, all stages of color development are present and foresters from around the state indicate it is coming on strong in most locations, with southwestern Vermont and the Champlain and lower Connecticut Valleys moving from early to middle stages of color progression and much of the state in mid-stage. “We know folks have their own favorite parts of fall foliage,” said Snyder. “And over the next few weeks Vermont will continue to have something for everyone.”


Best Bets (North to South):

– Take Vermont Route 16 north out of Hardwick and follow it through Glover and into Barton, continuing northwest to Vermont Route 5A, also known as the Northeast Kingdom Byway.

– US Route 2 east from Montpelier through Plainfield, turning onto route 215 north through Cabot to Walden.

– Vermont Route 7 north from Brandon through Leicester to Middlebury.

– Molly Stark Byway from Wilmington through Searsburg and Woodford, to Bennington

It's been cloudy and rainy for the past couple of days and although the NEK is at peak, the colors are looking bit dull.

Here is Lake Echo outside Charleston on Thursday afternoon
http://www.scenesofvermont360.com/folia ... _lake.html


Hopefully the weather will get better for better viewing!