Peaking alert: Head to the eastern Sierra to see fall colors

A lot can change in a week. That statement applies to life in general, but today I’m talking about the colors of autumn. Fall colors are peaking right now at higher elevations in the eastern Sierra. California Fall Color is a terrific website that is monitoring the progress of the leaves and has spotters on the ground reporting on the best locations to see the colors turn, even specific details as to whether or not the leaves survived a windy night.

“Right now, the color is at peak above 9,000 feet in the eastern Sierra (Inyo County),” said John Poimiroo, founder of the California Fall Color website. “Presently, that’s the closest area of fall color to L.A. Nowhere else in California is it peaking in massive display, as is seen there, for the moment. There’s also good color at McGee Creek near Mammoth Lakes, which will peak in a week.”

Look at how much can change in just one week:

Willow Camp Sept. 29, 2009

Willow Camp Sept. 22, 2009

North Lake Sept. 29, 2009

North Lake Sept. 22, 2009

How to get there: All the pictures above, taken by Jarod Smith, are located in the Bishop Creek area west of Bishop, Calif. There is detailed information about fall color areas on the Eastern High Sierra Fall Color Guide. Just download the pdf and scroll down to the map to see many locations and driving directions.

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

[Photos: Jared Smith, Parchers Resort]

Permalink | E-mail | Print | Add to My Trips

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 5:54 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under California, Fall, Lake Tahoe & Eastern Sierra, News, Tips & Advice, Outdoors & Adventure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.