The Great Smoky Moutains National Park
It’s now possible to know where and when to go to do the most beautiful autumnal hike in order to admire the hues of the foliage in the US, when landscape is the most colored. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee and North Carolina has developed an interactive map on his website which allows to anticipate the fall and the color of the foliage for each counties in the US, in order to promote tourism in the protected natural area. This tool is meant to help travelers time their trips to have the best opportunity of catching peak color each year.
Picture of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’ forest in autumn
Methods
Based on the average temperatures observed since 1900 in the US, the map provides the average temperature for the next days. As average temperatures continue to slowly increase, their effects on precipitation patterns and weather have an impact on the brightness and length of the fall color season, allowing to deduct the peak of colors for local forest.
Average US temperatures since 1900 allowing to provide approximately next temperatures trends
Interactive map results
The results are represented by 7 colors matching 7 categories of color’s intensity from “No change” to “Past Peak”, the perfect moment to organize your hike being “Near Peak” and « Peak ».
Fall foliage the October 29th 2018
Fall foliage the November 26th 2018
If you planned to hike in the US, you should organize quickly, the great season finishes soon !
Sources :
Great Smoky Mountains National Park website. https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm [Consulted the October, 27th 2018].
Courrier international, Toutes les nuances de l’automne américain dans une carte interactive, October 15th 2018. https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/voyage-toutes-les-nuances-de-lautomne-americain-dans-une-carte-interactive [Consulted the October 20th 2017].