Illinois Fall Color Report

Estimated Peak Times

Chicago & Beyond: Second week of October

Great Rivers Country: Second week of October

Land of Lincoln: Middle of October

Trails to Adventure: Last week of October

 The Best Places to See Fall Colors:

• Starved Rock State Park, a storied natural area located less than 100 miles southwest of Chicago. Stay in the Starved Rock Lodge for amazing views overlooking the trees
• The lush woods that make up over 10,000 acres of protected land at the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County
• In Chicago, the fall trees are a great excuse to visit sites such as Millennium Park with its iconic Cloud Gate
• Located in Lisle, the Morton Arboretum celebrates with fall-themed events among 1,700 acres of seasonal splendor

Estimated Peak Times

Second week of October

What's Happening This Week:

• Northeast Illinois is hitting the fall color stride this week, with red oaks in deep red.
• White and bur oaks are turning brown and yellow.
• Hickories are turning bright yellow.
• Maples are glowing yellow, orange, red, and purple.
• Scarlet oaks are blushing red, hill’s oaks are turning reddish yellow, and pin oaks are starting to show orange and red.
• Black oaks continue a reddish brown mottling; White oaks are turning red.
• Sassafras is the current show stopper with hues of purple-red, to orange yellow, glowing with a slight bit of light.
• Sugar maples continue to turn a beautiful reddish orange, interspersed with green.
• Wild strains of red maples are just starting to blush reds to orange-red.
• White pines are starting their senescence, with old needles turning yellow and casting.
• Among shrubs, witch-hazel is in bloom right now, with yellow colors on leaves being bright and clear.
• Hazelnuts are starting an apricot yellow fall color.
• Black-haw viburnum is purple.
• Many of the sumacs are winding down, with purples, reds and orange still visible.
• In both urban and rural settings, there is still a good amount of green, so the fall color show may continue for a while.

The Best Places to See Fall Colors:

• Galena, an idyllic river town surrounded by tree-lined hilltops
• Pere Marquette State Park, located at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers
• Drives from Alton to Grafton along the Great River Road

Estimated Peak Times

Second week of October

What's Happening This Week:

• Throughout northwest Illinois:
• Roadside dogwoods and sumac are maroon and scarlet, while burning bushes in urban areas are hitting their peak with similar colors.
• There has been big change in woodland areas during the past week with much more vibrant yellowing.
• Sugar maples are showing brilliant hues of yellow and orange.
• Hackberry, basswood, and elm are yellowing.
• White ash trees are still showing pinkish purple; green ash tree leaves are mainly yellow and falling; some red maples are still green, but most are showing crimson and scarlet.
• One color that has not been reported is the changing of second-year white pine needles from green to orange/yellow. High winds this week put that color on the ground where there are stands of white pine or individual trees in yards.
• It's a colorful week in west-central Illinois, though high winds took down a lot of leaves.
• Many maples are in full color and leaves are dropping quickly.
• Oaks are just starting to turn purple, bronze and golden.
• Catalpas are turning yellow.
• Some Osage orange trees are an amazing yellow this year.
• Autumn color can now be found on all area landscapes with cottonwood, silver maple, walnut, hickory, Paw Paw, Osage orange, mulberry, catalpa, and buckeye steadily yellowing.
• Sugar maple and ash are readily showing yellow/red/gold/purple/orange; patches of sumac and individual sassafras and dogwoods are steadily reddening.
• Areas with heavy populations of ash and sugar maples are already quite beautiful, but a lot of leaves were knocked down by high winds.
• Nearly the entirety of trees along the Great River Road should display exceptional colors over the next 10 days.

 The Best Places to See Fall Colors:

• Farms and orchards, such as Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery and The Great Pumpkin Patch
• The town of Monticello, home to the 1,517-acre Allerton Park
• The area round beautiful Lake Decatur, including the Rock Springs Nature Center

Estimated Peak Times

Middle of October

What's Happening This Week:

• In Central Illinois, peak color is probably a week to 10 days away with good viewing through Halloween.
• Yellows abound everywhere on common hardwood species.
• Reds are in full swing on sumac, dogwood, tree vines and various shrubs, plus sugar maples.
• The white oaks are beginning to show reds now.
• Ash trees are showing yellows and reds.
• The bottomlands are already past peak if they are heavy in cottonwoods or walnuts, while the sycamores, ashes and oaks are turning great colors now.
• Oaks are last to turn everywhere they grow and will be an array of yellow, burnt orange, reds and browns as we move through October.
• The dry weather in east-central Illinois is changing color very quickly and recent high winds took a toll on some leaves that have turned.
• The yellows in the black walnut and green ash have mostly faded.
• Orange and yellow in the hickories are quickly turning to brown in many areas. Sugar maple, yellow poplar and sassafras are quickly fading as well.
• The Virginia creeper and poison ivy vines are still showing bright red in some areas.
• White ashes that were showing a deep purple color are mostly dropping leaves.
• White oaks are turning a scarlet red, purple or even orangish color and black and red oaks are turning a yellow orange to red. 

The Best Places to See Fall Colors:

• The canopies of Shawnee National Forest — with a great overhead view from Garden of the Gods
• More outdoor trails (including horseback riding) at Giant City State Park
• The many wine trails, lakes, and other activities near Carbondale

Estimated Peak Times

Last week of October

What's Happening This Week:

• A few intense wind events have removed many leaves from early turners such as black walnut and drought-stressed trees in parts of Southern Illinois.
• Despite the wind, the fall color show is underway and looking good.
• Yellow and orange coloration is peaking in the hickories, sugar maples and sassafras trees.
• Vines like Virginia creeper and poison ivy are showing magnificent shades of red.
• White oaks are really starting to turn, showing reddish and deep purple hues; black and red oaks are also beginning to turn orange.
• Most of the sugar maples are starting to turn yellow, with the red maples turning red; most of the Virginia creeper vines are turning red; white ash leaves are mostly red and honey locusts are turning yellow.
• At Giant City State Park, leaf watchers this week were seeing a lot of color and should see a peak in the next week or so.
• Sugar maples are vibrant, sassafras are brilliant red, purple and yellow, sweet gum are a rich purple and red.
• Paw Paws are bright yellow and dogwoods are a deep red.
• Still a little green hanging on, but change is coming fast.
• In the Cache River region, many walnuts have lost most of their leaves, as have the sumacs; oaks are turning, though mostly still green while showing some color.
• Visitors are seeing yellow in silver maples, redbud trees are tuning yellow, sassafras are gorgeous with orange, yellow, and red, and half of the cypress trees are copper.
• Water tupelo trees all look more yellow than green now.
• A landscape view in many areas is half color/half green.
• With the recent windy days, it has been raining leaves. A tree looks full of color until the wind blows, then many leaves fall and it the view looks more green for a day or so until more leaves turn!