Virginia’s biodiversity is evident to anyone who’s done a mountains-to-the-sea road trip — which can be done in a day, we brag. But autumn offers a chance to slow down and catch the subtle diversity of tree species around the state, going from oft-overlooked background scenery to stars of the show when fall colors burst on the scene. Virginia Department of Forestry Conservation Education Coordinator Ellen Powell shares her expertise on tree types and colors, peak foliage timing, and top spots to watch the leaves transform.
Trees that change early at high elevations start to show fall colors against an otherwise green forest.
Southwest Virginia
Peak foliage: Early October
Parks to visit: Grayson Highlands State Park, New River Trail State Park
Thanks to a combination of tree species, high elevation and geographic location, this region is one of the earliest to show its striking colors. “Every year is a little different, because of what has happened over the summer in terms of rainfall and heat, ... but generally in Virginia, the peak time of color is going to start in the west and progress to the east,” Powell says. In the southwest, poplars, birches and walnuts are just some of the trees preparing for winter early by reducing their chlorophyl production, shedding their greens for vibrant yellows, golds and reds. Parks such as Grayson Highlands State Park, at the foothills of the state’s highest point, and New River Trail State Park give tourists an ideal platform for the first fall colors of the year.
Virginia’s forests host a variety of tree species that make up a patchwork of colors in the fall.
Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley
Peak foliage: Early to mid-October
Parks to visit: Douthat State Park, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, Shenandoah National Park
This region’s one-two punch of high peaks and low valleys means plenty of autumnal diversity on display during the first half of the month. High mountain trees, including poplars and birches found in Shenandoah National Park and the Allegheny Mountains, will be on the earlier side, while common valley trees such as sugar maples will reveal their reds by mid-October in a typical season. “The red coloring does not develop in all species,” Powell notes, “because as the tree gets ready to drop its leaves, sometimes sugars will get trapped in the leaves and [produce] anthocyanins, which are red pigments. Certain species, just by their physiology, do that better than others.”
Yellows, oranges, golds and even pinks are some of the prominent colors seen on trees between September and November across the state.
Central and Southside Virginia
Peak foliage: Late October to early November
Parks to visit: High Bridge Trail State Park, Pocahontas State Park
Much like the counties to the north, Central and Southside Virginia are dominated by diverse forests of coniferous trees — those that do not change color, such as pine trees — and deciduous, or leaf-dropping, trees such as oaks and hickories. Pocahontas State Park, south of Richmond, provides nearly 8,000 acres of all-encompassing forest that towers over visitors, while High Bridge Trail State Park near Farmville gives a top-down foliage view. Both showcase the multicolored official state tree, the dogwood. “A dogwood tree might start out going from green to pink, and then it will turn like a very deep red, and it might progress to burgundy,” Powell says. “And that just happens over a period of a few weeks just because of the change in which pigments are present in the leaves before they finally turn brown and fall off.”
Anthocyanins, found in black gum trees, are produced by sugars trapped in the leaf over the season and cause scarlet hues.
Northern Virginia
Peak foliage: Late October to early November
Parks to visit: Prince William Forest Park, Sky Meadows State Park
Northern Virginia’s elevation and tree cover mirror that of much of the Piedmont region in Virginia, but parks such as Sky Meadows in Fauquier County and Prince William Forest Park in Prince William County boast an impressive variety of tree types that produce a mosaic of fiery colors. “Beech and hickories are pretty much midseason standouts, turning yellow gold all over the tree. This contrasts well with all the oaks, which are usually late season; all of them often are green while everything else is blazing,” Powell says. “When they do change, the colors are usually kind of more jewel toned, like topaz or garnet.”
Sweetgum trees only grow at low elevations, cycling through colors in their star-shaped leaves.
Tidewater
Peak foliage: Late October to early November
Parks to visit: First Landing State Park, Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge
While containing similar forests to the Piedmont region, Tidewater areas also feature forests with unique trees such as the bald cypress. “One interesting thing about swampy, low-lying areas in the eastern part of the state: They change earlier, for some reason, than do [traditional forests] in the surrounding landscape,” Powell says, likely because colder nights closer to water sources force an earlier change in those species. Hike, bike or paddle your way through urban and rural forests such as First Landing State Park or the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge to spot native trees including the sweet gum, an eastern Virginia species that is “kind of underappreciated,” Powell adds, “because it has every single color on one tree: It’ll have yellow, orange, red, purple. ... It looks like confetti.”
