Best and closest area to Charlotte for fall foliage? (Asheville: appointed, military)
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I was thinking of taking the kids on a day trip this weekend to see the fall foliage in the NC mountains. Can someone suggest a great place to take some pictures with all the fall leaves? Preferably close to Charlotte. Thanks.
Well you could try around Morganton. I think a lot of the leaves will be gone in the mountains proper.
There's a nice place close to Lenoir-Wilson Creek Wilderness area-not sure what stage leaves are at there. Some walking trails to waterfalls and a visitors center. Just a warning- the road are mostly unpaved and sometimes a little scary depending on where you go. Wilson Creek: 49,000 Acres of Rugged Wilderness
We have some lovely fall colors at the moment around the lake. How about Latte plantation or Lake Norman State Park- they both have walking trails around the lake.
Last Saturday we took a round trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the fall foliage. We left Huntersville, went up to Hickory, over to Morganton, then to Linville Falls. The trip from Morganton to Linville Falls on 181 was fabulous! So many beautiful trees, I was gasping at every turn. At Linville Falls we saw the Linville Gorge, ("Carolina's very own mini Grand Canyon" one of the information ladies told us) and it was spectacular. Then we went to the Falls, which has three different trails: easy, moderate, and difficult. Just beautiful!
At that point we hopped onto the BR parkway and drove to Blowing Rock. The parkway had many scenic vistas, and observation stations. But, as someone mentioned on this board, or maybe it was the Western North Carolina one, they were jam packed, with people parking down the side of the road and walking back. This was around 2 in the afternoon. The mountains had a lot of color, but did appear to be a smidge past their peak.
Once we hit Blowing Rock, it was very busy with traffic, even a few jams in this little town. We were somewhat disappointed with the Blowing Rock itself. It seemed like the epitome of a tourist trap ... literally. You entered a room (the gift shop), and had to pay $6 per adult to see the Rock. The only problem was, it felt like we had seen just as grand of vistas on the parkway, and many similar rock formations, for free. Their website said they also had a garden (it was about the size of a backyard one) and a waterfall (ditto backyard). The only way to leave was through .. you guessed it ... the gift shop. So that fell a little flat for us, but I am sure many others enjoy it, just not our cuppa tea. We left there and journeyed thru Lenoir to Hickory, then back home.
I devised this route so we could see the BRP, the Falls and Blowing Rock, and trying not to repeat the route as much as possible. You would probably get more color it seems by heading south of that area. The WNC board has several threads about where to go for the color! Best wishes for a great trip!
Peak up on the Blue Ridge itself was a good two weeks ago. The rain tonight and tomorrow is going to bring down a lot of the colors in whatever the peak zone is right now, which is probably some random places around 2000-2500 feet, meaning your best bet might be South Mountains State Park. But honestly, you've missed the window when anything around is going to qualify as impressive. At this point your best bet will be to wait for whatever color there is to make it down to Charlotte.
You are at least a week too late for the really high country, and the forecast of snow flurries in the next 24 hrs certainly won't help.
You might have some great luck at say Chimney Rock, the lower elevations of the South section of the Pisgah National Forest, or Dupont State Forest.
It is not 'the mountains', but Kings Mountain National Military Park should be peaking and is a gorgeous place.
Leaf color picks up again on the parkway just north of Little Switzerland up to the Chestoa View overlook area, at which point they begin to fade again. The Boone/Blowing Rock area has passed the peak, and now the best colors can be seen downslope in the Wilson Creek drainage and toward Wilkesboro and Morganton. So for those of you heading out this week or this weekend, you can still find some color, particularly with the oaks, but it looks like we’re done for most of the higher elevations.
In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County metro area, Natural Resource Coordinator Don Seriff states that color is everywhere and that the woods are ablaze. Don estimates that the forests and roadside trees are showing greater than 50 percent color. Sassafras trees are showing bright orange while tulip poplars are entirely yellow. Deep purples are showing up on most sweetgum trees, and lots of red is covering blackgums, maples, sourwoods and sumacs.
I was thinking of taking the kids on a day trip this weekend to see the fall foliage in the NC mountains. Can someone suggest a great place to take some pictures with all the fall leaves? Preferably close to Charlotte. Thanks.
I would be happy to send you a direct message
Last edited by lovesMountains; 10-28-2011 at 07:26 AM..
How about some lower elevations close to Charlotte - like the South Mountains State Park, Crowders, or Morrow Mountain State Park to the east. You have missed the peak time in the high elevations.
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