best area to view this fall color? (Johnson City, Elizabethton: gardens, trees)

[arnobg]

Looking for a good accessible area to take my parents while they are in town with a good view to see all the fall color before its gone. Prefer something I can drive straight up to. Any suggestions? Would roan mountain state park be good? I'm new to the area as well.

[BP72]

I would say "The Beauty Spot" in Unicoi. Its a long hard bumpy gravel road though. If you have been to Roan Mountain though, you might be better off going there. Up to the Gardens area.

[Jim37680]

I fear this is way too late to find color in the high country like Beauty Spot (Unaka Mountain) or Roan Mountain. The best color in upper east Tennessee is probably confined to the lower elevations in the valleys. Color remains a bit longer down around Sevierville-Pigeon Forge than up here by a week or two.

We traveled this last Tuesday on a loop from Sullivan County up 19E through Elizabethton and Hampton and the hills were full of color until we turned up 321 and began to climb.. This was all 1800 ft elevation or lower. We turned up 321 toward Watauga Lake and by the time we reached 2000 ft at the beginning of the lake, all the color was gone with only brown and bare trees (some were still green). This brown landscape continued on through Mountain City until we got to Damascus, Virginia (back below 2000 ft) where maples were still golden and red. Color was still good back down the Holston Valley.

I fear a lot of the color came down last night with the rain and wind, but as I look out over the valley toward Johnson City there seems to be plenty of color, mostly golden orange.