DeKalb County in full fall splendor by John Dersham

I think we have the most beautiful fall foliage each year of any county in Alabama. There is a reason for this. These reasons are comprised of geography, climate, soil conditions and the types of trees that grow here. There is a lot of misunderstanding about what makes fall color and when it occurs. According to the United States Department of Agriculture fall color begins and is accentuated by cool nights and sunny days.

Why Are Some Autumns More Colorful?

Temperature and moisture greatly influence autumn color. Since each of these varies greatly, no two autumns are ever alike. A succession of warm, sunny days and cool, but not freezing nights seems to bring about the most spectacular color displays. Since carotenoids are always present in leaves, yellow and gold colors are fairly constant from year to year. In order for the brilliant scarlet, purple and crimson colors to develop, bright sunlight in the early fall is needed. Bright sunny days increase food production in trees and plants. These sugars are trapped in the leaves spurring the production of anthocyanin pigments, providing the red tints to fall foliage.

The amount of moisture in the soil also affects autumn color. A late spring, or a severe summer drought, can delay the onset of fall color by a few weeks. A warm period during fall lowers the intensity of autumn color. Trees defoliated by insects during the growing season may also show less fall color.

In DeKalb County we are blessed by being part of the Cumberland Plateau and belonging to the Appalachian foothills. This gives us our wonderful mountains and valleys but also gives us the wide variety of acid loving plant species associated with the Appalachian Mountains. This area predominately a deciduous hardwood area helps account for our beautiful fall color, as does the particular tree species in abundance here which include some our most colorful trees in the fall.

Our most colorful trees in fall:
Southern Red Maples (Red, yellow or orange in fall)
Sugar Maples (Orange-Red)
Black Tupelo/Black Gum (red-crimson)
Sweet Gum (yellow to purple)
Hickories (yellow)
White Oak (brown to purple)
Chestnut Oak (Yellow)
Dogwood (reddish purple)
Sourwood (crimson)
Post Oaks, Black Oaks, other Oaks (brown to yellow)

Many tourists start visiting us in early and mid October thinking they are hitting the peak of fall color. Records show that in the last fifteen years the peak of color has happened in early to mid November in our region. At DeKalb Tourism we get many phone calls and emails from tourists checking in advance so they time their trips here to match the fall foliage. The State of Alabama keeps a color tracker on their website in the fall to help tourist plan their trips. We use that to help assist our customers.

Beautiful fall drives:
*Little River Canyon-Canyon rim drive
*Lookout Mountain Parkway/DeSoto Parkway from Dogtown to Mentone
*The trails at DeSoto State Park
*Bucks Pocket State Park
*High Falls Park