UP Fall Color Report wk 10
Still some green left to change.
Above: Silver Mountain, Oct 2nd
Welcome to week 10 of the 10th Annual UP Fall Color Report. This is the #1 place for information on the changes of fall across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Driving Stats for 2023 UP Fall Color Report
Week 10: Miles driven: 1450 miles - 103 gal of gas
Weeks 1-10: Miles driven 8965mi - 646 gal of gas
If you aren’t already a premium subscriber to the Yooper Report, please consider doing so as it helps to put gas in the tank so I can continue to provide this resource each fall. Thanks for your support. —Yooper Steve
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Peak in many places, still some green yet.
Overall color change across the UP - 70%- past peak
Videos for last week 9 fall color drives are now live on Youtube if you want to watch them.
This is the time of the year when we have plenty of green left but also see plenty of areas at past peak with lots of leaf loss. The time of the year when the understory starts to get beautiful and the back roads become colorful and leaves start to blanket the forest floor.
Areas along the waters of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan still have plenty of green yet. This weekend we saw some temps close to 90 degrees and that is going to hurt color on the remaining birch, poplar, oak, and remaining maple that are a bit behind in change along the lakeshores. Trees have been pretty stressed this fall and we haven’t had a lot of rain and cool weather that we need for bright colors
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Now is the time to visit the UP for color, everyday forward the colors are going to fade but you will find some nice areas still in the areas where 60% color to 70% color is currently into the next 5 days. Don’t count on the color sticking around long after the 10th though with the higher winds arriving. Best drives will be in the backwoods, the overlook views will get really dull and red colors and bright oranges are disappearing fast.
After fall color reports are done we will be moving into winter snow reports and daily snow measurements. Be on the lookout also for some of my outdoor adventure hikes and explorations across the UP.
With me not having to drive 1000+ miles a week for the fall color reports I will be starting to edit more videos for FunintheUP Youtube and for Tour da Yoop Youtube and do more writing here on substack to help you learn about things to do in the Upper Peninsula.
Fall Color Tours - private fall color tours - UpperPeninsulaTours.com
Secret overlooks, waterfalls amidst the fall colors, and beautiful backcountry roads.
Become a paid subscriber to access the following.
Detailed UP Fall Color Report below
Detailed Weekly updated UP Color Change Map
Videos for week 10 driving around the UP.
Pictures for week 10 around the UP.
Some pics and videos from this past week at the bottom of the page.
Western UP - overall 70% to past peak color
Color in the Porkies is fading fast in the interior, still pockets where reds appear along the South Boundary road. Lake of the clouds is still pretty green now reaching 70% color in the next couple days. Colors are pretty dull though, reds have faded along the river below and yellows are starting to get more filled in.
Views off Wolf Mtn aren’t what they were last week, lots of leaf loss now starting to appear and trail up leaves are blanketing the forest.
Bond falls is now at peak color and areas along the roads into Bond are peak to past peak.
Mt Zion and Copper Peak views are really filled in now but color is dull and boring compared to previous years, the drought conditions didn’t help, don’t get me wrong the views are still wonderful, but those reds aren’t like they were almost 2 weeks ago. You’ll still want to visit especially if you haven’t ever been to the ski jump before.
Northern UP - overall 70% to past peak color
Best color yet to come on the eastern side of Brockway mountain views. The interior portions looking south and south west are now at peak to past peak. Views to the north are a bit more green, but reaching peak soon.
US41 from Delaware to Copper Harbor is now the best time to drive it, each day more leaves are falling and with the winds coming this week expect to see lots o leaves on the ground and bare tree tops as you drive the road.
Mt Horace Greeley is now at peak to past peak color. Lower regions around Gratiot lake now are hitting peak. North of US41 around Central color now reaching 75%.
M26 from Copper Harbor to Eagle River isn’t that colorful but usually isn’t until past peak color happens on Brockway and the understory turns golden yellow.
Areas along the Portage Canal and Portage lake are getting better, the Houghton side is better.
Mt Bohemia colors on the north are almost peak, while the southern side is not yet at 80%, by weekend it should hit peak to past peak, winds will affect the color as leaves start dropping.
Painesdale to M38 was the best drive early last week, now it is pretty as the understory has changed and leaves falling fast, but reds that were so vibrant this year along this stretch aren’t very colorful now. You’ll find the back roads the best colorful drives now.
Central UP - overall 60% to past peak color
Areas near Silver Lake Basin were some of the best color I saw this year, but now past peak color.
Sugarloaf, Hogsback, and Mt. Marquette are all about 60% now with some areas seeing 70%, another week with some cooler temps and this weekend should be getting good color, but don’t expect it to be to bright as the near 90s for the last 3 days has stressed the trees a lot.
Best color again is hitting the backwoods, the best drive I found last week was Peshekee grade and Dishno road, wow the reds were amazing, still would be a good drive this week as the understory is great color yet.
Areas around CoRd480 to M35 are colorful, and Gooselake views are very nice with pockets of peak color with a few green areas still being seen.
Areas from Covington Jct to Ishpeming are past peak along US41 it really turned dull about mid week last week, didn’t really see that great color along this stretch this season.
Eastern UP - overall 70% to peak
Great color now starting to be seen in the eastern UP, I would say most roads now are worth a drive even ones along Lake Michigan and Superior. Overall best color across most of the east should be this week into the weekend, possibly a few pockets with nice color mid week next week. I wouldn’t wait to much longer though.
Munising, Wetmore, Au Train, Chatham, Trenary areas are now around 80% to peak color, just depends where you’re driving.
Peak color across much of the interior but will still see some pockets of green here and there, understory has started to get colorful now with golden yellows.
Tahquamenon falls will have the best color this weekend, don’t wait much longer of you’re going to be disappointed for color.
Mission hill has good color still plenty of green but when peak hits it will be fast to fade, much like Tahquamenon falls your best views should be near the weekend into early next week. Going to be interesting though with the high winds arriving, leaves can fall fast.
Southern UP - overall 70-90%
Overall the same news as the eastern UP, get out there for your later color drives as the rest of the UP is seeing peak and past peak for the most part.
Thanks for following the 10th Annual UP Fall Color Report, if you have a friend that you think would be interested in following the UP Fall Color Report go ahead and send them an invite.