Fall foliage in dazzling display

Estrella Richter is a fan of fall.

"The leaves are beautiful, the weather is cooler; I love it," Richter said as she and her husband, Alfred, fished from McFarland Park in Florence.

She noted the foliage around the Shoals is becoming more colorful every day. 'I just love the fall foliage. My backyard looks like a fiesta of color.'

Brian Jones, coordinator of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel's fall color hot line, said many trees in the Tennessee Valley are reaching their peak of color.

"It looks like this weekend and the following weekend are going to be splendid for seeing fall colors in north Alabama," Jones said. "It looks like this is going to be the best fall foliage season we've had in several years. It's been so dry the past couple of years that the leaves would turn and immediately fall off the tree. This year, because of all the rain we've been having, it looks like we are going to have plenty of color and that the season is going to be prolonged, lasting two, maybe three weeks."

Jeremy McDonald, fall color coordinator for Bankhead National Forest, said the fall colors there reached their peak this week. He expects colorful trees to continue to dot the forest, which spans portions of Lawrence, Franklin and Winston counties, until mid-November.

Alabama 33 from Moulton to Double Springs is a good place to see roadside fall foliage, he said.

Amy Genke, a National Park Service guide for the Natchez Trace Parkway, said the best colors along the 444-mile route this weekend will be from the Tennessee River north to the road's terminus west of Nashville. Beginning the weekend of Nov. 7, the most colorful trees will be south of the Tennessee River into northeast Mississippi. The prime areas for seeing fall color along the parkway will move southward each week through late November.

Jones said Bankhead Forest and the parkway are some of the best places in northwest Alabama for seeing fall colors, especially for foliage fans who like to see autumn leaves through a windshield.

Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville and Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville are also prime spots for seeing fall colors in north Alabama, he said.

Tim Haney, superintendent at Wheeler Park, said the park is aglow with the colors of fall. 'We're close to peak on the colors and should probably hit our peak within the coming week.'

He said the road that leads through the park from U.S. 72 to the lodge is a good place to see fall colors along with deer, turkey and other wildlife. For visitors who want to take a walk in the woods, there are several trails at the park, including a multi-purpose trail on Alabama 101 about 1/2 mile south of Wheeler Dam.

In addition to being a good place to see colorful leaves while driving or walking, the area around the park is also a prime spot for fall foliage boating tours.

He said Monte Sano Park, which overlooks downtown Huntsville, offers fall foliage viewing opportunities for motorists and hikers. 'People come from all over the area to see fall foliage along the trails at Monte Sano.'

Genke said the hiking trail at Rock Spring Nature Trail and Freedom Hills Overlook along the parkway are good places for walkers to see fall foliage.

The nature trails at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Muscle Shoals Reservation provide autumn foliage viewing opportunities.

Jones said Cullman County also is good place to see fall colors in northwest Alabama.

He said fall foliage watching has become a major tourist attraction for Alabama, especially the northern counties.

"Our fall color reports are one of the most popular things we do each year," he said.

"We have lots of people calling our 1-800 number to find out where the best places in the state are to see fall colors."

In southern Tennessee, Sweetwater Branch Nature Trail and Glenrock Branch Picnic Area along the Natchez Trace Parkway in Wayne County, David Crockett State Park in Lawrenceburg and Shiloh National Military Park, near Savannah, are good places to view fall foliage.

Driving tours of Shiloh Park will be offered at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. Park rangers will lead the caravan tours, stopping along the way to point out colorful trees.

The tours will last about 45 minutes. Admission to the park is $3 per person or $5 per family.

To register for the tours, call (731) 689-5696.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.