Where in Washington for Fall Color Photos

Are you interested in where to find the best autumn foliage for landscape and scenic photography in Washington State?  I did a quick circuit around the Cascades last week and found quite a range of fall color. In most locations, the color was just starting to get good, so this week and next should be optimal for making photographs, or just viewing for the pleasure of it.

In the southern Cascades, around Trout Lake and Mount Adams, there were places with great color, and some where the color was just starting. I found a few areas around Indian Heaven Wilderness with brilliantly colored vine maple and huckleberry. By now, the trees around Trout Lake and Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge should be in good condition.

The color was very good on the east side of Stevens Pass in the Washington Cascades, and it will likely continue to improve over the next week or two. Vine maples are vibrant red and yellow, with aspen and cottonwood coming on strong. The area around Tumwater Canyon and the road to Lake Wenatchee is very good. On the west side of the pass, color was muted, and most of the bigleaf maples were a mottled brown and yellow. Let’s hope it gets better on the western side of the passes.

On Mountain Loop Highway and in the Sauk River Valley between Granite Falls and Rockport, the color was just so-so last week, but it was a beautiful drive. If the bigleaf and vine maple brighten up a bit, this is a great option for fall color forest photos.

In the North Cascades, the alpine larches were great at higher elevations (~3,000-5,000’) but not much elsewhere. The amount of snow covering the trail at Maple Pass – Heather Pass Loop caught me by surprise, but what an incredibly scenic hike! Shorter, easier trails at Blue Lake and Cutthroat Lake lead to beautiful little lakes surrounded by snow-capped peaks and hillsides dotted with bright yellow larch.

At Snoqualmie Pass, there was very little color along I-90, but good color was visible on the mountainsides above. Traffic, however, was miserable eastbound due to construction projects; it may be better on weekends, but check WSDOT reports.

The huckleberry should be getting very good at several places in Mount Rainier National Park, but if you’re planning on traveling to The Mountain, be aware that Stevens Canyon Road between Paradise and the Ohanapecosh entrance is closed this fall.

In general, it seemed like the bigleaf maple on the west side of the Cascades was more or less a mottled brown & yellow, while at the higher elevations and on the east side, the color may be very good in the coming week or two – delayed beyond the usual timing just like the wildflower bloom was earlier this summer.

Fall color should be very good in the eastern part of the state in the next week or two. Methow Valley was looking good, with lots of aspen and cottonwood about to brighten the landscape with their sunny yellow foliage.

I didn’t make it out to the Kettle Range and Selkirk Mountains in the far northeast of Washington, or to the rainforests at Quinault and Hoh in Olympic National Park, but I’ll bet those places are looking pretty good right now, too.

Click on the link for more of my photos of fall color in Washington.

Where are your favorite places for fall color photography in Washington? I hope to get out again soon, and would love to hear what everyone else has found recently.

by