Community Corner

PHOTOS: Fall Color Arrives

It's not your imagination, officials at Fort Snelling State Park say: The trees in Burnsville began turning a tad early this year, but there is still plenty of autumn left.

A record cold snap and early frost in mid-September spurred autumn on with more haste than usual, but local leaf-enthusiasts need not fear: In all likelihood, fall colors won’t be ending early as a result.

“It is a little early this year,” said Hannah Fisher, a member of the Legacy Amendment-funded Naturalist Corps. Fisher serves Fort Snelling State Park. “But there’s a still a lot of green here at Fort Snelling, though we have some change in color at higher elevations.”

In the Twin Cities metro area, the peak of fall color usually arrives from late September to mid-October. The length of this fleeting period is more dependent on atmospheric conditions than temperature, though a hard frost can ruin fall foliage prematurely.

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“Significant wind or rain can blow the leaves off the trees. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen,” said Amy Barrett, a public information officer of parks and trails at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Leaves in Burnsville and the rest of the metro are just starting to turn.

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“There is still a lot more peaking in the Twin Cities,” Barrett said.

However, there are destinations relatively close by that are ready for leaf-lovers from Burnsville. Though it may seem counterintuitive, the area that is in the fullest glow of fall color is located in the southwest part of Minnesota about two hours away from Burnsville. Though, fall leaves usually turn north to south, the pocket around Fort Ridgely State Park got a kick-start earlier this month with a sustained frost that was more severe than elsewhere in the region. The flowers, trees, and grasses at Fort Ridgely will reach their peak simultaneously this weekend, just in time for a presentation by WCCO Meteorologist Mike Lynch this Saturday, who will teach crowds at Ridgley how to spot autumn constellations in the night sky.

Barrett also recommended Lake Maria, a one-hour trek north of the cities, or Wild River, a park on the Wisconsin-Minnesota Border. Both are scheduled to attain their most vibrant colors in the next few days.

For procrastinators, the southeast portion of the state will be the last to peak — most likely in mid-October. Barrett said that the southeast typically peaks after the southwest, even though they are on the same latitude.  She attributed this to the distinct differences in plant life between the two regions. The east is home to deciduous forests — maples, ash and other trees that turn bright orange and red. The southwest is a dominated by prairie species which turn faster.

For more information, the DNR also compiles a complete, park-by-park guide to fall color in Minnesota that can be found online. Reports on fall color are updated each Thursday at noon.


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