Social Distancing: See Peak Fall Colors Before They Go Away

Fall colors are spreading fast. And they’ll be gone before we know it. If you can head out for a nice socially distanced trip through nature, great. If not, here’s a taste.

The girlfriend and I took a trip back to Itasca State Park this weekend. And It. Was. Magnificent. Jaw-dropping colors everywhere you looked. Yellows. Reds. Oranges. The orange trees are my favorites. It’s all intermixed with trees that kept their lush green color into fall.
It was nuts. It felt like we were driving through a golden forest. The bright colors made everything look and feel lighter, even though we were there on a grey, drizzly day.
You had trees lining the road. Tranquil lakes surrounded with an entire palette of colors. Now, there were more people than usual. We avoided going to the Mississippi River Headwaters because of crowds. I mentioned the crowds to a gift shop employee, and she said when the news tells everyone this weekend is peak color, people are gonna come out.

Oops…sorry.

But nearly everywhere else there was plenty of space to feel at one with nature and enjoy her majesty.

These colors change fast. Check this out.

We went to Itasca just two weeks ago. Here are pictures from the same spot just two weeks apart. This is Lake Ozawindib, one of our favorite spots. It’s beautiful, and kind of off the beaten path.
But look at how much the colors changed in just two weeks. The surrounding forest went from full green to a rainbow of fall foliage.

To see how much things are changing, check out the Minnesota fall color finder from the DNR.
A huge chunk of the northern part of the state is in peak fall colors. That’s the red part on the map. That area includes Itasca, and stretches down to Maplewood State Park.
Our immediate ares is still about 50 to 75 percent peak color. That includes Buffalo River State Park near Glyndon.
But get out and check them out soon if you can. The colors are changing quickly.

How are you enjoying fall so far? Send me some of your fall colors photos.
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