Michigan becomes one big giant canvas in the fall as leaves turn vibrant reds and golds before the whites of winter set in.
If you are hopping in the car to take in the autumn colors, we talked with Mark Torregrossa, Chief Meteorologist for MLive and farmerweather.com, to see where you can find peak areas.
“Northern lower Michigan, inland areas change earlier, and those areas have peaked, and some areas are losing leaves,” Torregrossa said.
“But the beautiful thing about Michigan is our water, and our water keeps area warmer, so the shoreline areas like downtown Traverse City, Old Mission Peninsula, Leelanau County, the shoreline area…Charlevoix to Petoskey, still are peaking in color. So, this weekend’s jaunt to see fall color, you should include a beach look.”
Torregrossa says another way to get the most bang for your color-tour buck is by taking “M-roads” or Michigan State highways and county highways.
If you are coming from the east, here is one of his favorite drives:
“One of the best routes, in my mind, is going from Bay City to Traverse City on U.S.10 through Midland, to Clare and then on 115; M-115 is pretty much a hardwood type drive up through Cadillac and then you get on 37 (M-37) at Mesick going north to Traverse City, and that’s a hardwood drive also.”
Hardwoods are trees like maples, oaks, nut trees and hickory; those are the ones that produce those spectacular reds and golden colors. The county roads will most likely have a whole stretch of these trees that really pop.
He says I-75 has trees far away from the roads and lots of pines which do not turn with the seasons.
While Michigan did have a descent drought this summer which typically can make leaves drop early, Torregossa says that did not happen.
“Now, here’s one thing we had this summer and that may have been an influence, and that was the wildfires' smoke,” he added. “It cut the sunlight somewhat and that may have affected some of the fall color.”
If you want pops of color in your own yard, Torregrossa says when you go to the nursery this time of year, pick the trees that have the great color right now like maples and oaks.
“I always say Michigan is like a four weekend fall color tour. One weekend starts in the U.P. Next weekend it’s probably the interior parts of lower Michigan. The next weekend it’s probably like the shoreline areas of northern lower Michigan, like we’re at this weekend and then eventually the final weekend it moves into the far southern, southwestern side of the state and some great color there.” Torregrossa said.
The "don’t miss list” put out by micountyroads.org could be another great resource to see a breakdown of peak color timing. Michigan.org also puts out its own fall guide.