Pennyrile Forest Naturalist and Recreation Blog

We have had a beautiful fall at Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park. The leaves of the forest have reached peak. Most of the oaks have started to change to dark reds, oranges, and browns. There are many trees showing off golden orange currently. The forest is edged in the reds of the small but beautiful flowering dogwood. Hearts-a-bursting-with-love are also showing off their beautiful red leaves. If you haven't visited Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park this fall now is the time to do it. We expect some of the color to hang on through early November.

Below are the photos of the beautiful fall color from yesterday:
The view from our boat dock.














View of lakeside cottages.














View of golf course taken from the rough.

Rain and strong winds this week have caused more of the colorful leaves to fall, but the oaks in the forest have not changed substantially since last week's blog entry. The total forest change at Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park is probably about 75%. The most outstanding color this week can be seen in the maples which are turning yellow, red and/or orange. Other species showing nice color are the beautiful yellow orange of the hickories. Below are the photos taken yesterday take time to compare them to the color of week one. Enjoy!

Recent rains in the Pennyrile Region have caused some of the colorful leaves to fall to the forest floor, but there is still loads of color on the trees. The oaks are starting to shed their greens for oranges and browns. The entire forest is at 50-70 % change.

The forest at Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park is ablaze with fall color. The over all color change is approximately 20-30%. Some species of trees are at close to 100% change. The species showing the most color now are sumacs (red), blackgum (red), sourwood (red), sycamore (yellow), maples (red/orange/yellow), poison ivy (red), Virginia creeper (red), ash (yellow), hickories (yellow) and dogwood (red to purple). The state tree the tulip poplar is changing to yellow as well. Some oaks are beginning to change, but they are usually the last of the deciduous trees to change color.