California fall foliage

How fall color moves through California

California’s best-known fall color is the golden aspen of the eastern Sierra, and it comes early, starting in the highest canyons in late September. Rock Creek Canyon, where the road climbs to about 9,700 feet, typically peaks first, around September 27, followed by Monitor Pass around October 2 and Bishop Creek Canyon around October 4. Lundy Canyon, Mammoth Lakes, and June Lake come next, from about October 6 to October 8, then Hope Valley around October 9 and South Lake Tahoe around October 13. Lower down, where oaks, maples, and dogwoods carry the color, the season runs later: Mount Shasta typically peaks around October 23, Quincy around October 27, and Yosemite Valley, typically last, around October 29.

Best places for California fall foliage

• Rock Creek Canyon, off US 395 at Tom’s Place, climbs to Rock Creek Lake and Little Lakes Valley and is typically the first California destination to peak.
• Monitor Pass, on Highway 89 in Alpine County, crosses big aspen groves spread over open sagebrush slopes.
• Bishop Creek Canyon, west of Bishop on Route 168, has aspen around Lake Sabrina, North Lake, and South Lake.
• Lundy Canyon, just north of Mono Lake, has aspen, beaver ponds, and waterfalls, with Conway Summit nearby on US 395.
• Mammoth Lakes is close to Convict Lake and McGee Creek, two well-known places for aspen.
• June Lake sits on the June Lake Loop, a horseshoe-shaped canyon with four lakes beneath Carson Peak.
• Hope Valley, just south of Lake Tahoe, has aspen around meadows along the West Fork of the Carson River.
• South Lake Tahoe has aspen along Taylor Creek and the way to Fallen Leaf Lake, near the lakeshore.
• Quincy, in Plumas County, has dogwood, bigleaf maple, oak, and cottonwood in the valleys of the northern Sierra, and turns late, in the last week of October.
• Mount Shasta has bigleaf maple, oak, and dogwood below the volcano, with Lake Siskiyou and the McCloud River falls nearby.
• Yosemite Valley has black oaks, dogwoods, and bigleaf maples below El Capitan and Half Dome, and is typically the last to peak.

Scenic drives

US 395 runs the length of the eastern Sierra, with side roads into the aspen canyons: Route 168 to Bishop Creek, Rock Creek Road at Tom’s Place, the road to Convict Lake near Mammoth Lakes, the June Lake Loop (Route 158), and the road to Lundy Lake near Lee Vining. North of Mono Lake, US 395 crosses Conway Summit, its highest point. Highway 89 crosses Monitor Pass and continues past Hope Valley and over Luther Pass to Lake Tahoe, and Highway 88 climbs over Carson Pass. In the northern Sierra, Highway 70, the Feather River Scenic Byway, follows the Feather River canyon near Quincy, and near Mount Shasta, Highway 89 is part of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway.

Planning around elevation

In the Sierra Nevada, elevation matters more than anything else. The aspen in the high eastern canyons, above 8,000 feet, turn first, in late September, and the color works its way downhill over the next few weeks. The lower valleys on the west side of the range, like Yosemite Valley at about 4,000 feet, turn last. If one canyon is past peak, try a lower one nearby, and if it is still green, head higher.