Davis, West Virginia fall foliage

Davis sits high on the Allegheny plateau, at about 3,100 feet, where the color comes weeks ahead of the lowlands. In Blackwater Falls State Park, just outside town, the Blackwater River drops 57 feet into an eight-mile canyon, its amber water stained by tannins from fallen hemlock and spruce needles. A short, nearly level walk leads to Lindy Point, a rock outcrop looking straight down the canyon, and Pendleton Point has another view from the rim. The hardwoods here include yellow birch, American beech, black cherry, and red maple. To the south, Canaan Valley is a broad high valley ringed by mountains.

Route 32 runs south from Davis through Canaan Valley, with open meadows on the valley floor and wooded ridges on both sides. To the east, gravel Forest Road 75 leads up to Bear Rocks at the northern edge of the Dolly Sods Wilderness, where open plains of huckleberry and blueberry turn deep red in fall in a high, open landscape that feels far north of West Virginia.