When will the peak colors be best for leaf peeping?

Oct. 7—Leaf peeping season is upon us.

When can we expect to see the peak, and where can we go to get a peek?

Predicting the week of peak leaf becomes a favorite fall activity as we plan our weekend outings to coincide with the brightest colors.

Rick Hartlieb, assistant district forester in the William Penn forest district, puts the peak for Berks County around the third week of October.

"I always think that our peak is going to be about Oct. 24, give or take," he said. "And that seems pretty consistent regardless of the kind of weather."

There have been concerns about the long spell of dry weather this summer having an effect on the vividness of the fall display, but Hartlieb is optimistic.

"My personal gut feeling is that the dry spell won't affect the colors much," he said. "Western Berks seems to have been affected a lot more with the drought than southern and eastern Berks. On the other hand, we've gotten some really nice rains, and the trees are still moving the water. So that might help cover the loss that they had with the drought this summer."

Bracken Brown, biologist at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, is looking at a later date for the fall show along the Blue Mountain.

"Our predicted peak is actually just before Halloween for our region of Pennsylvania," he said. "We did have a lot of early leaf drop this season when we came out of that dry period."

Brown also believes that the September rains may make up for the deficit from the summer and will give us a good fall show.

So, what can we expect?

"The first trees turning that you're going to see are the black walnuts with yellowing of the leaves," Hartlieb said. "And those are going to be along fence rows and old ag areas. From there, you start to get some black gums and red maple starting. And then tulip poplar starts in early to mid-October, and that's when the oaks start, too.

"We have a lot of those trees, and those colors really start in early October, and then they ramp up to the third week of October as peak."

Because of the nature of the Kittatinny Ridge, Brown sees the color spectrum at Hawk Mountain a little differently, almost with a flair reserved for fine wines.

"We have our forests on the south side, and the ridge is mainly dominated by oak, tulip poplar and hickory, and all those fall in those rich, golden-yellow colors," he said. "Northside we get a little more of the red maple and black gum, then that can be early and those are brighter reds in here right along the top of the ridge."

The black gums can be a really nice show as their leaves start to change earlier, he said.

"Then you get the mid-range season where the birches, hickories, tulip poplar are all shifting, and most of those are going to be in the yellow category and then finish off with beech and oak trees," he said.

In the Berks parts of Penn's Woods, we have a seemingly unlimited opportunity to view the changing season.

Hartlieb has his favorite spots in central and southern Berks.

"We have the Hopewell Big Woods area with French Creek State Park and Hopewell furnace," he said. "My favorite places to go are the reservoirs in the Birdsboro waters because you're not near traffic. The pine trees are surrounding the lake and reflect off of the waters, and you get some of the color from the tulip poplar and the forest that surrounds them."

Hartlieb also likes to drive through the Oley hills along Oysterdale Road for fall colors.

He also emphasizes that we shouldn't discount our urban forested areas.

"We do a lot of work with our urban community forests," he said, "and there are some really unique specimen trees that produce an awesome fall color."

He points to the gingkoes in the arboretum at the Reading Public Museum and in Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading.

"Before you know it, the gingkoes seem like they turn a beautiful yellow color almost overnight," he said. "We'll get a really nice color show out of them for a week or 10 days. A lot of our ornamental maples give a really vibrant show. And that helps to supplement a lot of the duller walnuts that we might have."

Brown, of course, is partial to his vantage point from the North Lookout at Hawk Mountain.

"Some of my favorite views are in late October when looking down late in the day at a golden eagle backdropped against that nice, rich, golden ridge line there," he said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has begun a fall foliage report on its website that tracks the progression of the changing colors at https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/Conservation/ForestsAndTrees/FallFoliageReports/Pages/default.aspx.

Brown offers some good advice to heighten the enjoyment of leaf watching.

"For anyone coming out to see the fall leaves, don't forget your binoculars," he said. "Not only do they get you a closer look at the tree colors, you might be lucky and be up on a good migration day.

"You might get some fall raptors mixing in with that fall foliage."