Florida Fall Color

When most people think of fall color and 'leaf watching' they think of places like New England, the Smokey Mountains, etc. It's usually places which are all north of an imaginary line from North Georgia on upwards. Florida is probably the last place where most folks would think to go looking for fall color. But here in North Florida, we do indeed have a change of color! It just isn't as obvious as it is further north. You kind of have to work for it to see it. It will be scattered in areas where there are concentrations of deciduous trees such as cypresses, maples, dogwoods, some oaks, and hickories. As it is further north, it is dependent on the particular weather conditions we have encountered in our 'fall season', which doesn't typically start until late October or early November for us. If my memory serves me correctly, if we have an early cold snap with temps in the low 40's or high 30's, it tends to create better color than if we don't get those conditions. Peak color here is typically around the last week of November.

One of my favorite places to go for color in this area is the Santa Fe River. The riverbank has lots of maples and cypresses which will all drop their leaves and will usually provide a nice, though often subtle, color palette.

The two images below were both taken by the shore of the Santa Fe River.

Small spring on Santa Fe

Small spring on Santa Fe

Cypresses on the banks of the Santa Fe

Cypresses on the banks of the Santa Fe