Fall Color Report Sept 29 – Oct 6, 2021

Time again to begin our weekly fall color reports for the Baraboo Hills and Devil’s Lake State Park! We offer this personal report with photos each season because here in the Baraboo Hills we have so many little microclimates that rating the area by a “percent of color” doesn’t really tell the story. And really, “peak” is only a moment in a much longer season of color that we can all enjoy. So here’s what you can expect right now…

Note: All photos taken on Sept 29th, 2021

We’re still a few weeks from peak color in our area. The Wisconsin Fall Color Map is rating Sauk County at about 25% changed. What we’re seeing on the ground is that areas getting the most sun or where trees are stressed are changing fast as we would expect. This means there’s some great color on city streets and around the parking lots such as here at Devil’s Lake State Park. Popular but more shaded areas such as Pewit’s Nest and Parfrey’s Glen do not have a lot of color at this point.

Photographers can look forward to finding colorful individual trees for your portrait shots and selfies. (Don’t expect a lot of leaves on the ground under those trees yet.) If you’re looking for wide panoramas of color you’ll have to wait. The Baraboo Hills on the whole are still looking mostly green with just a hint of yellows.

Popular scenic fall color drives are also going to be at their best in a couple more weeks. Devil’s Lake State Park’s entrance road is still mostly green as well. In fact, the entrance road to the park is usually at its peak about a week later than the rest of the park.

If you’re looking for more information on the best locations for fall colors in our area, check out our “Fall Colors in the Devil’s Lake Region” page.

So all in all, there’s some color out there but if you want big swaths of color you’d be better off waiting a little while longer.

Here are a few more photos from around Devil’s Lake State Park today.

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