The best days for 2024 leaf peeping, enjoying fall colors in SW Ohio

According to the Smithsonian Institute, the fall’s shorter days cause green-tinting chlorophyll to break down. This “reveals yellow and orange pigments that were already in the leaves but masked during the warmer months.”

While sunlight plays a big role in this process, other factors exist as well. For example, darker red colors are caused by materials like sugar being trapped in the leaf during this process.

“Weather can obviously have an impact as well,” said Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s Fall Color Forester David Parrott. “Heavy rain or a drought can impact how vibrant the leaves may change.”

This dependency on weather can also make it difficult for the ODNR to discover trends.

“It just seems so variable from year to year, but I mean as best we can tell, that’s primarily due to weather,” Parrott said.

The color-changing process also takes weeks to complete, and doesn’t start at the same time throughout the state. Parrott said Ohio’s transition starts at the beginning of October, noting the colors “change sooner in the north and then that change works its way further south.”

With that in mind, Parrott predicted the best time to view fall leaves in the Southwest Ohio area “is likely gonna take place within that last week of October.”

This is when the leaves are predicted to have prime pigmentation, with minimal tree shedding.

More information about Ohio’s fall season can be found at ohiodnr.gov.