Leaf season begins its descent across Western North Carolina
Early color is appearing high in the mountains while many valleys remain greener. Across WNC, the season moves by elevation and location—not all at once.
Outdoors
Travel & Outdoors · WNC Life
The roads, ridgelines and small-town stops that make a day in the mountains feel like its own reward.
A local-food day along N.C. 209
A flexible Haywood-to-Madison drive with enough good stops to make the road the destination.
A high-country stop
Parkway MP 418.8 · Graveyard Fields
Second Falls, Graveyard Fields
A short walk with some stairs leads from the Parkway lot to Second Falls, in a high valley that is usually among the first places to turn in fall. The lot fills by late morning on nice days.
NPS Graveyard Fields trail and waterfall information ↗