California's Gold: Aspen, Willow, Oak & Friends

Autumn might just be my favorite season in the Sierra Nevada. Maybe. Gone are summer's long, lazy days of exploring creeks in cutoffs and swimming in mountain lakes. But I'll make the exchange, for golden leaves swirling on the breeze and crunching underfoot, chilly nights with starry skies, cozy flannel shirts and woolly mittens holding warm beverages around the campfire...

We spent last weekend on the Eastern side of the Sierra, taking in the sights and reveling in the beauty of the season. And I can safely say, fall is in full swing: now is the time to get out and see the fall colors!


California is known as the golden state for the obvious reason: gold was discovered here, triggering a booming gold rush during the mid-to-late 1800's. But I'd like to add a few more of my own reasons for the nickname.

In spring, golden carpets of wildflowers spread across hills and valleys in varying hues: California poppies, goldfields, tidytips and their yellow composite kin. As spring fades into summer, grasses turn from green to gold. (Not "brown," mind you. Gold.) Mile after endless mile of golden hills reach nearly every corner of the state, blanketed in these sleeping grasses (which are mostly introduced annual species, but that's a story for another day). Even during the winter months, seemingly endless golden sunshine streams down on this land called California.

Gold medallions! Aspen leaves shine in the sunlight.

And during this season of changing autumn winds, as the heat of summers wanes before the coming winter, the predominant fall foliage color in California's varied woodlands is gold.


Without a doubt, the undisputed star of the autumn show in California and across the West is the aspen.

A grove of golden aspens

Tall, stately trees with smooth, elegant white trunks and masses of gracefully trembling leaves, the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) easily steals the show, lighting up canyons, creek beds and lake sides of the Sierra Nevada with brilliant gold foliage.

The beautifully smooth, white bark of the aspen

The aspen certainly deserves its reputation as the golden star of the west.

A grove of aspens, tucked in a low spot in the Bodie Hills

But there are other, more humble deciduous trees and shrubs that are worth praising as well, as they quietly contribute critical background harmonies to the aspens' brilliant melody.

Creek-side willows showing their fall colors

Various species of willow (Salix spp.) turn lovely shades of gold in the autumn, and can be found lining nearly every damp place throughout our wild lands. Pictured above, rusty gold willows line a peaceful creek.

Golden fall leaves of black oak

Black oak (Quercus kelloggii), above, and Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum), below, are both important elements in the autumnal symphony of the west. Both are majestic trees with striking foliage that turns golden (and even red and rust-colored, in the case of black oak) in the fall, and both are scattered throughout the mountains of California, in mixed evergreen and yellow pine forests; big-leaf maple is likely to be found in riparian areas as well.

Bigleaf maple leaves, just beginning to turn from bright green of summer to autumn gold

Related to quaking aspen, black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) both display golden fall color as well, and are more widely distributed across the state.


One of our few native trees with truly red fall foliage is the mountain dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), found growing as an understory tree in pine forests throughout the Sierra and mountains of northern California.

Mountain dogwood, just beginning to turn, in Yosemite Valley

Red fall foliage of mountain dogwood (pictured here in the snow, near Calaveras Big Trees

But the forests are painted gold by more than just trees. Currants and gooseberries (Ribes spp.), thimbleberries and other brambles (Rubus spp.), wild roses (Rosa spp.) and even ferns add a delightful touch of unexpected color to the understory and forest floor.

Ribes sp.
Rubus sp. (Thimbleberry)



Golden ferns


Rosa sp.

 Late summer and fall is also the season when rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) really shines. Brilliant gold late-season flowers are followed by golden-tan puffy seed heads. These subshrubs are found in dry, mostly arid parts of mountainous regions and are common throughout the Great Baisin desert, east of the Sierra Nevada.


Rabbitbrush, near Mono Lake
Rabbitbrush in the Bodie Hills



Autumn is certainly a wonderful time to take a walk in the woods! I recommend the following places in central California:

* Eastern Sierra: One of my favorite places on the planet (though I've been known to say that about many places...) Mono and Inyo counties are well-known for their splendid show of aspens, which generally reach peak color in mid-to-late October. Check Mammoth Lake's website for more ideas, and download their Fall Color Map. The Eastern Sierra is really the place to go to see aspens in all their autumnal glory.

* Western Sierra: My stomping grounds. Lassen, Plumas and Tahoe National Forests put on a display of mellow fall color in October and even into November. More southerly national forests are worth investigating as well, like El Dorado, Stanislaus and Sierra National Forests. In my experience, fall color in Yosemite Valley seems to peak during the first two or three weeks of November. Try Calaveras Big Trees State Park for red mountain dogwoods.

* North Coast: Not to be left out, Big Leaf Maples and other trees color the north coast forests of California as well. Near the Bay Area, Big Basin Redwoods State Park has miles of hiking trails and a mild climate year-round.

For more fall color locations, the California state parks system has published this no-frills list of parks.


In California's forests, expect pockets of color rather than sweeping New England hillsides of fiery red maples. Often, hidden gems of color are found along rivers and streams. Weather plays a big role in intensity and timing of fall colors, so no two years are quite the same. But the fall color show lasts quite a while in California, slowly progressing from high elevations to low over the season.

A perfect day for a walk in the woods!

 Check out this website, dedicated exclusively to California fall color. It even has a map showing locations where fall color is at its peak!

I highly encourage you to get outdoors and explore the beauty our golden state has to offer this autumn!

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