State Of Illinois Releases Fall Colors Guide For Leaf Lovers

Since trees and the leaves they employ on a seasonal basis can't be bothered to join a social media platform to let Illinois residents know when the optimum time for Fall foliage viewing is here, EnjoyIllinois.com is doing it for them.

Judging by their guidance and predictions of the best viewing dates for all of Illinois, I can tell you that here in the Rockford area, we have only a few days before the best in Fall colors show up.

If You Time Things Right, You Can Spend Most Of October Enjoying Illinois Fall Colors

By timing things right, I mean that you can take a day or two of the next 3 weeks taking a ride to different parts of Illinois to catch the color-changing. Since our state is so big, everything doesn't go off at once. We start here in the Rockford area next week, then the show keeps moving south. Enjoy Illinois calls our area "Chicago and Beyond," which covers almost all of Northern Illinois, and they expect the colors to be vibrant in the second week of October.

The Other Parts Of Illinois Will Follow Rockford's Lead By About A Week

EnjoyIllinois.com breaks Illinois down into four regions for the purposes of fall foliage viewing. As I mentioned, our area is "Chicago and Beyond," while the far-western portion of Illinois from the Wisconsin border down to Missouri is called "Great Rivers Country." Enjoy Illinois says that both regions will experience peak foliage at the same time during the second week of this month.

The middle of Illinois has been labeled "Land of Lincoln," and Enjoy Illinois says that the third week of the month will be a perfect time to roam central Illinois to find the most beautiful colors. Lastly, the bottom two-thirds of Illinois, called "Trails to Adventure" by Enjoy Illinois, will offer up your last best chance of catching fall colors during the last week of the month.