Fall foliage in Nevada not to be missed

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Nevadans enjoy an extended fall color season, starting soon in the high mountains and ending in the lower desert in December. Quaking aspen trees and their cousins, the poplars and cottonwoods, put on the best color in our state, changing to shades of gold from pale butter yellow to bright persimmon.

The kinds of oaks and maples native to Nevada turn bronze and russet, their colors more subtle than those displayed by their larger kin elsewhere in the country. Many woody shrubs contribute to the Nevada autumn color palette, such as fruiting plants like elderberry, chokecherry and squaw currant. Throughout the state roadside showoffs include mustard-colored rabbit brush and late wildflowers.

Plan high-country foliage outings first, for the season is brief and glorious and gone by mid-October. Enjoy color close to Las Vegas with a trip into the Spring Mountains west of the city. Stands of aspen in Kyle, Lee and Deer Creek canyons start changing color by the third week of September. Drive the scenic loop from U.S. 95 created by Highway 157 into Kyle Canyon, the Deer Creek Road, and Highway 156 into Lee Canyon. Be sure to drive up into the canyons to the end of pavement for the best high color views.

You’ll have to travel some distance to see color in other alpine regions in the state. Folks around Ely boast of colorful autumns in Great Basin National Park and in the Schell Creek Range along the Success Summit Loop, while residents of Elko say you can’t match the color in Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains. Central Nevadans know the canyons cut by streams in the Toiyabe and Toquima ranges north of Tonopah provide autumn splendor not as well known, but just as beautiful. Access these areas from Highway 376 through the Big Smoky Valley.

Great Basin National Park lies about 190 miles from Las Vegas by way of U.S. 93, U.S. 6 and the park road from Baker. Take the 12-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Road for splendid views of he colorful foliage and surrounding scenery. In Great Basin, the scenery is not all above ground. Take time to tour beautiful Lehman Caves, changeless all year despite the season in the rest of the park.

A spectacular scenic drive, the Success Summit Loop runs from U.S. 93 north or south of Ely and returns by way of a forested pass and deep canyons, passing through Cave Lake State Park. Relatively short, this mostly paved loop route accesses unspoiled back country brilliant with color until frost.

Often called “Nevada’s Alps,” the Ruby Mountains lie the length of the state away from Las Vegas, a drive of 430 miles to Elko. To reach gorgeous Lamoille Canyon with its outstanding fall scenery, drive 32 miles from Elko into the mountains. The road passes through picturesque Lamoille, a village right out of the Old West. Obtain details on this part of Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and other high mountain areas in Nevada from U.S. Forest Service offices located in the interagency building on Torrey Pines just south of Lone Mountain Road.

Long after autumn breezes scatter aspen leaves to cloak the forest floor, their kin the cottonwoods clutch their colorful finery against the oncoming cold. Wherever there is enough water to foster vegetation in the desert, the color lingers. It brightens canyons, lake shores and watercourses with glowing shades through the long, mellow season. Admire late season color along U.S. 95 around Beatty along the Amargosa River, near Schurz along the Walker River, along the Carson River near Fallon and along the Truckee River from Reno to Pyramid Lake.

Travel north on U.S. 93 to Pahranagat Valley for lovely late autumn scenes. Sleek cattle and horses graze in pasture turning tawny on the ranches near the highway. Stop at the roadside picnic areas to admire stands of golden-topped cottonwoods near the lakes, their glory doubled by reflections in the water.

Continue on U.S. 93 to explore the Meadow Valley area north of Caliente, then return home from Caliente through Rainbow Canyon on the Kane Springs Wash cutoff. This beautiful canyon with its ranch lands, orchards, lush vegetation and stands of cottonwood, ash and willow is a scenic back route known best to Lincoln County residents. Allow time for stops at Kershaw-Ryan State Park and Nevada’s newest historic park, the restored Elgin Schoolhouse.

Margo Bartlett Pesek’s column appears on Sundays.