Fall Colors Along Nebo Loop

Trees are starting to color up in the high country of northern Utah.

I drove the Nebo Loop National Scenic Byway this morning, taking the long way home from a business meeting, and enjoyed seeing the early stages of the annual extravaganza of color that occurs every fall.

Here and there an aspen branch glowed sunny yellow, even while all the other leaves on the same tree were deep green. A few trees and shrubs were almost completely red, standing out against their still-green siblings, and against the never-changing pine trees.

It looks like the colors will peak in northern Utah mountain areas about the first week of October. Northern Utah valleys and the southern Utah high country will follow a couple weeks later. November will be the key month for show colors at lower elevations in southern Utah.

Utah’s scenic byways and backways are excellent routes for people who want to auto tour to see the colors. This special page describes our best fall drives.

I stopped for a few minutes at the Devil’s Kitchen Geologic Interest area, near the top of the Nebo Loop (at an elevation of about 9,000 feet). It’s a very impressive site, with formations that are somewhat similar to those at Bryce Canyon, only on a smaller scale.

I think I’ll go back in a couple weeks, when the colors are peaking, and time my drive to catch the late afternoon light. The area will be incredibly photogenic at that time.

- Dave Webb