Fall foliage in South Carolina

South Carolina’s foliage is concentrated in the Upstate and arrives at the end of October. The Blue Ridge escarpment at Caesars Head, Table Rock and Jones Gap turns in the last week of the month, with the lakes and foothills around Devils Fork following in the first week of November. The Piedmont and the Midlands follow in mid-November with sweetgum and dogwood, and the bottomland hardwoods at Congaree color at about the same time. The coast fades late in the month.

Those are the months when color is present somewhere in South Carolina, from its highest ground to its lowest. Any one location changes over a much shorter period than that.

Why the timing shifts from year to year

Shortening days start the process, so most places in South Carolina change at close to their usual time each year. Within the state, elevation and latitude account for most of the difference: higher and more northern ground generally changes first, and lower, sheltered ground last. Weather has more effect on how strong the color is than on when it appears. Cool nights and sunny days favor the reds, a dry summer mutes them, and a hard freeze or a windstorm can strip a slope in a day. What determines the timing goes through this in detail.

Nearby states

Fall color does not follow state lines. South Carolina borders:

• Georgia fall foliage
• North Carolina fall foliage

Timing for a specific place

This page describes a whole state, which is about as precise as a season can be described in words. Conditions at one overlook on one weekend are a narrower question, and that is the one Fallcast answers: an expected period of color for a specific location, with a confidence attached, updated through the season as the trees change. It is coming to iPhone this fall.

Questions, or somewhere in South Carolina you would like covered? Write to fallcastapp@gmail.com.