It's taking awhile for the leaves to change color for fall this year, as the month of September has been the fourth warmest month on record, according to Mass Live.
John O'Keefe, a retired museum coordinator from Springfield in Massachusetts, is getting weary, as foliage is one of the highlights his town, delighting visitors that come to the area in time for Columbus Day.
"I was a little concerned a week or two ago that it might be kind of dull," O'Keefe said in the Mass Live report. "Who knows? You never know until it happens."
"Once we have shorter days, now we are officially in fall," said Justin Compton, a biology professor at Springfield College in the same report. "That sun is going to start coming up lower and lower on the horizon and there is less sunlight."
To witness the best fall foliage spots in Massachusetts, the Yankee Foliage has provided an online map.
Over in Ohio, leaves started changing colors around Sept. 30, but local forester Casey Burdick said that it has indeed been late this year. "That is because we've had such a good growing season this year with all the rain that we've had," Burdick said, via Lima Ohio. "[The trees] are healthy, so they're going to stay greener longer."
However, Burdick also said that the wait may be worth it, as she expects that it's going to be a good year for gorgeous color changes. She noted that the best sites to witness fall foliage in their locale are at the John Bryan State Park, Mohican State Park, the areas near Yellow Springs, or the forests near Loudenville and the Hocking Hills region near Athens.
Parks are teeming with guests in October specifically for this reason, and some of the best areas to visit, aside from the sites in Massachusetts and Ohio, include:
1. Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, where travelers can see the leaves change color from 4,000 feet.
2. Angel's Rest-Devil's Rest in the Greater Portland Area, where hikers can enjoy the trail that leads to waterfalls and gorgeous viewpoints.
3. Blue Ridge Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina, which reports that the peak of the foliage or when the leavers are at its brightest colors, may happen between Oct. 18 to 27.
4. Niagara Falls in New York, which has an online map that already indicates which areas have midpoint color change.
5. Green Mountains in Vermont, where 30 to 40 percent of the forests in the northern area are already yellow in color as of this time, according to the Vermont Department of Tourism.
Below are some amazing photos taken by Instagrammers of the leaves changing colors in the last few days:
