Fall Foliage Map 2018: When Autumn Leaves Peak In Illinois

ILLINOIS — Though temperatures in Chicagoland have started to dip slightly, it still looks and feels like summer in most of the country, but fall is approaching and leaves will soon change colors to blazing reds, vibrant oranges and sunny yellows. Exactly when will that happen in Illinois? You can’t know precisely, but there’s a tool to help you plan excursions around the dates when fall foliage should be at its most fabulous.

The Fall Foliage Prediction Map, found on the Smoky Mountain National Park website, includes predictions not just for the Smokies, which rise above the Tennessee-North Carolina border, but for all 50 states. In Illinois, fall colors are expected to peak around the week of Oct. 29. That's when fall colors in most of northern Illinois will be at their peak, and the lower half of the state will be nearing its peak, according to the map.

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A week earlier — the week of Oct. 22 — will see fall colors peaking in the absolute northernmost tip of the state, near its peak in the Chicago area and with partial fall splendor in the southern part of the state. If you wait a week later — until the week of Nov. 5 — you will likely miss it, with fall foliage past its peak in most of the state, according to the map.

Illinois offers some stunning vistas during autumn, including several in state parks:

Starved Rock State Park in LaSalle County is renowned for its beauty, especially in the fall. It's even been named Conde Nast Traveler's Most Beautiful Place In Illinois and Thrillist's Best Illinois State Park.

Matthiesen State Park, LaSalle County: When you're done exploring Starved Rock, head a few miles south to Matthiesen State Park, also located along State Route 178.

Mississippi Palisades State Park, Savanna: This scenic destination, just a three-hour drive from Chicago, was one of Patch readers' best family vacation destination picks and offers boating, camping, fishing, hiking, geocaching and more, and has easy access for Mississippi River steamboat rides.

Giant City State Park, Makanda: A shooting location for 2014's "Gone Girl" and another Best Family Vacation destination pick, this park close to Carbondale has hiking, fishing, boating and more.

Pere Marquette State Park, Grafton: Located along the Mississippi River, this 8,000-acre state park is a "nature lover's paradise," and is "famous for the exceptional beauty of its fall colors and for its wintering bald eagles," according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Have a favorite fall foliage destination in Illinois? Let us know in the comments

If you’re planning a trip somewhere else, the Fall Foliage Prediction Map can help you pinpoint the best dates for a visit. (Get Patched In: Subscribe to free daily email, news alerts, Facebook fun and more from Patch)

You probably remember from science class that the color change all starts with photosynthesis. Leaves constantly churn out chlorophyll — a key component in a plant’s ability to turn sunlight into the glucose it needs to stay healthy — from spring through early fall. Those cells saturate the leaves, making them appear green to the human eye.

But leaves aren’t green at all. Autumn is the time for leaves’ big reveal: their true color, unveiled as chlorophyll production grinds to a haltl. The colors in fall’s breathtaking tapestry are influenced by other compounds, according to the national park’s website.

For example, beta-carotenes reflect the yellow and red light from the sun and give leaves an orange hue. The production of anthocyanin, which gives leaves their vivid red color, ramps up in the fall, protecting and prolonging the leaf’s life on a tree throughout autumn.

And those yellows that make you feel as if you’re walking in a ray of sunshine?

They’re produced by flavonol, which is part of the flavonoid protein family. It’s always present in leaves, but doesn’t show itself until chlorophyll production begins to slow.

Photo by David Chapman / imageBROKER/Shutterstock