This time of year, it is New England that gets all the attention from travel planners for its famous fall foliage. That’s OK. Here in the Southwest, where we enjoy amazing colors and light all year round, we can begrudge the Easterners their one month in the spotlight.
But fall in the southwest is a special time in the American desert. The blazing summer sun gives way to a softer, lower-angled light that dances on the region’s signature rock formations and canyon cliff walls in photograph-worthy backdrops. If possible, our sunrises and sunsets are even more memorable this time of year. The Grand Canyon never photographs better.
Rather than a full conversion to reds and oranges, the bursts of color from desert plants selectively punctuate the landscape. Canyon hackberry, honey locust and streamside willows all dress up for arboreal fall displays. For those hankering for traditional blankets of fall colors, heading up into the high country of Zion or Bryce for leaf peeping expeditions catches the aspens, cottonwoods and maples in glistening varieties of golden yellows and reds.
And of course that summer heat is gone. Fall is the time to load up the pack and head for the trail or launch a kayak and enjoy the ideal outdoor temperatures of the Southwest. Sunny weather is still the default setting in the desert so you will need to keep the sunscreen ready but if you have been putting off that low-elevation desert excursion autumn is the time to unwrap those plans. In fall, think warm and delightful and not cool and crisp. Just don’t gloat too loudly about the secret wonders of Southwest autumnal splendor – New Englanders already have six months of winter to grouch about. You don’t want to take their bragging rights to fall away as well.
