374- Eastern Sierra Fall Colors Report 9-25-26 --GO NOW!-- Bishop Fall Foliage Spots + Yosemite

If you're thinking about chasing fall colors in California's eastern Sierra right now, your biggest mistake would be assuming every spot is looking the same. The colors peak in waves, and I just checked some of the most popular fall color locations from Bishop all the way north to Virginia Lakes, and while one spot might be mostly green, another is already dropping leaves. A couple are getting really close to peak, and this might be the best place I saw on my entire trip. I'm going to show you exactly what everything is looking like right now, where I think it's worth going, and which places I would personally wait on a bit longer. And stay tuned because at the end of this video, I'm even showing Yosemite's current conditions and one of my favorite events of the year that's happening right now inside the park. Hi friends, welcome back to another Flying Dawn Re-Adventure. California's eastern Sierra fall foliage has officially started to arrive, and I'm going to share some of the current conditions with you, so come join me. All of the following footage was captured September 22nd to September 24th, 2026, unless otherwise noted. I started in Bishop and headed north, and because the fall color changes so quickly here, even within a single canyon, I'm going to give you my opinion on where each spot is in the season. Just remember, these predictions aren't an exact science, and I just used them to convey what I saw when I visited. Now let's start with North Lake because it's one of the most photographed fall color locations in the entire eastern Sierra. As I headed up towards North Lake, the lower sections were still that pretty lime green, but the higher up I went, the more the aspen transitioned into bright yellow. And if you are planning on visiting, please drive slowly, even though the one-lane gravel road on the edge of the cliff that leads to North Lake is in good condition right now. As you approach the parking area, you'll see golden aspen lining the road. If you are coming specifically for that iconic North Lake view with the huge channel of brilliant fall color behind the water, I would wait another week because the main channel is still predominantly lime green. I estimate the channel itself is less than 25 percent change, but the colors will be showing up very soon if the drive up is any indication. Just down the road, things look different. Middle Fork Bishop Creek and Sabrina Basin are beautiful right now. Starting off green, the colors are shifting to rich yellow approaching the lake. I'd say already closing in on 50 percent peak colors, and once you reach Lake Sabrina, the colors are popping over 50 percent. Closer to 75, absolutely worth visiting right now. There is one change you need to know about here this year. The construction happening at the dam makes it so you can't currently walk across the dam like you normally would, but you can still walk down beneath the dam to the water or hike around the lake. And just a few minutes away, there's another normally fantastic spot that's having an unusual year. Intake 2 is probably the biggest mixed bag of this trip. In some areas, like near the campground, leaves are already falling and some sections appear to be moving past peak. But turn around and you'll see Aspen completely lime green. Near the docks, there are some beautiful yellow trees just starting to turn, but the bigger story at Intake 2 this year is the water level. A substantial portion of the lake near the campground and picnic area has been drained because of work happening here. Normally this is a favorite place for dreamy reflections of the fall colors in the water, but this year the views are more muddy next to the exposed shoreline. This is still a place to see the fall color, but compared with some of the other locations I saw on my trip, Intake 2 wouldn't be at the top of my list this fall. I also drove above Aspendale, where you can look down to Cardinal Village and across the canyon toward the Sabrina Basin. From higher up, you can see some really stunning fall colors north across the landscape. But here's another great example of how elevation and location make such a difference. Down along the road along Cardinal Village itself, the Aspen colors are still green and lime green. They've got a lot of color still to turn. And now we're getting to one of my favorite spots. Rock Creek is looking spectacular right now. I would personally put this area around or over 75 percent. Maybe not completely peak, but very much in the go now category. The Aspen channels around both sides of the dock are some of my favorite scenes here this week. You get pops of lime green mixed into the yellow, which I think photographs beautifully because it gives this landscape so much variation. And then you also see the bright orange and red mixed in. Although wind and weather can change fall conditions incredibly quickly here, I think next week this spot could be spectacular. But our next stop tops everything on this trip. Sage Penn Summit. This is my number one fall color stop from this particular trip. I visited for sunset and the color was nothing short of unbelievable. Gold, orange, and some of the most incredible fiery red Aspen mixed together here. Sage Penn Summit is often one of the early eastern Sierra peak fall color spots, and it is fast approaching 100 percent peak colors. This is absolutely a place I would consider going right now. There is something important to note before driving out here. Sage Penn Summit isn't like pulling off highway 395 in the developed overlook area. You're traveling on an unpaved gravel and rocky dirt road with no cell service, so download your maps before you leave and know your route. And if you're planning your own eastern Sierra fall adventure, on my website flyingdawnmarie.com I offer a complete fall travel guide and itinerary with pinpoint map locations to all of my favorite stops along with the best sunrise, sunset spots, and campgrounds and hotels in the area. Now heading farther north I found almost the exact opposite of here in one location. Conway Summit is an easy highway 395 overlook, but the colors are barely visible here. I put it somewhere under 25 percent change. Closer to the beginning of the season, so this is a wait to visit spot for me. Virginia Lakes was much harder to categorize because within a very small area I saw practically every stage of fall here. The turnoff initially looked quite green just the beginning of the season, but as I climbed more yellow started to grow and appear. Then once you reach the gravel section leading to Big Virginia Lake, aspen lining the road had mostly dropped their leaves and in this area you're looking at trees that have moved past peak. But Big Virginia Lake is always stunning, a truly remarkable and mirror-like lake. I love visiting and along portions of the surrounding trail hiking here many aspen are still lime green and only beginning to turn yellow. So green, turning, peak colors and even past peak are all practically right next to each other here in the Virginia Lakes area. And since I was already on the east side of the Sierra I continued on Tioga Road and here's a quick Yosemite update for this week. Coming into the park from the east you can absolutely tell that fall is beginning here. There are lime greens and yellows showing up along the high country drive. This road closes in the winter so I'm soaking up every moment of high country beauty I can right now. And for those asking about the air quality and smoke from the dome fire, conditions can change daily due to winds and fire movement, but you can see smoke looking out at Half Dome from Olmstead Point. As you approach Yosemite Valley this week the haze continued to grow. With the dome fire sitting at less than 20% containment as of the filming of this video it's important to check the official NPS website before your trip for upstate information including smoke and air quality and any temporary road closures. While I was in the park Wednesday the NPS announced a temporary closure of Glacier Point Road due to the fire, but I spent most of my time in the valley because I made a special trip to Yosemite Valley this week for the annual Yosemite Facelift. This is one of my favorite times of the year in the park because hundreds of people come together for the sole purpose of caring for this beautiful park. On the first day of cleanup this year over 400 volunteers came together and we gathered over 1,700 pounds of trash in one day. If you ever needed a reminder of how important it is to pack out everything you pack in, seeing what everyone gathered today definitely highlights this. And down in Yosemite Valley we're still weeks away from the big fall color show. Typically those substantial autumn colors don't arrive here until late October, but a few dogwoods are keeping hints of red, a very small preview of what's to come. As you can see fall in California is just getting started and I'll be continuing to share what these places actually look like in real time as the season changes over the coming weeks. So stay tuned and tell me in the comments which eastern sierra autumn spot would you like to see me showcase next on my trip back to see the fall foliage in the coming weeks. Thank you so much for joining me to see what the California fall colors are looking like right now and stay tuned in the coming weeks because I'm going to share more real-time updates. For details check out my complete blog post at flyingdawnmarie.com and if you enjoyed this video please hit that like button and subscribe. Until next time I hope you find adventure and encouragement wherever you go. Bye!