If you’re interested in checking out the fall colors in the Southwest, it may be time to act. In many spots peak colors are here.
From the snow-dusted peaks of northern Arizona’s San Francisco Mountains to the fire-singed mountainsides of New Mexico, Mother Nature is signaling that it’s fall.
Forest officials say colors are at their peak in the high country, around Flagstaff, along the Mogollon Rim and on Mt. Lemmon outside Tucson.
In New Mexico, because of cooler temperatures, some spots are already past their peak. Other parts of New Mexico are beginning to show splashes of yellow, red and orange, as the aspens, oak and cottonwoods change color.
In the Los Alamos area, this is the first time in a few years the aspens are big enough and bright enough to catch the attention. The area was devastated by record-setting wildfires in 2000 and again in 2011.