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Fall is here, and that means it’s North Carolina’s time to shine! With more than 120 species of trees, NC turns into a brilliant palette of color each year as the autumn leisurely makes its way from the mountain peaks down to the coastal plains.

Here, you’ll find our Fall Color Forecaster and weekly foliage reports from our leaf experts. Bookmark this page and return every Tuesday for updates as the season progresses. Or, call the Fall Leaf Hotline 1-866-6LEAVES (866-653-2837). Looking for Fall Fishing reports? You'll find them here.

Insider Tip: Enjoy your NC leaf watching during the weekdays! The colors are just as spectacular, but hotel rooms and restaurant tables are more available, roads more wide open, and hiking trials more natural.

Fall color has literally exploded in the northern section of the mountains. A drive along the east flank of Grandfather Mountain (near Boone) on the Blue Ridge Parkway reveals breathtaking color diversity. In fact, color there is the best in this section of the state, with intense reds mixed with bright yellows, oranges and even brown. It should last through this week and maybe into next weekend, although as I’ve said in my reports this year, colors are somewhat early this year.

Interestingly, colors are strikingly different in Watauga and Ashe counties to the north. Here, yellow, orange and browns dominate, with fewer reds. Perhaps this is because there are more oaks, hickories and fewer maples there. Nevertheless, the colors are still striking and worth seeing. They’re peaking between 4,000 and 3,000 feet now, and moving downhill fast. I expect by next weekend that colors in the 2,000 to 3,000 feet range will be showing up nicely, even as far south as Highlands, especially if it doesn’t rain too hard, which could knock leaves off the trees. Despite early predictions of a bad color year, the color is in fact, excellent. People I polled on the Parkway were rating the colors 8.5 to 9 (one girl told me it was an 11 out of 10!) so they are definitely worth a trip out to see this year!

Leaf hunting and viewing will consume travelers, tourists and native North Carolinians alike over the next few weeks as colors in the high forests reach an exhilarating peak. It is anybody's guess where the leaves will change first or fall last but conventional wisdom says the higher the elevation, the later the color change. Here are 10 spectacular vistas to experience the remarkable hues of changing maple, ash, oak and more. Grab your tree identification book, binoculars and hiking gear for some serious trekking or take in the views through the car window; catch an attraction, meal or music along the way. We're starting at the highest elevations and working our way down.

As mentioned in our latest fall color report, we spent an afternoon this week at Grandfather Mountain, which is just over an hour's drive northeast of of the Inn on Mill Creek, our Bed and Breakfast near Black Mountain. Since the first two weeks of October bring out the best fall foliage in the upper elevations of the North Carolina mountains, we were excited about going, and Grandfather Mountain didn't disappoint (even with the clouds). Click on any photos to see them larger.

Heading into October, I realized that it had been a few years since I visited the North Carolina mountains. Growing up, I spent a lot of time there. My extended family would pile into my grandparent's vacation house at Grandfather Golf & Country Club during the fall season, and pretty much year round for that matter. Some of my favorite childhood memories stem from that house and all the fun things we did there. Unfortunately it was sold years ago but the memories will always remain. For instance, there was a pond in the backyard that my grandfather stocked with huge mountain trout. We would wake up early and throw fish food at the trout, and they would practically jump out of the water to gulp up the brown pebbles. The house was situated on a relatively secluded lot on a hill, providing an acre or so of wooded and rugged terrain to explore. Of course, I also played my fair share of golf at what was, at that time, widely regarded as the best mountain course in the state and a perennial Golf Digest national top 100 course.

Unable to replicate those exact experiences, I figured at the very least that it would be a great time for a short weekend mountain getaway. My plan was to enjoy the fall foliage and cooler weather, and re-visit some of the places I enjoyed so much over the years. Blowing Rock is about an hour and half from Charlotte - a leisurely and uncomplicated drive. We checked into a Villa at The Blowing Rock Inn, which was probably more than we needed for one night (it had a living room and kitchenette, along with two queen beds), but the location was unparalleled.

Our first destination was the Moses Cone Manor House and Park located just a couple miles down the Blue Ridge Parkway. We made the 5 mile hike up to the Flat Rock Lookout, and then perused the Manor House. We then ventured into downtown Blowing Rock for lunch and a beer at The Six Pence Pub, followed by some serious window shopping at all the quaint village stores. However, the real highlight on day 1 was dinner at Twigs Restaurant & Bar, pictured below.

I have been to Twigs once before, and on this occasion it delivered another memorable evening. We started with roast artichoke and sundried tomato bruschetta, which was a good starter with the Dynamite Merlot 2006. All entrees include a salad, and Twigs has some of the most delicious homemade dressings like Gorgonzola Walnut and Roasted Tomato and Garlic Vinaigrette. I opted for the house specialty, Crab Cakes, made from jumbo lump crabmeat and absolutely delicious. Somewhat surprisingly, Twigs is equally adept at steaks, and the 8oz filet mignon was served at a perfect rare temperature as requested. For dessert, the warm pecan bar topped with vanilla ice cream was just right. After dinner we headed to the bar (pictured below) just in time for the band to start playing their second set, where we finished off the night with a few more rounds of drinks and more good times.

Day 2 brought some hangover headaches from the night before, but we woke up early and headed to Grandfather Mountain nonetheless. After buying our entrance tickets we wound our way up to the nature preserve to see the bears. These are not your ordinary bears. You actually get to stand about 20 feet from them, and from above looking down, get to feed the bears by lobbing them peanut sized bites which the bears have an uncanny ability to catch in their mouth. In fact, if your toss isn't within the immediate vicinity of the bears' mouth, chances are they will just let it fall to the ground and wait for someone else to throw another! They are quite lazy bears! But very funny. We also saw lots of deer, a bald eagle, and cougars, but the bears are the decided highlight. After that, we went further up the mountain to the famous "swinging bridge" from which you have a 360 degree view from 1 mile up. Really breathtaking. I will try to post some pictures in the future once I download them from my camera.