Autumn colors are starting to show on trees around Lake County, and some of the more intense leaves can be spotted in the ravines found along Lake Michigan from Highland Park to Winthrop Harbor.
In several of the parks operated by the Waukegan Park District and the Lake County Forest Preserves District’s Openlands Lakeshore Preserve at Fort Sheridan, there are paved trails leading into the ravines, giving people an opportunity for a close look.
People seeking an opportunity to head to a park for a walk through the colors of fall in a ravine can select one of the several available in Waukegan or the preserve in southeast Lake County, where some of the foliage is more intense.
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John Zahina-Ramos, the chair of the horticulture department at the College of Lake County, said in an email that autumn foliage color for trees growing in lower-lying areas and ravines tends to be more intense than that found along the roadway, near homes or other areas.
Tree leaves contain several pigments, including green, yellow red and purple. Zahina-Ramos said green contains an abundance of chlorophyll, which is the substance that makes its food through photosynthesis.
“As summer wanes and nights become longer, the trees stop making chlorophyll and other colors become dominant,” Zahina-Ramos said. “As the chlorophyll fades, the remaining colorful pigments become visible and these give us the vibrant colors of autumn.”
Trees growing in ravines and other low-lying areas are generally a different species than those that are classified as “upland” trees. Zahina-Ramos said that though the pigments may be the same, the tree species in the ravines can show a different intensity when the colors change.
“Upland areas are usually dominated by oak and hickory species, which have reddish, russet, brown and bronze fall colors,” Zahina-Ramos said. “Low-lying areas and ravines have maples and other species whose fall color range includes scarlet, red, orange and yellow.”
Individuals walking the Bartlett Ravine trail at the Openlands Preserve at Fort Sheridan walk up and down a road built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers years ago to make access to the lakefront easier. Now it provides a place to easily ascend and descend.
Where Westover Road ends, the trail begins. Matt Ultzen, the manager of restoration ecology for the forest preserves district, said there are a variety of trees people see as they wind through the trail. The color is also better when the decline in seasonal temperatures is more gradual.
“The sugar maple there are a colorful red now, as well as some other trees and shrubs like ironwood, and musclewood and witchhazel” Ultzen said. “The witchhazel are blooming now, and you can see it in the ravine.”
The Waukegan Park District has six parks with trails, which people can utilize to get a close-up view of fall color in ravines. Jonathan Taube, the Park District’s manager of planning services, said several of the trails are paved, allowing easier access.
Roosevelt Park, the district’s first park, has a variety of paved trails taking people into the ravine. Washington Park has access to the same ravine farther north. The trails are visible from each other. Taube said both are good places to see fall color.
Further north along the same ravine — the Waukegan River flows at the bottom of the ravine — are Powell Park and Ray Bradbury Park. In Powell Park, people can walk to a bridge that is approximately five feet above the river, though they do not walk into the ravine.
Trails in Bowen Park are not paved, but Taube said they are accessible. Recent work done there makes it easier for people to walk through the area.
“There are new handrails to help you get up and down the ravine,” Taube said. “It makes it much more accessible.”
Though ravines are not part of Bevier Park, Taube said the trails around the lake there are scenic in the fall.