Hannibal parks are known for their fall foliage but bright colors seem to be delayed this year due to warmer than usual temperatures.
Alex Bross with the Missouri Department of Conservation office in Hannibal, said he expects upcoming rain and colder weather help make the parks more colorful. “By late October, we expect vibrant colors to develop,” he said.
Hannibal Parks & Recreation is offering a nature program called “Tree Friends” at 10 a.m. Saturday Oct. 23 in Central Park, in conjunction with Central Park Farmers Market and the Mississippi Hills chapter of Master Naturalists.
Hannibal is an ideal location for fall foliage followers. Riverview Park, with its 465 acres of forested bluffs, is a prime location to enjoy the changing colors, with its sugar maple and hackberry trees already starting to turn.
Sodalis Nature Preserve offers 200 acres, with pedestrian-only trails so leaf-peeking is more leisure. Huckleberry Park has 70 acres of rolling hills and wooded areas. And though Central Park is small, it’s an easy stroll to experience the autumn transformation.
Bross gave this report about the fall color in the Hannibal area:
“Scarlets and purples are coming on strong in our region and will be especially striking in white ash, sumacs, sassafras, black cherry, and dogwoods. Yellows are coming out in honey locust, green ash, hackberry, hickories, tulip tree, and others. In urban areas, expect your gingko leaves to turn bright yellow in the following weeks. The intensity is currently variable, with some individual trees showing vibrant colors while others, of the same species, are not turning at all. “
Find out more information about falls colors on the Missouri Department of Conservation website. Central Park