Fall Colors at Crossroads at Big Creek

It’s autumn at Crossroads at Big Creek and they have been busy with locals and tourists enjoying the season. Hikers often express disappointment that the colors are not vibrant at Crossroads. While they don’t get enough sunshine to change colors like other places, you can experience fall at Crossroads through a different sense.

For what the trees may lack in brilliant fall color, their deep forests more than compensate with something just as special, the aroma of autumn. The unique fall fragrance, according to researchers, is a combination of chemicals. Throughout the year, evergreen trees exude oils called terpenes. The red and orange pigments of decomposing autumn leaves also are released into the air.

In the charming Door County classic Journeys to Green Places, Virginia Eifert wrote, “The air is full of scents which have been distilled from the organic vapors given off by every leaf and flower during the entire growing season just past ….They are the perfumes of autumn, with the attendant blue haze lying mysteriously in the air and blurring the distant view.”

Crossroad trails are free and open to the public. The Collins Learning Center will closed to the public until Oct. 19, though pre-arranged activities will take place as scheduled. Hiking trails and restrooms will be open.