{"id":46204,"date":"2025-11-13T16:25:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=46204"},"modified":"2025-11-13T17:16:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:16:22","slug":"maryland-fall-foliage-recap-for-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/11\/13\/maryland-fall-foliage-recap-for-2025-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Fall Foliage Recap for 2025 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Yellow<\/a>

Yellow hickory leaves. Photo by Melissa Nash.<\/p><\/div>\n

Maryland State Park rangers and foresters found color this fall in the leaves, mushrooms, fruits, and flowers of Maryland, even a seasonal drought tamping down some of autumn\u2019s glory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a look back at some of the most impressive photos from this year\u2019s Maryland Fall Foliage reports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the opportunities to go leaf-peep may be fading, opportunities to enjoy the Maryland outdoors – fishing, hunting, hitting the trails, or watching the skies \u2013 are boundless in the second half of autumn and beginning of winter. Visit mdoutdoors.maryland.gov<\/a> to purchase or renew your license.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From Our 2025 Reports<\/h1>\n

September 18<\/h4>\n
\"Sword<\/a>

Sword mountain showing some early color change along areas with thin, rocky soil. Photo by Aaron Cook.<\/p><\/div>\n

Abnormally dry weather brought early color-change to Washington County, as pictured here along Sword Mountain. Photo from the Sept. 18 report.<\/span><\/h4>\n

September 25<\/h4>\n
\"Muddy<\/a>

Muddy Creek Falls in Garrett County.\u00a0 Photo by Josh Brenneman from Sept. 25 report.<\/p><\/div>\n

Some of the earliest changes can be seen in Maryland\u2019s westernmost county, Garrett County, as demonstrated in this image from the Sept. 25 report.<\/span><\/h4>\n

October 2
\n<\/a><\/h4>\n
\"Waterbush,<\/a>

Waterbush, groundsel or saltbush, are putting their profuse white flowers on display. Photo by Rachel Egolf.<\/p><\/div>\n

Not all fall colors are orange, red or yellow \u2013 here forester Rachel Egolf highlights the beautiful white flowers of waterbush, groundsel or saltbush in contrast to the sunset on the marsh.<\/span><\/p>\n

October 9<\/h4>\n
\"Persimmon<\/a>

Persimmon and split seed. Photo by Rachel Egolf.<\/p><\/div>\n

Fruit also provided color to the forest this season. Here, forester Rachel Egolf examines an American persimmon growing on Maryland\u2019s Eastern Shore. <\/span><\/p>\n

October 16<\/h4>\n
\"Honey<\/a>

Honey mushrooms grow at Shad Landing. Photo by Anthony Jenkins.<\/p><\/div>\n

Fall is a great time to spot mushrooms, such as these honey mushrooms.<\/span><\/p>\n

October 23<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Bald Cypress. Photo by Anthony Jenkins.<\/p><\/div>\n

Pocomoke River State Park is home to the northernmost bald cypress swamp. Here, the cypress foliage turns a rusty orange, with the tree\u2019s knees visible below. Photo from the Oct. 23 report.<\/span><\/p>\n

October 30\u00a0<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area. Photo by Rick Ewing.<\/p><\/div>\n

November 6<\/h4>\n
\"A<\/a>

Morning Glory Foal. Photo by Marci Marsicano<\/p><\/div>\n

Ponies put on their \u201cwinter coats\u201d each fall as the temperatures dip in preparation for the winter. Photo from Assateague Island, Nov. 6 report.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fish and Hunt Maryland This Fall<\/b><\/h1>\n

Purchase or Renew Your License<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

One of several hard card designs available through mdoutdoors.maryland.gov. These optional hard cards provide hunters and anglers with a durable alternative to printed or electronic copies. License information is printed on the card.<\/p><\/div>\n

Order your Maryland hunting and fishing licenses online at mdoutdoors.maryland.gov<\/a>. Collectible hard cards are also available. No more paper licenses that fade, rip or fall apart. These rugged, collectable cards feature beautiful images of Maryland fish and wildlife.<\/p>\n

Hunting<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maryland\u2019s two-week firearms hunting season for sika and white-tailed deer<\/a> opens Saturday, Nov. 29 and runs through Saturday, Dec. 13.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the hunting heritage for many families, the firearms season is by far the most popular deer hunting season in the state. For many new hunters, this is the first exposure they have to deer hunting, deer management, and the feeling of putting fresh venison on the table for their families.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bag limits and antlerless season dates for the firearm season, along with other deer hunting seasons and regulations, are available in the <\/span>2025-2026 Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fishing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Landlocked striped bass at Liberty and Triadelphia reservoirs become very active during the cooler fall months and offer one of the best times to target them. Slow <\/span>trolling<\/span><\/a> with large diving <\/span>crankbaits<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>bucktails<\/span><\/a> dressed with sassy shads are common ways to fish for them. The minimum size for landlocked striped bass is 18 inches and only one fish may be longer than 30 inches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Largemouth bass tend to be found patrolling transition waters between the shallower and deeper waters hoping to intercept small baitfish and crayfish seeking winter cover. Chain pickerel can be found holding near sunken wood and will strike almost any lure that comes along their way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fishing for blue catfish is very good during the cooler fall months in the Bay\u2019s tidal rivers. The catfish are concentrating in channel areas and are aggressively feeding. They can be caught on cut bait, a wide variety of scent baits, and even soft plastic jigs and <\/span>crankbaits<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more in our weekly fishing report: <\/span>https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/11\/12\/maryland-fishing-report-november-12\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Celestial Report<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Coronal mass ejections \u2013 bursts of energy from the sun \u2013 lit up the skies as far south as Florida Tuesday evening. The aurora borealis was visible at many of our state parks and public lands.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Aurora visible at Tuckahoe State Park. Photo by Jessica Conley.<\/p><\/div>

\"\"<\/a>

The aurora visible over the Choptank River in Denton. Photo by Jason Willey.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Happenings<\/h1>\n

\"Sunrise<\/a>

Sunrise Hike at Calvert Cliffs Nov. 21 at 5:30 a.m. 1.8 miles. Email calvertcliffs.statepark@maryland.gov to register.<\/p><\/div>

\"\"<\/a>

Merkle NRMA Guided Bird Presentation and Hike. Nov. 15 9 a.m. to noon. Starts from visitor center, hike is 2.5 miles.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maryland State Park rangers and foresters found color this fall in the leaves, mushrooms, fruits, and flowers of Maryland, even a seasonal drought tamping down some of autumn\u2019s glory. Here is a look back at some of the most impressive photos from this year\u2019s Maryland Fall Foliage reports.\u00a0 While the opportunities to go leaf-peep may  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,11,1965,3172,23],"tags":[4818,3639,5310],"class_list":["post-46204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-fisheries","category-maryland-forest-service","category-hunting","category-land","tag-fall-foliage","tag-fall-foliage-and-festival-report","tag-fall-foliage-report"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46204"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46226,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46204\/revisions\/46226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}