Fall colors soon will be sweeping down the flanks of Shenandoah National Park/Kurt Repanshek

As fall colors begin to sweep down the Eastern seaboard, units of the National Park System are beginning to move to their winter hours. At Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, many facilities will begin closing in late October with many more shutting down for the winter by the end of November. 

Fall means it's also time for the weekly Fall Color Report, which provides some observations from around the park. Visitors can now find these reports at this page on the park's website or listen to them on the park's main phone line in English or Spanish at 540-999-3500 option 6. The Fall Color Report is updated each Friday through the end of October.

If you can't visit but want to see the fall color progression check-out the park's Mountain View webcam.

The mountains are a particularly good place to view fall colors because the steep slopes afford visitors an opportunity to view the kaleidoscope of color that moves down from the peaks to the Shenandoah Valley or Virginia Piedmont below.

As night falls more quickly toward the end of October, park facilities will begin closing for the season.

A complete list of seasonal closures follows: