The northbound circular trail at Namsan Mt. Park in Seoul's Jung-gu District is one of the 99 fall foliage paths in the capital announced on Oct. 19 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

By Kim Seon Ah

Photos = Seoul Metropolitan Government

The peak of fall foliage across the country this year is predicted to come around late this month and early next month.

The annual fall foliage forecast map of the Korea Forest Service (KFS) said the average date of peak foliage by tree species is Oct. 26 for Korean maple and Mongolian oak and Oct. 28 for ginkgo.

The peak fall foliage period is when the color of maple leaves turns over 50% dark red. 

Peak foliage forecasts for Korean maple on the nation's most famous mountains are Oct. 23 for Seoraksan, Oct. 29 for Naejangsan, Oct. 31 for Jirisan and Nov. 1 for Hallasan.

For ginkgo, the expected dates on mountains are Oct. 28 for Yongmun, Oct. 27 for Gyeryongsan and Nov. 4 for Wolchulsan. That for Wando Arboretum is Nov. 8.

The KFS said, "Analyses of observational data of plant phenology since 2009 found that the timing of the turning of maple tree leaves tends to be delayed by about 0.33 days each year." 

The 99 fall foliage trails released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Oct. 19 spans 154 km and an estimated 56,000 trees including which symbolizes autumn with its yellow leaves, and zelkova, king cherry trees and metasequoias.

The list of the trails is available on the city's official website (www.seoul.go.kr/story/autumn) and Smart Seoul Map (https://map.seoul.go.kr).

Wiryeseong-gil Trail in Seoul's Songpa District is one of the 99 fall foliage paths in the capital announced on Oct. 19 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Eoksae-gil (Silver Grass) Trail at Haneul Park in Seoul's Mapo-gu District is one of the 99 fall foliage paths in the capital announced on Oct. 19 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

sofiakim218@korea.kr