Fiery Fall Foliage for Dragons on and Around Campus

Lancaster Walk provides multiple species of trees and a palette of different colors. 

The weather is finally starting to feel like fall out there, and the trees are quickly catching up. If you’re looking to go leaf peeping, we’ve got the best spots for you to go, both on Drexel University’s campus and nearby in Philadelphia. The peak of fall foliage is projected to be about mid-October to early November, but you better look quick — according to Drexel’s Director of Grounds Scott Dunham, the dry October weather so far foreshadows a faint fall, so colors might fade quickly and not be as vibrant.

On campus

• Lancaster Walk

  • Next time you’re walking to class, “leaf” a little early and stay awhile on this picturesque path. Behind the Recreation Center and the Daskalakis Athletic Center, there are primarily honey locust and red maple trees, Dunham said, which will turn yellow and red, respectively. There are also cherry trees, sweet gum and linden mixed in around the green spaces near Lancaster Walk, which will show off more reds, golds and oranges.

At the Summer Winter Community Garden, the honey locust trees will soon show off their autumnal best. 

• Summer/Winter Garden

  • This Powelton Village community garden, located at 33^rd and Summer and Winter streets, provides plenty of plants to look at, and it’s a great spot any time of year to slow down and breathe in the fresh air. During the fall, there are more honey locust trees nearby to show off their yellow leaves.

• Korman Quad

  • There’s a lot of variety around here, Dunham said, with swamp white and red oaks, red maples, birch and elm trees populating the quad. The oaks and maples will turn reddish yellow and red, while the birch trees will be majestic in golden yellow and the elm trees will put on an orange-and-yellow show.

• Walking to the Health Sciences Building

  • This is a stroll that will keep on giving even as the temperatures drop throughout the rest of the year. Right now, look for zelkova trees to turn reddish orange and red maples to turn their signature color. Later in the year, the winterberry holly along the walk should bear red fruit in the winter, Dunham said.

Drexel's Tree of the Year knows how to put on a good show, so keep an eye out for it to change colors. 

• Bonus: Tree of the Year

  • The majestic Japanese maple on Chestnut Street near Stratton Hall won Tree of the Year for a reason — it knows how to put on a show. As the season cools down, its colors will heat up in beautiful displays of red, gold and orange. However, Dunham said, because it’s in an area that isn’t irrigated, its leaves may drop quickly, and its colors may fade fast.

Near Drexel

• Schuylkill River Park

  • This riverside park, just a 15-minute walk from Main Building, is actually certified as a Level 1 Arboretum, so you know they’ve got the goods when it comes to fall colors. To be accredited as Level 1 with ArbNet, a site has to have at least 25 documented species of woody plants, and the park has a map of all 50 of their trees. Some species of note include the red maple, which turns (you might guess) red; the sweetgum, which goes burgundy, gold and purple, several species of oak, which will turn gold, red and other classic fall colors; and the sycamore, which will turn yellow.

• Penn Park

  • Though named after and operated by our neighboring university, Penn Park is open to the public and boasts 24 acres of green space. It’s mostly known for its athletic fields and walking and running paths, but there are plenty of trees here as well — 530, according to Visit Philadelphia. There are hackberry trees that turn yellow, catalpa trees that go pale green and several species of pine trees.