Each year, Minnesotans and visitors alike eagerly await the arrival of fall, when the state's vibrant colors transform the landscape into a breathtaking sight. With scenic drives and outdoor adventures ahead, many are ready to explore Minnesota’s vast network of state parks and recreation areas to experience the beauty of the season.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fall Color Finder offers a useful tool for planning autumn adventures, allowing people to track peak color across the state. 

This year, Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) partnered with the Department of Natural Resources, (DNR) Parks and Trails Division, who manage the site, to enhance the Fall Color Finder. Together, we added new features to improve accessibility and overall user experience. 

Easier site navigation 

The update introduces an enhanced design that is responsive and accessible. The new map adapts to different devices, allowing users to access it seamlessly on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop. 

The site also offers a redesigned "Latest Conditions" section on the homepage. This section provides an at-a-glance grid that lists all the state parks and recreation areas along with the latest updates on the percentage of leaves, grasses, and flowers that have changed color. Previously, users had to click on each individual park to find autumn color information.

Now, this streamlined design allows users to quickly get an overview of conditions across all parks, saving time and improving navigation. 

Forecasting conditions with historical data 

One of the most exciting features of the revamped DNR Fall Color Finder is the enhanced ability to compare fall colors from previous years. 

The new date and year selection feature (see image below) has been a popular addition. By allowing users to compare non-consecutive years, such as 2024, 2020, and 2015, visitors can gain a richer understanding of Minnesota’s seasonal trends and enjoy a more customized experience. This data is now used to improve the site’s forecasting capabilities. 

Last year, we reached out to the public for feedback on the DNR Fall Color Finder, asking users what improvements they wanted to see. One of the most popular requests was for better color forecasting. While predicting fall colors exactly isn't possible, this feedback guided the focus of the revamp, resulting in improved forecasting capabilities based on historical data going back to 2013. 

This feature allows users to see how peak color times have shifted over the last decade, giving people insights into how the timing of fall foliage may vary year to year. 

With this data, visitors can now get a clearer sense of when and where peak colors might occur, helping them better plan their trips. The map also provides more accurate information about current conditions in state parks, allowing users to see if areas are still green or if vibrant colors have emerged. This makes it easier for visitors to choose the best time and place to visit. Additionally, the focus has shifted to more visually engaging updates, particularly through user-contributed photos, giving visitors a better understanding of the most vibrant areas or specific trees. 

By incorporating public feedback and focusing on these improvements, the DNR Fall Color Finder offers a more informative and visually appealing experience, while continuing to enhance public services through technology, while maintaining high accessibility standards. Plus, it adds a fun, educational element to the website making it a useful tool for tracking patterns in Minnesota's natural beauty over time.

Streamlining fall color contributions 

The updated DNR Fall Color Finder allows users to upload photos of fall foliage from across the state. In the past, park staff provided weekly narratives about current fall color conditions for up to seven weeks. The process demanded a lot of time and often forced staff to prioritize it over their other park responsibilities. 

To address this challenge, the new system shifts the focus to photos submitted by users of the site. The redesigned photo uploader interface pre-populates the park location and fall color tags, making it easier for the public to share their observations. 

A key feature this year is the interactive map with dots for each state park. Now, when users click a dot, they see the park’s latest color percentage and photo in a popup, eliminating the need to navigate to individual gallery pages as before. 

While there haven’t been changes to how users can share photos from last year, this enhancement allows for a more dynamic experience. By enabling the community to easily share images, the site reflects real-time changes in Minnesota's landscape while alleviating the workload on park staff. 

Making the map available across devices 

MNIT and the DNR are always looking for ways to improve the usability and accessibility in our applications. In 2023, we introduced a popular new update, a color toggle feature to help those with red-green color deficiencies make sense of the map scale. This year, we focused on ensuring that the DNR Fall Color Finder works seamlessly across desktops, smartphones, and tablets. During development, we discovered that some features didn’t work smoothly on mobile devices, which many people rely on while exploring the parks, and we made improvements to enhance mobile access. 

To solve this, MNIT and DNR teams collaborated to refine the map’s design, making it fully responsive on all devices. Rigorous testing and user feedback guided these adjustments, ensuring that features like viewing the most recent park conditions or submitting fall photos are easy to use no matter where you are. 

These updates enhanced the user experience, highlighting the importance of a customer-focused design that works seamlessly on any device. This collaboration between MNIT and DNR reflects their commitment to delivering a valuable tool for Minnesotans and visitors alike. 

Favorite fall activities from our experts 

We asked our subject matter experts, David Anderson, and Mark Tensen, to share what they enjoy most about fall in Minnesota. They highly recommend: 

• Lutsen Mountain: The view from the top of Lutsen Mountain in Cascade River State Park is possibly the best in the state. The views are amazing, especially during peak fall color season.

• Waldoch Farms Corn Maze: with a corn maze and fun activities, it's the perfect fall family outing (especially around MEA weekend). 

If you plan to hike the Lutsen Mountains or visit any of Minnesota’s scenic state parks, make sure to have the DNR Fall Color Finder handy to start planning your autumn adventure. You can even submit your own contributions to help update the map with the latest information!

Photos credit: Nate Barber