Thank you for visiting the WNC Fall Color Report. Our reporters try to give you an accurate look at the colors and their progression across the mountains through words and pictures. This will be our final report for this year. We hope you’ll visit with us again next year beginning around mid September.

A great overlook for the leaves in Downtown Greenville this week is in Falls Park right off Main Street. A walk across the Liberty Bridge will give you a great view of the Reedy River Falls and the colorful trees in the park. The Oaks are getting deeper red and burnt orange colors now, and the leaves on the Maples vary from bright yellows and oranges to reds. The Sweetgums, Beeches and Poplars are yellow but are beginning to thin out. The Dogwoods have held onto their leaves for the longest period in years. You can still see some that are deep red throughout the Park. Oaks make up the majority of the trees in the Park, and they are holding onto their leaves well as this week There are also many perennials blooming in the Park. You can see roses, asters, hydrangeas, rosemary, sage and mums amongst others. You’ll find many walking trails throughout the Park and places to cookout while you enjoy the fall colors.

Below is some history of the falls and the park taken from its website.

Long before white settlers arrived, the Cherokee lived and hunted at present-day Greenville.

In 1773, the first European settler in the area, Richard Pearis, purchased 10 square miles along the Reedy River from three Cherokee chiefs. Pearis later operated a grist mill at the Upper Falls of the Reedy.

In 1852, Furman Institution (now Furman University) bought the land. Three textile mills and a cotton warehouse operated in the early 1900s, all contributing to the pollution of the Reedy River.

In 1967, the Carolina Foothills Garden Club reclaimed 26 acres for the current park, with the support of the City of Greenville, Furman University and the Planning Commission. Over the next 40 years, the Garden Club and the City of Greenville have worked with individuals, corporations and state and federal agencies to further develop the park, clean up the river and restore the historic Falls Cottage. In 1990, landscape architect Andrea Mains introduced the concept of transforming the park into a regional attraction, with beautiful public gardens and a pedestrian bridge.

Landscape architect Andrea Mains of Washington, D.C., has designed the park to feature a collection of "garden rooms", offering a spectacular display of seasonal color and artistic garden design.

Specialty gardens, including the Falls Cottage Garden and the Governor’s School Woods, will blend ornamental and native plants. The gardens are open year-round. The annual plantings combined with returning perennials and bulbs provide color and contrast throughout the year, creating the perfect setting for individual enjoyment or group events.

Falls Park is designed to embrace and exhibit plant varieties that are indigenous to the upper regions of South Carolina. Accompanying the annuals will be the bountiful blooms of flowering perennials. The gardens will also include a variety of canopy trees, evergreens, and spring flowering trees.

To find out more about the signature Liberty Bridge, click here.