Maple Grove Forest Preserve in Downers Grove and Meacham Grove Forest Preserve in Bloomingdale are probably the best places in the country for beautiful color displays because of their abundance of maple trees. They're the ones with the stunning golds, oranges, reds and purples. You should also consider the rest of the preserves, which are predominantly oak, providing an array of browns, rusts and reds. Fullersburg Woods in Oak Brook, Waterfall Glen in Darien and Pratt's Wayne Woods in Wayne are a few to check out. While cooler fall weather signals to us that the seasons are changing, it is actually the shorter days that bring about the change in color.
Deciduous plants parade their colorful attire as the process of photosynthesis slows down.
Its product, chlorophyll, is what gives leaves their green color, and the shorter periods of sunlight cause the chlorophyll to deteriorate and allow dormant colors such as yellows and oranges to show their hues. In fall, a thin membrane grows over the ends of twigs, sealing in the sap and blocking its route through the veins of the leaf, which eventually dries out and falls off to be recycled into the soil. It is believed that the red and purple colors are a result of chemicals formed in the leaf after it has been sealed.