How Fall Foliage Maps Can Drive Government GIS Advances

Beyond pumpkin patches, warm drinks and hayrides comes a frenzy for scouting out the best fall colors. In Minnesota, state agencies are involved in the hunt, and they’ve unveiled a new map that taught them useful lessons about citizen engagement and accessibility that can now be replicated for countless other purposes.

This year, Minnesota revamped its Fall Color Finder, an interactive site that tracks changing leaves in state parks. The upgrades were guided by the results of a request for feedback from the public about what improvements they’d like to see. The website was already popular, attracting more than 250,000 views in 2023 even though the season that leaves are changing lasts for fewer than 60 days in the state.

Public opinion was clear: People wanted an improved leaf forecasting experience to plan their travel. Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) worked with the Department of Natural Resources’ Parks and Trails Division to add new features to improve forecasting, as well as accessibility and overall user experience. The state is expecting to hit a record for views this year, but added it can’t yet compare data from previous years because the state has yet to hit peak fall colors this season.

One new forecasting upgrade puts historical data at the user's fingertips, allowing them to compare current fall conditions to previous years, potentially helping the public understand weather trends and the challenging nuances behind predicting when the trees may turn from green to rust-colored hues.
The historical comparison feature is something DNR already had some experience with — other maps within the agency have the same historical comparison features, such as maps tracking dam and culvert infrastructure and a climate explorer map.

Behind the scenes, gathering the historical data about leaves came with a lesson in data governance. In an email, a spokesperson at MNIT explained to Government Technology that the upgrade was possible, in part, due to the fact that previous data was preserved.

“One key lesson we learned is the importance of keeping the raw data. You never know when you'll need it to recreate or update products. This season, for example, we had to regenerate nearly 2,000 historical maps, applying two different color schemes and a new, consistent size and layout,” said the spokesperson. “We had the base data to work with, which made the updates possible.”

The new map has also been tailored to be more responsive and accessible, adapting to different devices such as a smartphone, tablet or desktop. Additionally, rather than needing to click on a specific park to get autumn color information, a latest conditions chart was added allowing users to filter for regions to quickly see more detailed information about the parks around them.

Leveling up accessibility was also a focus. The goal was to make the map easy to understand for everyone, even those with color deficiencies. While alternative color features had been available on the finder since 2021, the display for those colors didn’t always work. This year, focused attention went into testing the function to ensure it could successfully work on mobile devices. The upgraded finder now features a toggle option for an alternative color scheme map with blue and red tones.
Finally, while the Fall Colors Finder has encouraged participation from the public via user-submitted photos for the last two decades, upgrades to the map this year give the community photos more exposure, making them viewable as part of the map. A redesigned photo uploader automatically fills in park location and fall color tags. When users click on a dot in the map, they’ll see the park's latest fall color stats and a link to user photos in the popup.
While the value for fall color tracking in certain states like those in the Upper Midwest and New England regions is rooted in tourism experiences, leaf color mapping applications can also serve as low-risk testing grounds for more complex GIS projects.

“While this was a custom-developed solution for the DNR, we’re fortunate to have an enthusiastic GIS community within the state government, led by the Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo),” said a MNIT spokesperson. “This collaborative environment ensures the dedicated GIS team at MNIT DNR can take the lessons learned here — like improved data management and map consistency — and share them with future projects across the state. We’re always looking for ways to improve and innovate in how we develop and use maps for the benefit of all Minnesotans.”