Gatineau Park fall colours

A provincial park near Ontario is already showing off fall colours

Like it or not, fall is just around the corner - but this just feels too soon.

Gatineau Park, a sprawling green space just across the Ontario-Quebec border near Ottawa, is already showing signs of changing leaves.

Not one leaf, but many hanging over the road are an undeniable shade of red, well before Starbucks has even dropped their first pumpkin spice latte of the season.

Based on the majority of the post's replies, our sentiments are echoed quite eloquently, with user Mark Hamilton quite simply responding, "Gross."

Several joke that it can't possibly be true, and must be "red paint."

"Why are you sending the leaf re-painting crews out so early in the season???" quips user Doug van den Ham.

To all the backlash, Gatineau Park responds apologetically "I'm just the messenger" complete with a cry-face emoji.

Typically, the peak season to see changing leaves in Ontario is from mid-September to late-October, with the first day of fall this year taking place on September 23, 2023.

Luckily, there's still plenty of time left to enjoy summer in the city, with tons of events going on in the coming weeks. As for the tree - as long as it stays in its province, we won't have a problem, right?

Lead photo by

Gatineau Park


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