After a summer ofbrutal heat wavesandsevere thunderstormsin Ontario, many people look forward to the cooler temperatures and spectacular fall colours.

The fall season offers greatopportunities to get outsideandenjoy day trips. There areseveral hiking trailsnearby ideal for viewing fall colours.

While Toronto is still mainly green, beautiful colours are starting to appear in Ontario's northern regions,according to Ontario Parks.

As of Sept. 15, theOntario Parks Fall Colour mapshows leaves are starting to turn yellow in theAlgonquin area, inKillarney Park, north of Kingston inFrontenac Park, and around Sudbury.

The Ontario Fall Colours map shows where leaves are starting to change. Ontario Parks Map

Thus far, the green to yellow colour change is just at 10 to 20 per cent of leaves. It is still far from the peak brilliant reds and oranges people look forward to this time of year.

The exacttiming of fall colours is dependenton weather and environmental conditions such as moisture, temperature, frost, wind and heavy rain. One bad storm can blow the leaves away.

The colours changes also depend on location.

Places such as Algonquin Park, at a higher elevation, almost 600 metres above sea level, see fall colour changesearlier than surrounding areas. Generally, the park sees peak colour start anywhere from mid-September to early October.

Theinteractive mapwill be updated as the colours continue to change.

Fall weather might be short-lived this year, as TheWeather Network is predictinga quicker start to winter. So you may want to get out for a hike sooner rather than later.

If you don't want to stray far from home, there is stillplenty to do in and around the citythis fall. You may just have to wait a bit longer to see the autumn leaves.