Brilliantly colored aspens tower over a group of hikers heading toward the Williamson River. 

It’s easy to fall in love with fall, especially while hiking in the Williamson River Canyon north of Upper Klamath Lake.

The aspens are doing their seasonal transformation from pale green to vivid, illuminating colors — incandescent tones of yellow, orange and red. And when the breeze blows, the leaves quiver and shiver, gently tumbling and flittering groundward.

Although many of the trees are still changing color, the canyon evokes another kind of beauty — sections of imposing, steep, fractured basalt walls that have inspired some to call the area “Little Yosemite.”

An easy-to-follow, obvious but unmaintained trail begins from an unsigned parking area. Finding the trail can be challenging for first-timers. Using Highway 97 at Collier Memorial State Park as a starting point, just north of the entrance to the park exhibits, turn right at the sign for the Collier and Williamson campgrounds. Go about five miles east past both campgrounds on a wide gravel road. Shortly before crossing the Williamson River, turn left on the less improved road to an area with room for three or four cars, or park at other wide spots along the way.

Early on the walking trail is easily evident as it meanders north along the Williamson’s west side. Openings provide glimpses of the impressive canyon walls — one side with clusters of Ponderosa pines, the other with the visually dramatic Yosemite-evoking cliffs. Although it was mid-morning, the canyon was still in the shadows, patiently waiting for the sun.

Obvious side trails lead to the river, where the views open and expand. At several riverside vantages the Williamson’s still waters create a mirror-like effect, with half the scenery seemingly upside down.

But the season’s allure are the canyon’s transforming colors, sections along the trail where the aspens and other trees and bushes create a leaf peepers delight. Sunny autumn days and cool evenings combine to create the seasonal shift in colors. People better versed in the process explain that chlorophyll, the substance that leafy plants and trees use to harness energy from the sun, breaks down and drains during the fall. Then, as the green chlorophyll departs, leaves change color from the pigments left behind, some turning yellow, others red, while other combinations stimulate mutations of yellow green, reddish brown and, as with aspens, brilliant orange hues.

Those colors showed their stuff in openings where tall yellow aspen trees provided a vivid contrast intermixed with still green Douglas fir, Ponderosa pine and other trees.

Experiencing the sights can be challenging. After about a mile the trail sometimes becomes hidden in bushy overgrowth — a maze of trees, limbs, branches and trippy roots. Other times, but not this day, we’ve carried clippers, pruners or loppers to create easier passage for ourselves and others. Next time.

Because of a relatively early start and short distance, most of us continued past our planned lunch stop farther upstream, stepping over rocks or fallen trees in areas where the river widened. Farther upstream the river disappears, seeping underneath and around chunky lava walls.

After a riverside lunch we wove our way back, again pausing to savor the sights, including the gentle river and the maze of high-rising cliffs. But most of all the panorama of captivating, illuminating fall colors. In the novel “Where the Crawdads Sing,” author Delia Owens writes, “Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this, their only chance to soar.”

Fall is a time to wander along places like the Williamson River Canyon.