Mountain Laurel vs Rhododendron

Mountain Laurel vs Rhododendron – how to tell them apart, plus suggested hikes.

Mountain laurel and rhododendron add beauty to any hike when in bloom, and the dense “tunnels” they often create are especially interesting to hike through.

Though somewhat similar in appearance with overlapping bloom times and often growing in the same area, there are a few key distinguishing features (a table follows below):

Mountain laurel

• Blooms: May to June (later at higher altitudes)
• Flowers: Pink or white; cup-shaped
• Leaves: Short (2 to 5”); yellow-green to dark green

Rhododendron

• Blooms: June or early July
• Flowers: White to light pink
• Leaves: Long (4 – 14”); dark green

	Mountain laurel	Rhododendron
Blooms	May to June	June or early July
Flowers	Pink or white; cup-shaped	White to light pink
Leaf color	Yellow-green to dark green	Dark green
Leaf length	Short (2 to 5”)	Long (4 – 14”)
	“short word, short leaves“	“long word, long leaves”

Suggested NJ Hikes

A few hikes with abundant mountain laurel and/or rhododendron in New Jersey:

• Abram Hewitt State Park
  • Bearfort Ridge – Surprise Lake
  • Surprise Lake Loop via State Line Trail
• Catfish Fire Tower
• Coppermines, Appalachian Trail, Catfish Fire Tower, Rattlesnake Swamp
• Hartshorne Woods
• Huber Woods
• Terrace Pond
  • Terrace Pond Lollipop
  • Terrace Pond Loop
  • Terrace Pond North
• Wawayanda State Park
  • Cedar Swamp and Lake Lookout
  • Iron Mountain and Hoeferlin Loop
  • Old Coal/Laurel Pond
• Near New Jersey, Pennsylvania border
  • Mt. Minsi
  • Dingmans Falls

Identification resource:

“How to tell these evergreen plants apart?“
—How to tell them apart when the plants aren’t in bloom; leaf differences