Vermont
late September to mid-October
Green Mountains · Northeast Kingdom · Champlain Valley
New Hampshire
late September to late October
White Mountains / Kancamagus Highway · Lakes Region · Monadnock Region
Maine
late September to mid-October
Acadia National Park · Moosehead Lake region · Rangeley Lakes
New York
late September to late October
Adirondacks · Catskills · Finger Lakes
Michigan
late September to mid-October
Upper Peninsula · Northwest Michigan (Traverse City) · Leelanau Peninsula
North Carolina
mid-October to early November
Blue Ridge Parkway · Great Smoky Mountains · Pisgah National Forest
Tennessee
mid-October to early November
Great Smoky Mountains · Cumberland Plateau · Cherokee National Forest
Colorado
mid-September to early October
San Juan Mountains · Rocky Mountain National Park · Aspen area (Maroon Bells)
Wisconsin
late September to mid-October
Door County · Northwoods (Chequamegon-Nicolet NF) · Kettle Moraine
Virginia
mid-October to early November
Skyline Drive / Blue Ridge Parkway · Shenandoah Valley · George Washington National Forest
Pennsylvania
mid-October to late October
Pocono Mountains · Pennsylvania Wilds (Loyalsock State Forest) · Laurel Highlands
West Virginia
early October to late October
New River Gorge · Monongahela National Forest · Canaan Valley
New Mexico
late September to mid-October
Northern New Mexico (Santa Fe / Taos) · Sangre de Cristo Mountains · Carson National Forest
Minnesota
late September to early October
North Shore (Lake Superior) · Boundary Waters / Arrowhead · Itasca State Park
When it happens
October falls inside every state's window
| January | 0 |
|---|---|
| February | 0 |
| March | 0 |
| April | 0 |
| May | 0 |
| June | 0 |
| July | 0 |
| August | 0 |
| September | 9 |
| October | 14 |
| November | 3 |
| December | 0 |
Counted from the window each state gives on its own page — 14 of 14 name specific months. Timing shifts year to year; confirm with the agency before you book.
Colour moves. It starts high and north and runs downhill and south over roughly six weeks, so elevation is as good a lever as latitude: on the same weekend a ridge can be past peak while the valley below it is still green. A trip that can move a few hundred metres up or down has far better odds than one locked to a town.
The colour itself is made by warm days and cool nights without a hard freeze, which is why the same road is spectacular one year and muted the next. Most of these states publish a weekly colour report through the season — that report, not this page, is what you should be reading the week you leave.
Where you would base
Every state on this page
Check before you go
The 14 agencies these pages cite
- Vermont Fall Foliage (Official)
- NH Fall Foliage Report
- Maine Fall Foliage Report
- I Love NY Fall Foliage Report
- Michigan Fall Foliage
- NC Foliage Report
- TN State Parks Fall Foliage
- Colorado Fall Foliage
- Travel Wisconsin Fall Color Report
- Virginia Fall Foliage
- PA DCNR Fall Foliage Report
- WV Fall Foliage
- NM Fall Foliage
- MN DNR Fall Color Finder