When is peak fall color at Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests?

Our forecast puts peak color at Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests around 22 Oct. The four days to aim for are 21 to 24 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests?

Quaking Aspen, Bigtooth Maple, Gambel Oak, Arizona Sycamore, Fremont Cottonwood. Aspens on the San Francisco Peaks turn gold above 8,000 feet, Gambel oaks go orange and russet at mid-elevations, and cottonwoods line the creek bottoms in butter yellow.

Peak color22 OctAim for 21 to 24 Oct

In the forest today, Sep 25Still green

Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.

No new reports from the ground here this week.

Still greenStartingNearly peakPeakPast peakNo fall canopy we forecastInside the line, each band of elevation is painted on its own date.

Around Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Catron County holds most of the forest and is still green today. Navajo County, to the north, is on the same day. Apache County, to the north, is 8 days ahead.

By elevation The forest runs from about 4,713 to 8,901 feet. That’s 14 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 15, the low ground holds until about Oct 27, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 5,000 to 6,000 foot band.

8,000–9,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1517%
7,000–8,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1828%
6,000–7,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2128%
5,000–6,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2317%
4,000–5,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 277%

Height off 3DEP inside the forest’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the forest stands in it.

That’s 2 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.

Plan this trip

If you can only come on certain days

Set the days you can be here. Everything under them answers for those days, not for peak.

ArrivingLeaving

Wednesday 21 October to Thursday 22 October

You’ll find it just past peak up high, peak color lower down.

Up at 8,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 15; down at 6,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 23. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

8,000–9,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 15
7,000–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 18
6,000–7,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 21
5,000–6,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 23

What turns: Gambel oak, bigtooth maple, serviceberry, quaking aspen, willow

What turns, and when

Gambel oak42%
bigtooth maple18%
serviceberry14%
quaking aspen10%
willow6%
velvet ash4%

Also named across Arizona, outside what the canopy read measures here: Arizona Sycamore, Fremont Cottonwood.

Aspens on the San Francisco Peaks turn gold above 8,000 feet, Gambel oaks go orange and russet at mid-elevations, and cottonwoods line the creek bottoms in butter yellow.

This forecast is built from the species that stand here, their elevation and this September’s weather, and corrected in season by cameras, foresters and our own crew. Out here we score it against NASA's satellite record of when the canopy shuts down, read inside each unit’s own boundary: two dates in three land within 12 days of it. How this map is made

All of Arizona