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Forecast issued Nov 10, 7:57am ET

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National Recreation Area·Arizona, Nevada·1,291,856 acres

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Forecast issued Nov 10, 7:57am ET

We don’t forecast fall color here. Measured turning canopy covers 0.04% of this unit, below the 0.5% we forecast on. Our model reads latitude and elevation and will happily produce a date for anywhere; publishing one here would be a category error rather than an uncertain forecast, so we don’t.

I-15I-40I-95I-515Dolan SpringsBullhead CitySaint GeorgeLake Havasu CityMesquitePahrumpFlagstaffMoapa ValleySpring Mountainspeak Oct 20Grand Canyonpeak Oct 25Zionpeak Oct 25Lake Mead
I-15I-40I-95I-515Dolan SpringsKingmanSaint GeorgeMesquiteLake Havasu CityMoapa ValleyValle VistaPahrumpGrand Canyonpeak Oct 25Zionpeak Oct 25Lake Mead
Still greenStartingNearly peakPeakPast peakNo fall canopy we forecast
Around Lake Mead National Recreation Area The recreation area is outlined. The counties around it are painted by how far along their color is today, Nov 10.

That’s 1 day later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.

The place

Experience outdoor thrills, striking landscapes, and brilliant blue waters. This year-round recreation area spreads across 1.5 million acres of mountains, canyons, valleys and two vast reservoirs. Visitors come here for scenic drives, biking, hiking, boating, fishing, camping, and much more.

Established 1964.

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.

Sunday, October 25 to Monday, October 26

You’ll find it peak color.

That's the day our forecast puts peak color here.

What turns
bigtooth maple, velvet ash, Fremont cottonwood, willow, Arizona walnut

What turns, and when

Also named across Arizona, outside what the canopy read measures here: Quaking Aspen, Gambel Oak, Arizona Sycamore.

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.

Across Arizona as a whole: Late September at high elevations, mid-October in the canyons.

Questions people ask about Lake Mead National Recreation Area

When is peak fall foliage at Lake Mead National Recreation Area?

We don’t forecast fall color at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Measured turning canopy covers 0.04% of this unit, below the 0.5% we forecast on. Publishing a modeled date here would be a category error rather than an uncertain forecast.

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

Nearby, and when they turn

Spring Mountains and Grand Canyon and Zion are on the map above, with their own date.

  1. Kaibab National ForestAZ · about 121 miles
    Peak Oct 21 best Oct 20 to 23
  2. Prescott National ForestAZ · about 142 miles
    Peak Nov 2 best Nov 1 to 4
  3. Death Valley National ParkCA, NV · about 161 miles
    Peak Oct 25 best Oct 24 to 27