When is peak fall color at Prescott National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at Prescott National Forest around 25 Oct. The four days to aim for are 24 to 27 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Prescott National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Prescott National Forest?

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 color25 OctAim for 24 to 27 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.

27 reports came in from Yavapai County this week, 14 of them still green and 8 of them patchy color. Our date held. See the county on the map.

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

Around Prescott National Forest Nearly all of the forest is in Yavapai County, which is still green today.

By elevation The forest runs from about 3,550 to 6,576 feet. That’s 9 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 19, the low ground holds until about Oct 28, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 4,000 to 5,000 foot band.

6,000–7,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1917%
5,000–6,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2237%
4,000–5,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2535%
3,000–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2811%

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

Saturday 24 October to Sunday 25 October

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

Up at 6,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 19; down at 4,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 28. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 19
5,000–6,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 22
4,000–5,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 25
3,000–4,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 28

What turns: willow, velvet ash, Fremont cottonwood, Gambel oak, bigtooth maple

What turns, and when

willow15%
velvet ash15%
Fremont cottonwood15%
Gambel oak13%
bigtooth maple11%
Arizona walnut7%

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

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