When is peak fall color at San Bernardino National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at San Bernardino National Forest around 29 Oct. The four days to aim for are 28 to 31 Oct. We publish our error rate.

San Bernardino National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at San Bernardino National Forest?

Quaking Aspen, Black Oak, Bigleaf Maple, Fremont Cottonwood, White Alder. Eastern Sierra aspens turn brilliant gold against granite walls, black oaks in Yosemite Valley go bronze and russet, and cottonwoods line the desert creeks in pale yellow.

Peak color29 OctAim for 28 to 31 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 San Bernardino National Forest San Bernardino County holds most of the forest and is still green today. Riverside County, to the east, is 7 days behind.

By elevation The forest runs from about 3,061 to 8,096 feet. That’s 15 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 13, 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 2,000 to 4,000 foot band.

8,000–10,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 135%
6,000–8,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1823%
4,000–6,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2440%
2,000–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2832%

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 1 day 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 28 October to Thursday 29 October

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

Up at 6,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 18; down at 4,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 28. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

6,000–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 18
4,000–6,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 24
2,000–4,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 28

What turns: California black oak, blue oak, valley oak, Fremont cottonwood, willow

What turns, and when

California black oak31%
blue oak31%
valley oak15%
Fremont cottonwood13%
willow9%

Also named across California, outside what the canopy read measures here: Quaking Aspen, Bigleaf Maple, White Alder.

Eastern Sierra aspens turn brilliant gold against granite walls, black oaks in Yosemite Valley go bronze and russet, and cottonwoods line the desert creeks in pale 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 California