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Forecast issued Nov 10, 7:57am ET

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National Recreation Area·California·23,867 acres

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Forecast issued Nov 10, 7:57am ET

We don’t forecast fall color here. Chaparral. No fall display. 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-5I-14US 101US 134Los AngelesThousand OaksSimi ValleyOxnardSanta ClaritaCamarilloValenciaHollywoodAngelespeak Nov 1Los Padrespeak Oct 29Santa Monica Mountains
I-14I-5US 101US 134Simi ValleyOxnardCanoga ParkSanta ClaritaValenciaMalibuSylmarMid-CityAngelespeak Nov 1Los Padrespeak Oct 29Santa Monica Mountains
Still greenStartingNearly peakPeakPast peakNo fall canopy we forecast
Around Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area The recreation area is outlined. The counties around it are painted by how far along their color is today, Nov 10.
Today from the stevensonoaks001 camera, 55 km from Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
See it now PhenoCam Network, Northern Vineyard at Southwest Corner camera, 55 km away, captured Nov 9.

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

The place

The Santa Monica Mountains offer easy access to surprisingly wild places. Experience the famous beaches of Malibu or explore more than 500 miles of trails. The park abounds with historical and cultural sites, from old movie ranches to Native American centers. What will you and your family discover?

Established 1978.

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.

Thursday, November 5 to Friday, November 6

You’ll find it peak color.

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

What turns
Fremont cottonwood, white alder, willow, California black oak, bigleaf maple

What turns, and when

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

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.

Across California as a whole: Late September to mid-October in the Sierra, late October to mid-November in Yosemite Valley.

Questions people ask about Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

When is peak fall foliage at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area?

We don’t forecast fall color at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Chaparral. No fall display. 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 California

Nearby, and when they turn

Angeles and Los Padres are on the map above, with their own date.

  1. Channel Islands National ParkCA · about 67 miles
    Peak Nov 6 best Nov 5 to 8
  2. San Bernardino National ForestCA · about 107 miles
    Peak Oct 29 best Oct 28 to 31
  3. Cleveland National ForestCA · about 125 miles
    Peak Nov 2 best Nov 1 to 4
  4. Sequoia National ForestCA · about 135 miles
    Peak Oct 16 best Oct 15 to 18