Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.
17 reports came in from Gunnison County this week, 5 of them past peak and 4 of them at peak. Our date held. See the county on the map.
- 9,000–9,500 ftNearly peakpeak Sep 2910%
- 8,500–9,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 241%
- 8,000–8,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 526%
- 7,500–8,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 815%
- 7,000–7,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 117%
Height off 3DEP inside the recreation area’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the recreation area stands in it.
That’s 3 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.
The place
Three reservoirs and surrounding lands make up this recreation area in western Colorado. It is a landscape of tradeoffs; natural and human made features exist together. Geologic wonders are abundant from the sagebrush shrublands to forests. Visitors can experience the park year-round on both land and water.
Established 1965.
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 11 October to Monday 12 October
You’ll find it fading up high, just past peak lower down.
Up at 9,000 feet the stands peak around Sep 29; down at 8,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 8. Pick your elevation for the day you come.
- 9,000–9,500 ftFadingpeak Sep 29
- 8,500–9,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 2
- 8,000–8,500 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 5
- 7,500–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 8
- Where to drive
- Owl Creek Pass, about 18 miles · Kebler Pass Road (County Road 12), about 34 miles · Dallas Divide (CO 62), about 34 miles
- What turns
- quaking aspen, Gambel oak, bigtooth maple, serviceberry
What turns, and when
- quaking aspen68%
- Gambel oak19%
- bigtooth maple6%
- serviceberry6%
Also named across Colorado, outside what the canopy read measures here: Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Rocky Mountain Maple, Alder.
Colorado aspens are the main event, turning entire mountainsides gold and amber while Gambel oaks add russet and orange at lower elevations and cottonwoods line the rivers in 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