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 Juan National Forest Archuleta County holds most of the forest and is starting to turn today. La Plata County, to the southwest, is 6 days ahead. Montezuma County, to the west, is 3 days ahead.By elevation The forest runs from about 7,064 to 11,977 feet. That’s 23 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 26, the low ground holds until about Oct 19, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 8,000 to 9,000 foot band.
12,000–13,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 265%
11,000–12,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 2414%
10,000–11,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 2317%
9,000–10,000 ftNearly peakpeak Sep 3019%
8,000–9,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 723%
7,000–8,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1218%
6,000–7,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 194%
SepOctNov
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 3 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.
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
