When is peak fall color at White River National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at White River National Forest around 28 Sep. The four days to aim for are 27 to 30 Sep. We publish our error rate.

White River National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at White River National Forest?

Quaking Aspen, Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Gambel Oak, 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.

Peak color28 SepAim for 27 to 30 Sep

In the forest today, Sep 25Nearly peak

Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.

1 report came in from Eagle County this week, 1 of them still green. 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 White River National Forest Summit County holds most of the forest and is just past peak today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 7 days earlier than the forest’s own stands: the forest is nearly peak. Eagle County, to the east, is 4 days behind. Pitkin County, to the south, is 7 days behind.

By elevation The forest runs from about 7,469 to 11,995 feet. That’s 22 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 21, the low ground holds until about Oct 6, 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 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 215%
11,000–12,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 1818%
10,000–11,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 1726%
9,000–10,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 2423%
8,000–9,000 ftNearly peakpeak Sep 3018%
7,000–8,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 68%

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.

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

Sunday 27 September to Monday 28 September

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

Up at 11,000 feet the stands peak around Sep 18; down at 9,000 feet they hold on until about Sep 30. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

11,000–12,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 18
10,000–11,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 17
9,000–10,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 24
8,000–9,000 ftNearly peakpeak Sep 30

Where to drive: Maroon Creek Road, about 32 miles · McClure Pass (CO 133), about 36 miles · Independence Pass (CO 82), about 37 miles
What turns: quaking aspen, Gambel oak, narrowleaf cottonwood, bigtooth maple, serviceberry

What turns, and when

quaking aspen81%
Gambel oak8%
narrowleaf cottonwood5%
bigtooth maple3%
serviceberry3%

Also named across Colorado, outside what the canopy read measures here: 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

All of Colorado