Peak color lands around Nov 12 in most of Georgia, but it moves 22 days across the state. Here’s where, and when, and how sure we are.
Georgia fall foliage map for the week of Nov 9
When is peak fall foliage in Georgia in 2026?
Most of Georgia peaks between Nov 5 and Nov 16: the high country first, around Nov 7, and the low ground last, around Nov 15. The first county to peak is Towns County, around Oct 26, and the last is Brooks County, around Nov 17.
Elevation does most of the work here. Color runs down a mountain at roughly a day per 100 meters, so a ridge and the valley below it can be a week or two apart in the same county. This fall is running 3 days late on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
| Week | Where it peaks | Most of the state |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 26 to Nov 1 | Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, Cohutta Wilderness, Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area and 8 counties | Starting to turn |
| Nov 2 to Nov 8 | Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and 34 counties | Nearly peak |
| Nov 9 to Nov 15 this week | Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge and 93 counties | Peak color |
| Nov 16 to Nov 22 | Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Okefenokee Wilderness, Cumberland Island National Seashore and 24 counties | Just past peak |
Each date is the middle of the four days we’d aim a trip at, and each place page names them. We score the model against 7 long-running forest monitoring sites in this part of the country and publish what it got wrong.
1 of 159 counties here are corrected by people who have actually looked at the trees this season. 2 reports from official state sources have moved those dates off the model and narrowed their windows. Counties with neither keep the model forecast and say so. Which is which is marked in the table below.
Mid-October at the highest elevations, late October through mid-November in the foothills is how Georgia is usually described.
Georgia’s season place by place
The 24 places closest to their peak in Georgia, each set on the calendar at its peak and painted by how far along it is today, Nov 10.
First: Southern Nantahala Wilderness, Oct 21. Last: Cumberland Island Wilderness Area, Nov 17.
The dashed rule is today; the solid one is the median of the places on this chart, Nov 15. The date at the top of the page is the median county, which includes the low ground between them.
Where to go in Georgia
The destinations we cover in Georgia, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.
- Piedmont National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 10 best Nov 9 to 12
- Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical ParkPeakPeak Nov 11 best Nov 10 to 13
- Bond Swamp National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 12 best Nov 11 to 14
- Andersonville National Historic SitePeakPeak Nov 13 best Nov 12 to 15
- Savannah National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 14 best Nov 13 to 16
- Fort Pulaski National MonumentPeakPeak Nov 14 best Nov 13 to 16
- Wassaw National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 15 best Nov 14 to 17
- Harris Neck National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 15 best Nov 14 to 17
- Blackbeard Island National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 16 best Nov 15 to 18
- Wolf Island WildernessPeakPeak Nov 16 best Nov 15 to 18
- Wolf Island National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 16 best Nov 15 to 18
- Banks Lake National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 16, sweetgum Nov 24 best Nov 15 to 18
- Blackbeard Island WildernessPeakPeak Nov 16 best Nov 15 to 18
- Fort Frederica National MonumentPeakPeak Nov 16 best Nov 15 to 18
- Okefenokee National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Nov 17, sweetgum Nov 25 best Nov 16 to 19
- Okefenokee WildernessPeakPeak Nov 17, sweetgum Nov 25 best Nov 16 to 19
- PeakPeak Nov 17 best Nov 16 to 19
- Cumberland Island Wilderness AreaPeakPeak Nov 17 best Nov 16 to 19
- Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield ParkNear peakPeak Nov 7, oak Nov 10 best Nov 6 to 9
- Near peakPeak Nov 8 best Nov 7 to 10
- Past peakPeak Oct 21 best Oct 20 to 23
- Past peakPeak Oct 25 best Oct 24 to 27
- Ellicott Rock WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 25 best Oct 24 to 27
- Past peakPeak Oct 26 best Oct 25 to 28
Also forecast in GeorgiaChattahoochee-Oconee National ForestsEd Jenkins National Recreation AreaTray Mountain Wilderness
Questions people ask about Georgia fall foliage
- When is peak fall foliage in Georgia?
Most of Georgia peaks between Nov 5 and Nov 16: the high country first, around Nov 7, and the low ground last, around Nov 15. The first county to peak is Towns County, around Oct 26, and the last is Brooks County, around Nov 17. This fall is running 3 days late on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
- Where is the best fall foliage in Georgia right now?
As of Nov 10, Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and five more are at peak, with Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge, Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge and nine more within a week of it.
- How long does peak last in Georgia?
In any one place, about four days at the top, with a week or so either side that's still worth the drive. Across Georgia as a whole, peak moves 22 days from Towns County to Brooks County, so there's peak color somewhere in the state for about 26 days.
- Is Georgia past peak?
Not yet for most of it. As of Nov 10, 31 of Georgia's 159 counties are past peak, 47 are at it and 81 are still ahead.
- How far along is Georgia's fall foliage today?
On Nov 10, 47 of Georgia's 159 counties (30 percent) are at peak, 81 (51 percent) are turning and 31 (19 percent) are past peak. The county map above paints each one, and the live map lets you scrub the day.
- When do the leaves change in Georgia?
The first color shows in Towns County around Oct 5 and peaks there around Oct 26. Brooks County is the last of Georgia's 159 counties, peaking around Nov 17. Most of the state turns through the weeks around Nov 12.
- What's the best time to visit Georgia for fall foliage?
The week of Nov 12 catches the most of the state at once, and the four days we'd aim at there are Nov 11 to 14. That's the leaf peeping window for Georgia as a whole. For Towns County and the counties around it, aim for the week of Oct 26; for Brooks County and its neighbors, the week of Nov 17.
What actually turns
The Blue Ridge mountains of north Georgia produce warm golds and russets from hickories and oaks, with red maples and sweetgums providing the scarlet and purple accents.
- Red Maple
- Hickory
- Sweetgum
- Tulip Poplar
- White Oak
The Richard Russell Scenic Highway (Route 348) climbs over Hogpen Gap in the Blue Ridge and is the most dramatic mountain fall drive in Georgia.
Worth the drive
Rabun County in the far northeast corner of Georgia sits where the Blue Ridge drops off into the Piedmont, and it is the most colorful county in the state. Tallulah Gorge, Black Rock Mountain State Park, and the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River all produce fall color that is more reminiscent of the Carolinas than the rest of Georgia. Peak arrives in late October.
Every county by peak week
Rabun regional, Towns regional, Union regional
Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Habersham regional, Lumpkin, Murray, Stephens regional, White regional
Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Coweta, Dade, DeKalb, Douglas, Elbert, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Franklin, Fulton, Gordon, Greene, Hall, Hancock, Haralson, Hart, Heard, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lincoln, Madison, McDuffie, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Rockdale, Spalding, Taliaferro, Upson, Walker, Walton, Warren, Whitfield, Wilkes
Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Calhoun, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Clay, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Grady, Gwinnett corrected, Harris, Houston, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, Macon, Marion, McIntosh, Meriwether, Miller, Mitchell, Montgomery, Muscogee, Peach, Pierce, Pulaski, Quitman, Randolph, Richmond, Schley, Screven, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Troup, Turner, Twiggs, Ware, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkinson, Worth
Every date on this site is a forecast: a model corrected by ground reports, carrying a measured error, published in full. Check conditions with the land manager before you travel. Last reviewed September 2026. Open the live map
See it on the map
The live map covers every county in the country, with a timeline you can scrub through the season, the nearest forest monitoring camera, and the long-term record where we hold one. If you’re going this weekend, the weekend report names where color is at peak right now, region by region.
Before you drive, it’s worth checking fire and smoke conditions for the same forests. A perfect color week is no good under a smoke plume.