When is peak fall color at Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests?

Our forecast puts peak color at Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests around 2 Nov. The four days to aim for are 1 to 4 Nov. We publish our error rate.

Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests?

Red Maple, Hickory, Sweetgum, Tulip Poplar, White Oak. 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.

Peak color2 NovAim for 1 to 4 Nov

In the forest today, Sep 25Still green

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 Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests Rabun County holds most of the forest and is still green today. Fannin County, to the north, is 2 days behind. Union County, to the north, is on the same day.

By elevation The forest runs from about 476 to 3,832 feet. That’s 14 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 26, the low ground holds until about Nov 6, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 1,000 to 2,000 foot band.

3,000–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2613%
2,000–3,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 3134%
1,000–2,000 ftStill greenpeak Nov 230%
0–1,000 ftStill greenpeak Nov 621%

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 4 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 1 November to Monday 2 November

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

Up at 3,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 26; down at 1,000 feet they hold on until about Nov 6. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

3,000–4,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 26
2,000–3,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 31
1,000–2,000 ftPeak colorpeak Nov 2
0–1,000 ftNearly peakpeak Nov 6

Where to drive: Cherohala Skyway, about 51 miles · Newfound Gap Road, about 76 miles · Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 130 miles
What turns: northern red oak, white oak, red maple, shagbark hickory, sugar maple

What turns, and when

northern red oak30%
white oak25%
red maple20%
shagbark hickory15%
sugar maple5%
tulip poplar3%

Also named across Georgia, outside what the canopy read measures here: Sweetgum.

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.

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. We score it here against 16 long-running forest cameras: two dates in three land within 7 days of the camera’s own peak. How this map is made

All of Georgia