When is peak fall color at Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area?

Our forecast puts peak color at Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area around 30 Oct. The four days to aim for are 29 Oct to 1 Nov. We publish our error rate.

Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area?

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 color30 OctAim for 29 Oct to 1 Nov

In the recreation area 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 Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area Fannin County holds most of the recreation area and is still green today. Dawson County, to the south, is 4 days behind. Lumpkin County, to the southeast, is 2 days behind.

By elevation The recreation area runs from about 1,721 to 3,211 feet. That’s 6 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 27, the low ground holds until about Nov 2, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 2,000 to 2,500 foot band.

3,000–3,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2714%
2,500–3,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2935%
2,000–2,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 3135%
1,500–2,000 ftStill greenpeak Nov 217%

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 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

Thursday 29 October to Friday 30 October

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

Up at 3,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 27; down at 2,000 feet they hold on until about Nov 2. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

3,000–3,500 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 27
2,500–3,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 29
2,000–2,500 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 31
1,500–2,000 ftNearly peakpeak Nov 2

Where to drive: Cherohala Skyway, about 48 miles · Newfound Gap Road, about 79 miles · Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 138 miles
What turns: northern red oak, white oak, red maple, shagbark hickory, sugar maple

What turns, and when

northern red oak30%
white oak24%
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