Peak color, most of the stand20 OctAim for 19 to 22 Oct
In the area today, Sep 25Still green
northern red oak and white oak
red maple and shagbark hickory, peak Oct 15
Peak color should arrive around 15 Oct for the red maple and shagbark hickory, and around 23 Oct for the northern red oak and white oak.
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 Catoctin Mountain Park Nearly all of the area is in Frederick County, which is still green today. Washington County, to the west, is on the same day.By elevation The area runs from about 845 to 1,751 feet. That’s 5 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 18, the low ground holds until about Oct 22, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 1,250 to 1,500 foot band.
1,750–2,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 185%
1,500–1,750 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1925%
1,250–1,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2034%
1,000–1,250 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2121%
750–1,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2212%
SepOctNov
Height off 3DEP inside the area’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the area stands in it.
That’s 3 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.
Set the days you can be here. Everything under them answers for those days, not for peak.
Monday 19 October to Tuesday 20 October
You’ll find it peak color up high, nearly peak lower down.
Up at 1,500 feet the stands peak around Oct 19; down at 1,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 22. Pick your elevation for the day you come.
1,500–1,750 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 19
1,250–1,500 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 20
1,000–1,250 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 21
750–1,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 22
Where to drive
Skyline Drive, about 91 miles
What turns
northern red oak, white oak, red maple, shagbark hickory, sugar maple
What turns, and when
northern red oak32%
white oak30%
red maple19%
shagbark hickory16%
sugar maple3%
Also named across Maryland, outside what the canopy read measures here: Tulip Poplar, Sweetgum.
Western Maryland's Allegheny ridges turn gold and russet with oaks and hickories while sweetgums in the Piedmont produce vivid purple and red.
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 7 long-running forest cameras: two dates in three land within 13 days of the camera’s own peak. How this map is made
