Photograph: More Than Just Parks
Peak color lands around Oct 14 in most of Michigan, but it moves 17 days across the state. Here’s where, and when, and how sure we are.
Michigan fall color map, week of Nov 9
When is peak fall color in Michigan in 2026?
Most of Michigan peaks between Oct 8 and Oct 18: the north first, around Oct 9, and the south last, around Oct 17. The first county to peak is Baraga County, around Oct 4, and the last is Monroe County, around Oct 21.
The lakes do a lot of the work here. The Great Lakes shore itself turns a week or more after the woods inland at the same latitude, and the counties along it run a few days behind, because water that soaked up a summer of heat gives it back all fall and holds the first hard frosts off. Beyond the water, latitude carries it: color moves south at about two days per degree, so the north of the state turns a week or more ahead of the south. This fall is running 2 days late on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
| Week | Where it peaks | Most of the state |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 28 to Oct 4 | Sylvania Wilderness, McCormick Wilderness and 1 county | Starting to turn |
| Oct 5 to Oct 11 | Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Ottawa National Forest, Hiawatha National Forest and 26 counties | Nearly peak |
| Oct 12 to Oct 18 | Huron-Manistee National Forest, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness Area and 51 counties | Peak color |
| Oct 19 to Oct 25 | Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness and 5 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 13 long-running forest monitoring sites in this part of the country and publish what it got wrong.
1 of 83 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.
Early October in the inland UP, mid-October on the Lake Superior shore and in the northern Lower Peninsula, late October in the south is how Michigan is usually described.
Michigan’s season, place by place
The 24 places closest to their peak in Michigan, each set on the calendar at its peak and painted by how far along it is today, Nov 10.
First: McCormick Wilderness, Oct 3. Last: Harbor Island National Wildlife Refuge, Oct 14.
The dashed rule is today; the solid one is the median of the places on this chart, Oct 10. The date at the top of the page is the median county, which includes the low ground between them.
Where to go in Michigan
The destinations we cover in Michigan, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.
- McCormick WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 3 best Oct 2 to 5
- Sylvania WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 4 best Oct 3 to 6
- Past peakPeak Oct 5 best Oct 4 to 7
- Sturgeon River Gorge WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 5 best Oct 4 to 7
- Past peakPeak Oct 6 best Oct 5 to 8
- Seney National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Seney WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Big Island Lake WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Past peakPeak Oct 8 best Oct 7 to 10
- Delirium WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 8 best Oct 7 to 10
- Rock River Canyon WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 8 best Oct 7 to 10
- Past peakPeak Oct 9 best Oct 8 to 11
- Beaver Basin Wilderness AreaPast peakPeak Oct 10 best Oct 9 to 12
- Mackinac WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 10 best Oct 9 to 12
- Michigan Islands National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 10 best Oct 9 to 12
- Huron National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 10 best Oct 9 to 12
- Huron WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 10 best Oct 9 to 12
- Past peakPeak Oct 11 best Oct 10 to 13
- Keweenaw National Historical ParkPast peakPeak Oct 11 best Oct 10 to 13
- Past peakPeak Oct 12 best Oct 11 to 14
- Past peakPeak Oct 13 best Oct 12 to 15
- Green Bay National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 13 best Oct 12 to 15
- Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness AreaPast peakPeak Oct 14 best Oct 13 to 16
- Harbor Island National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 14 best Oct 13 to 16
Also forecast in MichiganSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Questions people ask about Michigan fall colors
- When is peak fall color in Michigan?
Most of Michigan peaks between Oct 8 and Oct 18: the north first, around Oct 9, and the south last, around Oct 17. The first county to peak is Baraga County, around Oct 4, and the last is Monroe County, around Oct 21. This fall is running 2 days late on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
- Where is the best fall color in Michigan right now?
Peak has passed in the places we cover in Michigan as of Nov 10. Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness Area and 23 more was the last, around Oct 14. The live map still shows where russet and late gold are holding.
- How long does peak last in Michigan?
In any one place, about four days at the top, with a week or so either side that's still worth the drive. Across Michigan as a whole, peak moves 17 days from Baraga County to Monroe County, so there's peak color somewhere in the state for about 21 days.
- Is Michigan past peak?
Yes. As of Nov 10, every one of Michigan's 83 counties is past peak by our forecast. Monroe County was the last, around Oct 21.
- How far along is Michigan's fall color today?
On Nov 10, no county in Michigan is at peak yet: 83 of Michigan's 83 counties (100 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 Michigan?
The first color shows in Baraga County around Sep 13 and peaks there around Oct 4. Monroe County is the last of Michigan's 83 counties, peaking around Oct 21. Most of the state turns through the weeks around Oct 14.
- What's the best time to visit Michigan for fall colors?
The week of Oct 14 catches the most of the state at once, and the four days we'd aim at there are Oct 13 to 16. That's the leaf peeping window for Michigan as a whole. For Baraga County and the counties around it, aim for the week of Oct 4; for Monroe County and its neighbors, the week of Oct 21.
What actually turns
Michigan produces some of the most vivid sugar maple color in America, with the Upper Peninsula's maples turning neon orange and scarlet against birch gold and the dark green of hemlocks.
- Sugar Maple
- Red Maple
- Quaking Aspen
- Paper Birch
- Red Oak
The Tunnel of Trees (M-119) along Lake Michigan's shore is a narrow road under a canopy of maples and birches that turns into a living cathedral of color in mid-October.
Worth the drive
Keweenaw County at the tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula is surrounded by Lake Superior on three sides, and the lake's moderating influence holds the color back, so it arrives around the second week of October, a week after the inland UP, and lingers past mid-month. Brockway Mountain Drive, the highest above-sea-level road between the Rockies and the Alleghenies, offers views of the color canopy stretching to the lake horizon.
Leelanau County at the tip of Michigan's pinky finger is surrounded by Lake Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The combination of hardwood color, sand dunes, and turquoise Great Lakes water creates a fall experience that feels more like a European coast than the American Midwest. The Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail is the best way to experience it on foot.
Every county, by peak week
Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Marquette, Ontonagon
Alcona, Alger, Alpena, Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Clare, Crawford, Delta, Dickinson, Emmet, Gladwin, Grand Traverse, Isabella, Kalkaska, Keweenaw, Lake, Luce, Mackinac, Mecosta, Menominee, Midland, Missaukee, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Osceola, Oscoda, Otsego, Presque Isle, Roscommon corrected, Schoolcraft, Wexford
Allegan, Arenac, Barry, Bay, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Huron, Ingham, Ionia, Iosco, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Lapeer, Leelanau, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Manistee, Mason, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oakland, Oceana, Ottawa, Saginaw, Sanilac, Shiawassee, St. Clair, St. Joseph, Tuscola, Van Buren, Washtenaw, Wayne
Monroe
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.