Mississippi Fall Foliage Map 2026

The county map today

Where to go in Mississippi

The destinations we cover in Mississippi, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.

1. Shiloh National Military ParkMississippi, Tennessee
   Too earlyPeak 7 Nov best 6 to 9 Nov
2. Holly Springs National ForestMississippi
   Too earlyPeak 10 Nov best 9 to 12 Nov
3. Tombigbee National ForestMississippi
   Too earlyPeak 11 Nov best 10 to 13 Nov
4. Natchez Trace ParkwayAlabama, Mississippi, Tennessee
   Too earlyPeak 11 Nov best 10 to 13 Nov
5. Dahomey National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
   Too earlyPeak 12 Nov best 11 to 14 Nov
6. Tallahatchie National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
   Too earlyPeak 12 Nov best 11 to 14 Nov
7. Coldwater River National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
   Too earlyPeak 12 Nov best 11 to 14 Nov
8. Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
   Too earlyPeak 13 Nov best 12 to 15 Nov
9. Hillside National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
   Too earlyPeak 13 Nov best 12 to 15 Nov
10. Yazoo National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 13 Nov best 12 to 15 Nov
11. Morgan Brake National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 13 Nov best 12 to 15 Nov
12. Holt Collier National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 13 Nov best 12 to 15 Nov
13. Mathews Brake National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 13 Nov best 12 to 15 Nov
14. Panther Swamp National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 14 Nov best 13 to 16 Nov
15. Delta National ForestMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 14 Nov best 13 to 16 Nov
16. Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 14 Nov best 13 to 16 Nov
17. Bienville National ForestMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 15 Nov best 14 to 17 Nov
18. Gulf Islands National SeashoreFlorida, Mississippi
    Too earlyPeak 15 Nov best 14 to 17 Nov
19. Vicksburg National Military ParkMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 15 Nov best 14 to 17 Nov
20. Homochitto National ForestMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 16 Nov best 15 to 18 Nov
21. De Soto National ForestMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 17 Nov best 16 to 19 Nov
22. St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife RefugeMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 17 Nov best 16 to 19 Nov
23. Black Creek WildernessMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 18 Nov, sweetgum 26 Nov best 17 to 20 Nov
24. Leaf WildernessMississippi
    Too earlyPeak 18 Nov, sweetgum 26 Nov best 17 to 20 Nov

When to go

Across 82 counties, peak color is forecast to arrive first in Tippah County around Nov 8 and last in Hancock County around Nov 21. Most of the state peaks near Nov 14.

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.

This autumn is running 5 days late in Mississippi. September has run warmer than the 1991 to 2020 normal so far, and the dates above already include that. It’s a real signal but a modest one: temperature explains under a tenth of how much peak color moves year to year.

Late October in the northeast hills, mid-November elsewhere is how Mississippi is usually described.

What actually turns

Sweetgums provide the best color in Mississippi, turning vivid red and purple, while bald cypresses go copper along the rivers and hickories fade to gold in the uplands.

• Sweetgum
• Red Maple
• Hickory
• Bald Cypress
• Tulip Poplar

The Natchez Trace Parkway through the northeast corner of the state, particularly near Jeff Busby and Tishomingo, produces the most reliable fall color in Mississippi.

Every county, by peak week

Latitude does most of the work here: color moves south at about two days per degree, so the north of the state turns a week or more ahead of the south.