When is peak fall color at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area?

Our forecast puts peak color at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area around 14 Oct. The four days to aim for are 13 to 16 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area?

Quaking Aspen, Western Larch, Black Cottonwood, Rocky Mountain Maple, Paper Birch. Montana's fall is a two-act show: aspens and cottonwoods turn gold around 14 Oct, then western larches steal the finale in mid-October, turning entire mountain slopes amber before dropping their needles.

Peak color14 OctAim for 13 to 16 Oct

In the recreation area today, Sep 25Starting to turn

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 Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Big Horn County holds most of the recreation area and is just past peak today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 22 days earlier than the recreation area’s own stands: the recreation area is starting to turn. Carbon County, to the northwest, is 8 days behind. Big Horn County, to the northeast, is 21 days behind.

By elevation The recreation area runs from about 3,648 to 5,517 feet. That’s 20 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 4, the low ground holds until about Oct 14, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 3,500 to 4,000 foot band.

5,000–5,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 410%
4,500–5,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 727%
4,000–4,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1027%
3,500–4,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1431%

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 2 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.

The place

The vast, wild landscape of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area offers visitors unparalleled opportunities to immerse themselves in the natural world, and experience the wonders of this extraordinary place. With over 120,000 acres, one can find an astounding diversity in ecosystems, wildlife, and more than 10,000 years of human history to explore.

Established 1966.

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

Tuesday 13 October to Wednesday 14 October

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

Up at 5,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 4; down at 4,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 14. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

5,000–5,500 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 4
4,500–5,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 7
4,000–4,500 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 10
3,500–4,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 14

Where to drive: Bighorn Scenic Byway (US 14), about 35 miles · Beartooth Highway (US 212), about 57 miles · Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (WY 296), about 65 miles
What turns: narrowleaf cottonwood, quaking aspen, willow, serviceberry, chokecherry

What turns, and when

narrowleaf cottonwood50%
quaking aspen21%
willow14%
serviceberry7%
chokecherry6%
green ash3%

Also named across Montana, outside what the canopy read measures here: Western Larch, Black Cottonwood, Rocky Mountain Maple, Paper Birch.

Montana's fall is a two-act show: aspens and cottonwoods turn gold around 14 Oct, then western larches steal the finale in mid-October, turning entire mountain slopes amber before dropping their needles.

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. Out here we score it against NASA's satellite record of when the canopy shuts down, read inside each unit’s own boundary: two dates in three land within 12 days of it. How this map is made

All of Montana