When is peak fall color at Bitterroot National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at Bitterroot National Forest around 29 Sep. The four days to aim for are 28 Sep to 1 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Bitterroot National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Bitterroot National Forest?

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 29 Sep, then western larches steal the finale in mid-October, turning entire mountain slopes amber before dropping their needles.

Peak color29 SepAim for 28 Sep to 1 Oct

In the forest today, Sep 25Nearly peak

Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.

Weather Wind to 47 mph Friday. Color may come down before it turns.

Weather Hard frost Saturday night. Peak may come early and go fast.

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 Bitterroot National Forest Ravalli County holds most of the forest and is starting to turn today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 10 days later than the forest’s own stands: the forest is nearly peak. Idaho County, to the west, is 11 days ahead.

By elevation The forest runs from about 4,288 to 7,837 feet. That’s 31 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 16, the low ground holds until about Oct 4, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 5,000 to 6,000 foot band.

7,000–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 1626%
6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 2233%
5,000–6,000 ftNearly peakpeak Sep 2824%
4,000–5,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 411%

Height off 3DEP inside the forest’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the forest stands in it.

That’s 1 day 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

Monday 28 September to Tuesday 29 September

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

Up at 7,000 feet the stands peak around Sep 16; down at 5,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 4. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

7,000–8,000 ftFadingpeak Sep 16
6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 22
5,000–6,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 28
4,000–5,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 4

Where to drive: Skalkaho Pass (MT 38), about 29 miles · Seeley-Swan Highway (MT 83), about 107 miles · Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway (ID 21), about 136 miles
What turns: quaking aspen, serviceberry, Rocky Mountain maple, huckleberry

What turns, and when

quaking aspen51%
serviceberry16%
Rocky Mountain maple16%
huckleberry16%

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

Montana's fall is a two-act show: aspens and cottonwoods turn gold around 29 Sep, 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