When is peak fall color at Custer National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at Custer National Forest around 26 Sep. The four days to aim for are 25 to 28 Sep. We publish our error rate.

Custer National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Custer 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 26 Sep, then western larches steal the finale in mid-October, turning entire mountain slopes amber before dropping their needles.

Peak color26 SepAim for 25 to 28 Sep

In the forest today, Sep 25Peak color

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 Custer National Forest Powder River County holds most of the forest and is starting to turn today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 20 days later than the forest’s own stands: the forest is peak color. Carter County, to the east, is 1 day ahead. Harding County, to the east, is 3 days behind.

By elevation The forest runs from about 3,131 to 10,218 feet. That’s 46 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Aug 30, the low ground holds until about Oct 15, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 6,000 to 8,000 foot band.

10,000–12,000 ftLeaves downpeak Aug 308%
8,000–10,000 ftFadingpeak Sep 726%
6,000–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 219%
4,000–6,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 711%
2,000–4,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1547%

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 2 days 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

Friday 25 September to Saturday 26 September

You’ll find it fading up high, starting to turn lower down.

Up at 8,000 feet the stands peak around Sep 7; down at 4,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 15. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

8,000–10,000 ftFadingpeak Sep 7
6,000–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 21
4,000–6,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 7
2,000–4,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 15

Where to drive: Bighorn Scenic Byway (US 14), about 42 miles · Beartooth Highway (US 212), about 95 miles · Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (WY 296), about 104 miles
What turns: quaking aspen, willow, bur oak, serviceberry, green ash

What turns, and when

quaking aspen34%
willow22%
bur oak10%
serviceberry7%
green ash7%
hackberry5%

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 26 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