When is peak fall color at Gallatin National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at Gallatin National Forest around 19 Sep. The four days to aim for are 18 to 21 Sep. We publish our error rate.

Gallatin National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Gallatin 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 19 Sep, then western larches steal the finale in mid-October, turning entire mountain slopes amber before dropping their needles.

Peak color19 SepAim for 18 to 21 Sep

In the forest today, Sep 26Just past peak

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 Gallatin National Forest Park County holds most of the forest and is nearly peak today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 11 days later than the forest’s own stands: the forest is just past peak. Gallatin County, to the west, is 7 days ahead. Sweet Grass County, to the northeast, is 2 days behind.

By elevation The forest runs from about 5,141 to 9,378 feet. That’s 30 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 5, the low ground holds until about Sep 30, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 7,000 to 8,000 foot band.

9,000–10,000 ftLeaves downpeak Sep 512%
8,000–9,000 ftFadingpeak Sep 1023%
7,000–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 1727%
6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 2323%
5,000–6,000 ftNearly peakpeak Sep 3012%

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.

Today from the NEON.D12.BLDE.DP1.20002 camera, 39 km from Gallatin National Forest — See it now PhenoCam Network, Blacktail Deer Creek camera, 39 km away, captured Sep 25.

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

Friday 18 September to Saturday 19 September

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

Up at 9,000 feet the stands peak around Sep 5; down at 6,000 feet they hold on until about Sep 30. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

9,000–10,000 ftFadingpeak Sep 5
8,000–9,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 10
7,000–8,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 17
6,000–7,000 ftNearly peakpeak Sep 23
5,000–6,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Sep 30

Where to drive: Beartooth Highway (US 212), about 67 miles · Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (WY 296), about 69 miles · Teton Park Road, about 107 miles
What turns: narrowleaf cottonwood, quaking aspen, willow, water birch, serviceberry

What turns, and when

narrowleaf cottonwood33%
quaking aspen22%
willow22%
water birch11%
serviceberry4%
Rocky Mountain maple4%

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 19 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