When is peak fall color at Mission Mountains Wilderness?

Our forecast puts peak color at Mission Mountains Wilderness around 27 Sep. The four days to aim for are 26 to 29 Sep. We publish our error rate.

Mission Mountains Wilderness Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Mission Mountains Wilderness?

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 around 10 Oct, turning entire mountain slopes amber before dropping their needles.

Peak color, most of the stand27 SepAim for 26 to 29 Sep

In the wilderness today, Sep 25Nearly peak

quaking aspen and Rocky Mountain maple

western larch, peak Oct 10

Peak color should arrive around 26 Sep for the quaking aspen and Rocky Mountain maple, and around 10 Oct for the western larch.

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

Weather Wind to 41 mph Friday. Color may come down before it turns.

Weather Hard frost Sunday 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 Mission Mountains Wilderness Missoula County holds most of the wilderness and is nearly peak today. Lake County, to the northwest, is 7 days behind.

By elevation The wilderness runs from about 4,630 to 7,524 feet. That’s 20 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 11, the low ground holds until about Oct 1, 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 ftFadingpeak Sep 1118%
6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 1846%
5,000–6,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 2427%
4,000–5,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 110%

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

Saturday 26 September to Sunday 27 September

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

Up at 7,000 feet the stands peak around Sep 11; down at 5,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 1. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

7,000–8,000 ftFadingpeak Sep 11
6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 18
5,000–6,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 24
4,000–5,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 1

Where to drive: Seeley-Swan Highway (MT 83), about 13 miles · Going-to-the-Sun Road, about 86 miles · Skalkaho Pass (MT 38), about 87 miles
What turns: quaking aspen, Rocky Mountain maple, serviceberry, huckleberry, narrowleaf cottonwood

What turns, and when

quaking aspen38%
Rocky Mountain maple12%
serviceberry12%
huckleberry12%
narrowleaf cottonwood10%
western larch7%

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

Montana's fall is a two-act show: aspens and cottonwoods turn gold around 26 Sep, then western larches steal the finale around 10 Oct, 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