When is peak fall color at Rattlesnake National Recreation Area?

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

Rattlesnake National Recreation Area Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Rattlesnake 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 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 recreation area today, Sep 25Peak color

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

Weather Wind to 44 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 Rattlesnake National Recreation Area Nearly all of the recreation area is in Missoula County, which is nearly peak today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 7 days later than the recreation area’s own stands: the recreation area is peak color.

By elevation The recreation area runs from about 3,915 to 7,392 feet. That’s 24 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 13, the low ground holds until about Oct 7, 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 1317%
6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 1841%
5,000–6,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 2423%
4,000–5,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 213%
3,000–4,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 76%

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 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 25 September to Saturday 26 September

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

Up at 7,000 feet the stands peak around Sep 13; down at 5,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 2. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

7,000–8,000 ftFadingpeak Sep 13
6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 18
5,000–6,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 24
4,000–5,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 2

Where to drive: Seeley-Swan Highway (MT 83), about 30 miles · Skalkaho Pass (MT 38), about 56 miles · Going-to-the-Sun Road, about 117 miles
What turns: black cottonwood, quaking aspen, serviceberry, Rocky Mountain maple, huckleberry

What turns, and when

black cottonwood85%
quaking aspen8%
serviceberry2%
Rocky Mountain maple2%
huckleberry2%

Also named across Montana, outside what the canopy read measures here: Western Larch, 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