When is peak fall color at Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument?

Our forecast puts peak color at Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument around 6 Oct. The four days to aim for are 5 to 8 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument?

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

Peak color6 OctAim for 5 to 8 Oct

In the monument today, Sep 25Starting to turn

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

Weather Wind to 37 mph Saturday. Color may come down before it turns.

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 Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Chouteau County holds most of the monument and is starting to turn today. Fergus County, to the southeast, is 5 days ahead. Blaine County, to the northeast, is 3 days behind.

By elevation The monument runs from about 2,565 to 3,483 feet. It turns together: there isn’t enough relief here for the color to come down in stages.

3,500–3,750 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 75%
3,250–3,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 916%
3,000–3,250 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1135%
2,750–3,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1127%
2,500–2,750 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 915%

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

Monday 5 October to Tuesday 6 October

You’ll find it peak color.

That's the day our forecast puts peak color here.

3,250–3,500 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 9
3,000–3,250 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 11
2,750–3,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 11
2,500–2,750 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 9

What turns: bur oak, plains cottonwood, green ash, hackberry, quaking aspen

What turns, and when

bur oak21%
plains cottonwood20%
green ash19%
hackberry10%
quaking aspen10%
boxelder7%

Every one of these turns yellow or gold here. The shades only tell the species apart.

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 6 Oct, 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