More Than Just ParksFoliage TrackerPowered byPublic Lands Intelligence

Forecast issued 25 Sep, 3:53pm ET

Get alertsAlerts
Canoes on the Niobrara.

Back to the map

Nebraska Fall Foliage Map 2026

Forecast issued 25 Sep, 3:53pm ET

Photograph: More Than Just Parks

Peak color lands around Oct 18 in most of Nebraska, but it moves 14 days across the state. Here’s where, and when, and how sure we are.

Nebraska’s season, place by place

Every place we forecast in Nebraska, each set on the calendar at its peak and painted by how far along it is today, Sep 25.

First: Nebraska National Forest, Oct 10. Last: Oglala National Grassland, Oct 25.

The dashed rule is today; the solid one is the median of the places on this chart, Oct 19. The date at the top of the page is the median county, which includes the low ground between them.

The county map today

NebraskaValentineSamuel R. McKelvieFort NiobraraFort Niobrara WildernessNiobrara National Scenic RiverJohn W. and Louise SeierMissouri National Recreational RiverCrescent LakeDesoto
Nebraska, Sep 25 Still green to peak to past peak, the map’s own scale. Open the live map to scrub the day.

Where to go in Nebraska

The destinations we cover in Nebraska, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.

  1. Nebraska National ForestNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 10 Oct best 9 to 12 Oct
  2. Valentine National Wildlife RefugeNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 11 Oct best 10 to 13 Oct
  3. Samuel R. McKelvie National ForestNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 11 Oct best 10 to 13 Oct
  4. Fort Niobrara National Wildlife RefugeNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 12 Oct best 11 to 14 Oct
  5. Fort Niobrara WildernessNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 12 Oct best 11 to 14 Oct
  6. Niobrara National Scenic RiverNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 12 Oct best 11 to 14 Oct
  7. John W. and Louise Seier National Wildlife RefugeNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 13 Oct best 12 to 15 Oct
  8. Missouri National Recreational RiverNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 15 Oct best 14 to 17 Oct
  9. Crescent Lake National Wildlife RefugeNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 17 Oct best 16 to 19 Oct
  10. Desoto National Wildlife RefugeIowa, Nebraska
    Too earlyPeak 19 Oct best 18 to 21 Oct
  11. Hamilton County Waterfowl Production AreaNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 19 Oct best 18 to 21 Oct
  12. Boyer Chute National Wildlife RefugeNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 20 Oct best 19 to 22 Oct
  13. Hall County Waterfowl Production AreaNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 20 Oct best 19 to 22 Oct
  14. Soldier Creek WildernessNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 21 Oct best 20 to 23 Oct
  15. Pine Ridge National Recreation AreaNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 22 Oct best 21 to 24 Oct
  16. North Platte National Wildlife RefugeNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 22 Oct best 21 to 24 Oct
  17. Agate Fossil Beds National MonumentNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 22 Oct best 21 to 24 Oct
  18. Lake MinatareNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 22 Oct best 21 to 24 Oct
  19. Homestead National Historical ParkNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 23 Oct best 22 to 25 Oct
  20. Scotts Bluff National MonumentNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 24 Oct best 23 to 26 Oct
  21. Oglala National GrasslandNebraska
    Too earlyPeak 25 Oct best 24 to 27 Oct

When to go

Across 93 counties, peak color is forecast to arrive first in Grant County around Oct 11 and last in Cheyenne County around Oct 25. Most of the state peaks near Oct 18.

Each date is the middle of the four days we’d aim a trip at, and each place page names them. We publish what the model got wrong, region by region.

This autumn is running 5 days late in Nebraska. September has run warmer than the 1991 to 2020 normal so far, and the dates above already include that. It’s a real signal but a modest one: temperature explains under a tenth of how much peak color moves year to year.

Early-to-mid October in the north, late October along the Platte and Missouri rivers is how Nebraska is usually described.

What actually turns

Cottonwoods along the Platte and Niobrara rivers turn gold, and the Pine Ridge in the northwest produces a surprising mix of ponderosa pine and hardwood color.

  • Cottonwood
  • Bur Oak
  • Red Oak
  • Hackberry
  • Green Ash

The Niobrara Valley Preserve near Valentine, where the eastern deciduous forest meets the western pine forest, produces an unusual and beautiful mix of fall color.

Every county, by peak week

Elevation does most of the work here. Color runs down a mountain at roughly a day per 100 meters, so a ridge and the valley below it can be a week or two apart in the same county.

Oct 11 to Oct 13

Arthur, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Grant, Holt, Hooker, Keya Paha, Logan, McPherson, Thomas

Oct 14 to Oct 20

Adams, Antelope, Blaine, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cedar, Chase, Colfax, Cuming, Custer, Dakota, Dawson, Deuel, Dixon, Dodge, Douglas, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Garden, Garfield, Gosper, Greeley, Hall, Hamilton, Hayes, Hitchcock, Howard, Kearney, Keith, Knox, Lincoln, Loup, Madison, Merrick, Nance, Perkins, Phelps, Pierce, Platte, Polk, Red Willow, Rock, Sarpy, Saunders, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Stanton, Thurston, Valley, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, York

Oct 21 to Oct 25

Banner, Box Butte, Cass, Cheyenne, Clay, Dawes, Fillmore, Franklin, Gage, Harlan, Jefferson, Johnson, Kimball, Lancaster, Morrill, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson, Saline, Scotts Bluff, Thayer, Webster

How this map is madeThe trees, the elevation, this September’s weather and reports from the ground, scored against 68 forest cameras. Median error 6 days.

Every date on this site is a forecast: a model corrected by ground reports, carrying a measured error, published in full. Check conditions with the land manager before you travel. Last reviewed September 2026. Open the live map