When is peak fall color at Nebraska National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at Nebraska National Forest around 10 Oct. The four days to aim for are 9 to 12 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Nebraska National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Nebraska National Forest?

Cottonwood, Bur Oak, Red Oak, Hackberry, Green Ash. 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.

Peak color10 OctAim for 9 to 12 Oct

In the forest today, Sep 25Starting to turn

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 Nebraska National Forest Dawes County holds most of the forest and is still green today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 13 days later than the forest’s own stands: the forest is starting to turn. Thomas County, to the east, is 10 days ahead. Blaine County, to the east, is 9 days ahead.

By elevation The forest runs from about 2,834 to 3,509 feet. That’s 2 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 10, the low ground holds until about Oct 12, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 3,500 to 3,750 foot band.

3,500–3,750 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 107%
3,250–3,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1119%
3,000–3,250 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 124%
2,750–3,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1269%

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.

That’s 4 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

Friday 9 October to Saturday 10 October

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

Up at 3,250 feet the stands peak around Oct 11; down at 3,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 12. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

3,250–3,500 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 11
2,750–3,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 12

What turns: plains cottonwood, green ash, bur oak, boxelder, willow

What turns, and when

plains cottonwood30%
green ash22%
bur oak13%
boxelder10%
willow10%
American elm10%

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

Also named across Nebraska, outside what the canopy read measures here: Red Oak, Hackberry.

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.

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 Nebraska