When is peak fall color at Niobrara National Scenic River?

Our forecast puts peak color at Niobrara National Scenic River around 12 Oct. The four days to aim for are 11 to 14 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Niobrara National Scenic River Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Niobrara National Scenic River?

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 color12 OctAim for 11 to 14 Oct

In the river 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 forecast

Around Niobrara National Scenic River The counties around it are painted by how far along their color is today, Sep 25.

That’s 3 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

Sunday 11 October to Monday 12 October

You’ll find it peak color.

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

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

What turns, and when

bur oak48%
green ash21%
hackberry16%
plains cottonwood8%
boxelder3%
willow3%

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.

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.

Across Nebraska as a whole: Early-to-mid October in the north, late October along the Platte and Missouri rivers.

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