When is peak fall color at Pine Ridge National Recreation Area?

Our forecast puts peak color at Pine Ridge National Recreation Area around 22 Oct. The four days to aim for are 21 to 24 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Pine Ridge National Recreation Area Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Pine Ridge National Recreation Area?

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 color22 OctAim for 21 to 24 Oct

In the recreation area today, Sep 25Still green

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 Pine Ridge National Recreation Area Nearly all of the recreation area is in Dawes County, which is still green today.

By elevation The recreation area runs from about 3,890 to 4,472 feet. That’s 4 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 19, the low ground holds until about Oct 22, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 3,750 to 4,000 foot band.

4,250–4,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1945%
4,000–4,250 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2136%
3,750–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2217%

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 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

Wednesday 21 October to Thursday 22 October

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

Up at 4,250 feet the stands peak around Oct 19; down at 4,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 22. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

4,250–4,500 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 19
4,000–4,250 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 21
3,750–4,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 22

What turns: plains cottonwood, green ash, boxelder, willow, American elm

What turns, and when

plains cottonwood37%
green ash23%
boxelder12%
willow12%
American elm12%
bur oak2%

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