Peak color lands around Oct 13 in most of New Hampshire, but it moves 17 days across the state. Here’s where, and when, and how sure we are.
New Hampshire fall foliage map for the week of Nov 9
When is peak fall foliage in New Hampshire in 2026?
Most of New Hampshire peaks between Oct 10 and Oct 16. The first county to peak is Carroll County, around Oct 6, and the last is Grafton County, around Oct 23.
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. This fall is running 1 day early on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
| Week | Where it peaks | Most of the state |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 5 to Oct 11 | Mount Chocorua Scenic Area, Wapack National Wildlife Refuge, Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park and 3 counties | Nearly peak |
| Oct 12 to Oct 18 | White Mountain National Forest, Pemigewasset Wilderness, Sandwich Range Wilderness and 6 counties | Peak color |
| Oct 19 to Oct 25 | Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and 1 county | Just past peak |
Each date is the middle of the four days we’d aim a trip at, and each place page names them. We score the model against 27 long-running forest monitoring sites in this part of the country and publish what it got wrong.
4 of 10 counties here are corrected by people who have actually looked at the trees this season. 140 reports from official state sources have moved those dates off the model and narrowed their windows. Counties with neither keep the model forecast and say so. Which is which is marked in the table below.
Late September in the White Mountains, early-to-mid October in the Lakes Region, late October in the south is how New Hampshire is usually described.
New Hampshire’s season place by place
Every place we forecast in New Hampshire, each set on the calendar at its peak and painted by how far along it is today, Nov 10.
First: Mount Chocorua Scenic Area, Oct 6. Last: Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, Oct 19.
The dashed rule is today; the solid one is the median of the places on this chart, Oct 15. The date at the top of the page is the median county, which includes the low ground between them.
Where to go in New Hampshire
The destinations we cover in New Hampshire, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.
- Mount Chocorua Scenic AreaPast peakPeak Oct 6 best Oct 5 to 8
- Wapack National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 10 best Oct 9 to 12
- Saint-Gaudens National Historical ParkPast peakPeak Oct 11 best Oct 10 to 13
- Umbagog National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 15 best Oct 14 to 17
- Past peakPeak Oct 15 best Oct 14 to 17
- Past peakPeak Oct 15 best Oct 14 to 17
- Great Gulf WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 15 best Oct 14 to 17
- Pinkham Notch Scenic AreaPast peakPeak Oct 15 best Oct 14 to 17
- Great Bay National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 15 best Oct 14 to 17
- Gibbs Brook Scenic AreaPast peakPeak Oct 15 best Oct 14 to 17
- Past peakPeak Oct 17 best Oct 16 to 19
- Lafayette Brook Scenic AreaPast peakPeak Oct 17 best Oct 16 to 19
- Past peakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Past peakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Past peakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Nancy Brook Scenic AreaPast peakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Sawyer Pond Scenic AreaPast peakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Greeley Ponds Scenic AreaPast peakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 19 best Oct 18 to 21
Questions people ask about New Hampshire fall foliage
- When is peak fall foliage in New Hampshire?
Most of New Hampshire peaks between Oct 10 and Oct 16. The first county to peak is Carroll County, around Oct 6, and the last is Grafton County, around Oct 23. This fall is running 1 day early on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
- Where is the best fall foliage in New Hampshire right now?
Peak has passed in the places we cover in New Hampshire as of Nov 10. Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and 18 more was the last, around Oct 19. The live map still shows where russet and late gold are holding.
- How long does peak last in New Hampshire?
In any one place, about four days at the top, with a week or so either side that's still worth the drive. Across New Hampshire as a whole, peak moves 17 days from Carroll County to Grafton County, so there's peak color somewhere in the state for about 21 days.
- Is New Hampshire past peak?
Yes. As of Nov 10, every one of New Hampshire's 10 counties is past peak by our forecast. Grafton County was the last, around Oct 23.
- How far along is New Hampshire's fall foliage today?
On Nov 10, no county in New Hampshire is at peak yet: 10 of New Hampshire's 10 counties (100 percent) are past peak. The county map above paints each one, and the live map lets you scrub the day.
- When do the leaves change in New Hampshire?
The first color shows in Carroll County around Sep 15 and peaks there around Oct 6. Grafton County is the last of New Hampshire's 10 counties, peaking around Oct 23. Most of the state turns through the weeks around Oct 13.
- What's the best time to visit New Hampshire for fall foliage?
The week of Oct 13 catches the most of the state at once, and the four days we'd aim at there are Oct 12 to 15. That's the leaf peeping window for New Hampshire as a whole. For Carroll County and the counties around it, aim for the week of Oct 6; for Grafton County and its neighbors, the week of Oct 23.
What actually turns
New Hampshire's White Mountains produce the most dramatic fall color in the Northeast, with sugar maples blazing orange and scarlet against the granite peaks and dark green of spruce.
- Sugar Maple
- Red Maple
- Yellow Birch
- White Birch
- American Beech
The Kancamagus Highway between Lincoln and Conway is a 34-mile corridor through the heart of White Mountain color, peaking in early-to-mid October.
Worth the drive
Carroll County covers the eastern White Mountains, including the Kancamagus Highway's most dramatic stretches, Mount Washington, and the Conway valley. The Kanc from Lincoln to Conway crosses 2,855-foot Kancamagus Pass and is widely considered one of the five best fall drives in America. The six pullouts along the Swift River are mandatory stops.
Grafton County contains the heart of the White Mountains, including Franconia Notch, the Kancamagus Highway's western end, and some of the most rugged terrain in the Northeast. The combination of granite peaks, alpine birch, and hardwood valleys produces a dramatic fall landscape with color starting at treeline in late September and filling the notches by early October.
Every county by peak week
Carroll observed
Belknap, Cheshire, Hillsborough regional, Merrimack, Sullivan
Coos observed, Rockingham regional, Strafford observed
Grafton corrected
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
The official New Hampshire report
New Hampshire publishes its own foliage report through the season, from Visit New Hampshire. That's the state tourism board. Useful and updated weekly, though they have some incentive to call peak early. Once the season starts it will be more current than any forecast, including ours.
See it on the map
The live map covers every county in the country, with a timeline you can scrub through the season, the nearest forest monitoring camera, and the long-term record where we hold one. If you’re going this weekend, the weekend report names where color is at peak right now, region by region.
Before you drive, it’s worth checking fire and smoke conditions for the same forests. A perfect color week is no good under a smoke plume.