When is peak fall color at Lincoln National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at Lincoln National Forest around 25 Oct. The four days to aim for are 24 to 27 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Lincoln National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Lincoln National Forest?

Quaking Aspen, Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Gambel Oak, Rocky Mountain Maple, Bigtooth Maple. Aspens turn gold in the Sangre de Cristo and Jemez mountains, Gambel oaks go russet and orange at lower elevations, and cottonwoods line the Rio Grande bosque in butter yellow.

Peak color25 OctAim for 24 to 27 Oct

In the forest 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 Lincoln National Forest Otero County holds most of the forest and is still green today. Lincoln County, to the north, is 1 day ahead.

By elevation The forest runs from about 4,569 to 8,733 feet. That’s 14 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 20, the low ground holds until about Oct 31, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 6,000 to 7,000 foot band.

8,000–9,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2011%
7,000–8,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2317%
6,000–7,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2542%
5,000–6,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2818%
4,000–5,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 3111%

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

Saturday 24 October to Sunday 25 October

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

Up at 8,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 20; down at 5,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 31. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

8,000–9,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 20
7,000–8,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 23
6,000–7,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 25
5,000–6,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 28
4,000–5,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 31

What turns: quaking aspen, Gambel oak, bigtooth maple, serviceberry, willow

What turns, and when

quaking aspen45%
Gambel oak26%
bigtooth maple14%
serviceberry9%
willow5%

Also named across New Mexico, outside what the canopy read measures here: Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Rocky Mountain Maple.

Aspens turn gold in the Sangre de Cristo and Jemez mountains, Gambel oaks go russet and orange at lower elevations, and cottonwoods line the Rio Grande bosque in butter yellow.

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 New Mexico