When is peak fall color at Blue Ridge Parkway?

Our forecast puts peak color at Blue Ridge Parkway around 21 Oct. The four days to aim for are 20 to 23 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Blue Ridge Parkway Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Blue Ridge Parkway?

Tulip Poplar, Red Maple, Sourwood, Hickory, White Oak. Sourwoods turn deep crimson before anything else, tulip poplars go clear gold, hickories fade to bronze, and the layered ridgelines of the Blue Ridge create that famous smoky depth of warm color.

Peak color21 OctAim for 20 to 23 Oct

In the parkway 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 Blue Ridge Parkway Buncombe County holds most of the parkway and is still green today. Roanoke County, to the northeast, is 1 day ahead. Floyd County, to the northeast, is 2 days ahead.

By elevation The parkway runs from about 1,180 to 3,668 feet. That’s 12 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 18, the low ground holds until about Oct 30, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 3,000 to 3,500 foot band.

3,500–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 188%
3,000–3,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 218%
2,500–3,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2310%
2,000–2,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2621%
1,500–2,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2837%
1,000–1,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 3017%

Height off 3DEP inside the parkway’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the parkway stands in it.

Today from the asuhighlands camera, 41 km from Blue Ridge Parkway — See it now PhenoCam Network, Appalachian State University camera, 41 km away, captured Sep 25.

That’s 5 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.

The place

A Blue Ridge Parkway experience is unlike any other: a slow-paced and relaxing drive revealing stunning long-range vistas and close-up views of the rugged mountains and pastoral landscapes of the Appalachian Highlands. The Parkway meanders for 469 miles, protecting a diversity of plants and animals, and providing opportunities for enjoying all that makes this region of the country so special.

Established 1936.

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

Tuesday 20 October to Wednesday 21 October

You’ll find it nearly peak up high, starting to turn lower down.

Up at 2,500 feet the stands peak around Oct 23; down at 1,500 feet they hold on until about Oct 30. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

2,500–3,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 23
2,000–2,500 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 26
1,500–2,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 28
1,000–1,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 30

Where to drive: Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 74 miles · Route 39 (Goshen Pass), about 137 miles · Highland Scenic Highway (Route 150), about 139 miles
What turns: northern red oak, red maple, white oak, shagbark hickory, sugar maple

What turns, and when

northern red oak27%
red maple23%
white oak18%
shagbark hickory13%
sugar maple9%
blackgum5%

Also named across North Carolina, outside what the canopy read measures here: Tulip Poplar, Sourwood.

Sourwoods turn deep crimson before anything else, tulip poplars go clear gold, hickories fade to bronze, and the layered ridgelines of the Blue Ridge create that famous smoky depth of warm 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. We score it here against 16 long-running forest cameras: two dates in three land within 7 days of the camera’s own peak. How this map is made

All of North Carolina