When is peak fall color at Nantahala National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at Nantahala National Forest around 27 Oct. The four days to aim for are 26 to 29 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Nantahala National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Nantahala National Forest?

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 color27 OctAim for 26 to 29 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 Nantahala National Forest Cherokee County holds most of the forest and is still green today. Graham County, to the northwest, is 5 days ahead. Macon County, to the southeast, is 5 days ahead.

By elevation The forest runs from about 1,681 to 4,544 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 2,000 to 3,000 foot band.

4,000–5,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1816%
3,000–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2234%
2,000–3,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2737%
1,000–2,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 3013%

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.

Today from the NEON.D07.GRSM.DP1.00033 camera, 10 km from Nantahala National Forest — See it now PhenoCam Network, Great Smoky Mountains National Park camera, 10 km away, captured Sep 25.

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

Monday 26 October to Tuesday 27 October

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

Up at 4,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 18; down at 2,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 30. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

4,000–5,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 18
3,000–4,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 22
2,000–3,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 27
1,000–2,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 30

Where to drive: Cherohala Skyway, about 23 miles · Newfound Gap Road, about 30 miles · Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 89 miles
What turns: northern red oak, red maple, white oak, shagbark hickory, sugar maple

What turns, and when

northern red oak27%
red maple23%
white oak19%
shagbark hickory14%
sugar maple9%
tulip poplar4%

Also named across North Carolina, outside what the canopy read measures here: 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