When is peak fall color at Pisgah National Forest?

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

Pisgah National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Pisgah 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 color22 OctAim for 21 to 24 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.

1 report came in from Buncombe County this week, 1 of them still green. Our date held. See the county on the map.

Still greenStartingNearly peakPeakPast peakNo fall canopy we forecastInside the line, each band of elevation is painted on its own date.

Around Pisgah National Forest Caldwell County holds most of the forest and is still green today. McDowell County, to the east, is on the same day. Haywood County, to the west, is 12 days ahead.

By elevation The forest runs from about 1,640 to 4,608 feet. That’s 17 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 17, the low ground holds until about Oct 29, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 3,000 to 4,000 foot band.

4,000–5,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 178%
3,000–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2129%
2,000–3,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2545%
1,000–2,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2914%

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

Wednesday 21 October to Thursday 22 October

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

Up at 3,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 21; down at 2,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 29. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

3,000–4,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 21
2,000–3,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 25
1,000–2,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 29

Where to drive: Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 12 miles · Newfound Gap Road, about 59 miles · Cherohala Skyway, about 95 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