When is peak fall color at Southern Nantahala Wilderness?

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

Southern Nantahala Wilderness Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Southern Nantahala Wilderness?

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 wilderness 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 Southern Nantahala Wilderness Towns County holds most of the wilderness and is still green today. Macon County, to the northeast, is 3 days ahead. Clay County, to the northwest, is 1 day ahead.

By elevation The wilderness runs from about 2,582 to 4,719 feet. That’s 11 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 17, the low ground holds until about Oct 26, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 3,500 to 4,000 foot band.

4,500–5,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1712%
4,000–4,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1919%
3,500–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2220%
3,000–3,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2428%
2,500–3,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2618%

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

Today from the coweeta camera, 14 km from Southern Nantahala Wilderness — See it now PhenoCam Network, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory camera, 14 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

Wednesday 21 October to Thursday 22 October

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

Up at 4,500 feet the stands peak around Oct 17; down at 3,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 26. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

4,500–5,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 17
4,000–4,500 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 19
3,500–4,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 22
3,000–3,500 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 24
2,500–3,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 26

Where to drive: Cherohala Skyway, about 33 miles · Newfound Gap Road, about 43 miles · Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 95 miles
What turns: northern red oak, red maple, white oak, shagbark hickory, sugar maple

What turns, and when

northern red oak28%
red maple22%
white oak20%
shagbark hickory14%
sugar maple8%
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