When is peak fall color at Wallowa-Whitman National Forest?

Our forecast puts peak color at Wallowa-Whitman National Forest around 6 Oct. The four days to aim for are 5 to 8 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Wallowa-Whitman National Forest?

Vine Maple, Bigleaf Maple, Black Cottonwood, Red Alder, Western Larch. Vine maples turn vivid scarlet in the understory of Douglas fir forests, bigleaf maples go gold with enormous leaves, and the Columbia Gorge frames it all against waterfalls and basalt.

Peak color6 OctAim for 5 to 8 Oct

In the forest today, Sep 25Starting to turn

Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.

2 reports came in from Union County this week, 2 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 Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Baker County holds most of the forest and is starting to turn today. Wallowa County, to the northeast, is 1 day behind. Union County, to the northwest, is 3 days behind.

By elevation The forest runs from about 2,220 to 7,240 feet. That’s 14 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 20, the low ground holds until about Oct 14, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 4,000 to 6,000 foot band.

6,000–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 2016%
4,000–6,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 452%
2,000–4,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 1429%

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.

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 5 October to Tuesday 6 October

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

Up at 6,000 feet the stands peak around Sep 20; down at 4,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 14. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

6,000–8,000 ftFadingpeak Sep 20
4,000–6,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 4
2,000–4,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 14

Where to drive: Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway (ID 21), about 132 miles
What turns: quaking aspen, serviceberry, Rocky Mountain maple, huckleberry, willow

What turns, and when

quaking aspen47%
serviceberry10%
Rocky Mountain maple9%
huckleberry9%
willow8%
black cottonwood7%

Also named across Oregon, outside what the canopy read measures here: Vine Maple, Bigleaf Maple, Red Alder, Western Larch.

Vine maples turn vivid scarlet in the understory of Douglas fir forests, bigleaf maples go gold with enormous leaves, and the Columbia Gorge frames it all against waterfalls and basalt.

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 Oregon