Peak color lands around Oct 18 in most of Pennsylvania, but it moves 18 days across the state. Here’s where, and when, and how sure we are.
Pennsylvania fall foliage map, week of Oct 12
When is peak fall foliage in Pennsylvania in 2026?
Most of Pennsylvania peaks between Oct 9 and Oct 21. The first county to peak is Somerset County, around Oct 8, and the last is Philadelphia County, around Oct 26.
Elevation does most of the work here. Color runs down a mountain at roughly a day per 100 meters, so a ridge and the valley below it can be a week or two apart in the same county. On the Lake Erie shore the water adds its own delay, the shoreline itself a week or more behind the same trees inland. This fall is running 3 days late on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
| Week | Where it peaks | Most of the state |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 5 to Oct 11 | Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Flight 93 National Memorial and 8 counties | Nearly peak |
| Oct 12 to Oct 18 this week | Allegheny National Forest, Allegheny National Recreation Area, Erie National Wildlife Refuge and 27 counties | Peak color |
| Oct 19 to Oct 25 | Gettysburg National Military Park, Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site and 31 counties | Peak color |
| Oct 26 to Nov 1 | Valley Forge National Historical Park, First State National Historical Park, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum and 1 county | Just past peak |
Each date is the middle of the four days we’d aim a trip at, and each place page names them. We score the model against 7 long-running forest monitoring sites in this part of the country and publish what it got wrong.
34 of 67 counties here are corrected by people who have actually looked at the trees this season. 37 reports from official state sources have moved those dates off the model and narrowed their windows. Counties with neither keep the model forecast and say so. Which is which is marked in the table below.
Early October in the northern tier, mid-to-late October in the Poconos and Alleghenies, late October in the southeast is how Pennsylvania is usually described.
Pennsylvania’s season, place by place
Every place we forecast in Pennsylvania, each set on the calendar at its peak and painted by how far along it is today, Oct 13.
First: Flight 93 National Memorial, Oct 8. Last: John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, Oct 29.
The dashed rule is today; the solid one is the median of the places on this chart, Oct 18. The date at the top of the page is the median county, which includes the low ground between them.
Where to go in Pennsylvania
The destinations we cover in Pennsylvania, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.
- PeakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- PeakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Erie National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Hickory Creek WildernessPeakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Cherry Valley National Wildlife RefugePeakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Tionesta Scenic AreaPeakPeak Oct 18, oak Oct 25 best Oct 17 to 20
- Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic SitePeakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Fort Necessity National BattlefieldPeakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Allegheny Islands WildernessPeakPeak Oct 18, oak Oct 24 best Oct 17 to 20
- Johnstown Flood National MemorialPeakPeak Oct 18 best Oct 17 to 20
- Heart's Content Scenic AreaPeakPeak Oct 18, oak Oct 25 best Oct 17 to 20
- Friendship Hill National Historic SitePeakPeak Oct 22 best Oct 21 to 24
- Ohio River Islands National Wildlife RefugeNear peakPeak Oct 23 best Oct 22 to 25
- Hopewell Furnace National Historic SiteNear peakPeak Oct 23, oak Oct 26 best Oct 22 to 25
- Gettysburg National Military ParkNear peakPeak Oct 24, oak Oct 27 best Oct 23 to 26
- Eisenhower National Historic SiteNear peakPeak Oct 24, birch Oct 30 best Oct 23 to 26
- Valley Forge National Historical ParkToo earlyPeak Oct 26, oak Oct 29 best Oct 25 to 28
- First State National Historical ParkToo earlyPeak Oct 26, oak Oct 29 best Oct 25 to 28
- John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at TinicumToo earlyPeak Oct 29 best Oct 28 to 31
- Flight 93 National MemorialPast peakPeak Oct 8 best Oct 7 to 10
- Past peakPeak Oct 9 best Oct 8 to 11
Questions people ask about Pennsylvania fall foliage
- When is peak fall foliage in Pennsylvania?
Most of Pennsylvania peaks between Oct 9 and Oct 21. The first county to peak is Somerset County, around Oct 8, and the last is Philadelphia County, around Oct 26. This fall is running 3 days late on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
- Where is the best fall foliage in Pennsylvania right now?
As of Oct 13, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is at peak, with Allegheny National Forest, Allegheny National Recreation Area, Erie National Wildlife Refuge and nine more within a week of it. Friendship Hill National Historic Site follows around Oct 22.
- How long does peak last in Pennsylvania?
In any one place, about four days at the top, with a week or so either side that's still worth the drive. Across Pennsylvania as a whole, peak moves 18 days from Somerset County to Philadelphia County, so there's peak color somewhere in the state for about 22 days.
- Is Pennsylvania past peak?
Not yet for most of it. As of Oct 13, 8 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties are past peak, 0 are at it and 59 are still ahead.
- How far along is Pennsylvania's fall foliage today?
On Oct 13, no county in Pennsylvania is at peak yet: 59 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties (88 percent) are turning and 8 (12 percent) are past peak. The county map above paints each one, and the live map lets you scrub the day.
- When do the leaves change in Pennsylvania?
The first color shows in Somerset County around Sep 17 and peaks there around Oct 8. Philadelphia County is the last of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, peaking around Oct 26. Most of the state turns through the weeks around Oct 18.
- What's the best time to visit Pennsylvania for fall foliage?
The week of Oct 18 catches the most of the state at once, and the four days we'd aim at there are Oct 17 to 20. That's the leaf peeping window for Pennsylvania as a whole. For Somerset County and the counties around it, aim for the week of Oct 8; for Philadelphia County and its neighbors, the week of Oct 26.
What actually turns
Pennsylvania's vast forests turn every shade from scarlet maple to burgundy oak to bronze beech, and the Allegheny Plateau produces color that rivals the best of New England across a much larger canvas.
- Red Oak
- Sugar Maple
- Red Maple
- Hickory
- American Beech
The Allegheny National Forest in the northwest corner peaks in mid-October with a sea of red oak, cherry, and maple that stretches unbroken to the horizon.
Worth the drive
Elk County lies in the heart of the Allegheny National Forest in northwestern Pennsylvania, one of the most underrated fall destinations in the eastern United States. The forest here is almost entirely hardwood, and the canopy of red oak, cherry, and maple that stretches unbroken across the plateau is vast in a way that feels more like a western wilderness than the East. The county is also home to the largest free-roaming elk herd east of the Mississippi.
Every county, by peak week
Bradford observed, McKean observed, Pike observed, Potter observed, Somerset observed, Susquehanna observed, Tioga observed, Wayne observed
Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford corrected, Blair corrected, Bucks corrected, Butler corrected, Cambria corrected, Cameron corrected, Carbon corrected, Centre corrected, Clarion corrected, Clearfield corrected, Clinton corrected, Columbia, Crawford corrected, Elk corrected, Erie, Fayette corrected, Forest corrected, Franklin, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana corrected, Jefferson corrected, Lackawanna corrected, Lawrence, Lehigh regional, Luzerne, Lycoming corrected, Mercer corrected, Mifflin, Monroe corrected, Montour, Northampton regional, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Snyder, Sullivan corrected, Union, Venango corrected, Warren corrected, Washington, Westmoreland, Wyoming corrected
Adams, Berks, Chester regional, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware regional, Fulton, Juniata, Lancaster corrected, Lebanon, Montgomery regional, Perry, Philadelphia regional, York
Every date on this site is a forecast: a model corrected by ground reports, carrying a measured error, published in full. Check conditions with the land manager before you travel. Last reviewed September 2026. Open the live map