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Forecast issued 25 Sep, 3:53pm ET

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Fall aspen on the Fishlake.

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Utah Fall Color Map 2026

Forecast issued 25 Sep, 3:53pm ET

Photograph: More Than Just Parks

Peak color lands around Sep 30 in most of Utah, but it moves 19 days across the state. Here’s where, and when, and how sure we are.

Utah’s season, place by place

The 24 places closest to their peak in Utah, each set on the calendar at its peak and painted by how far along it is today, Sep 25.

First: High Uintas Wilderness, Sep 19. Last: Nelson Mountain Wilderness, Oct 12.

The dashed rule is today; the solid one is the median of the places on this chart, Oct 5. The date at the top of the page is the median county, which includes the low ground between them.

The county map today

Uinta-Wasatch-CacheAlta Ski AreaBrighton Ski AreaAshleySnowbird Ski AreaSolitude Ski AreaHigh Uintas WildernessAshley Karst National Recreation and Geologic AreaManti-La Sal
Utah, Sep 25 Still green to peak to past peak, the map’s own scale. Open the live map to scrub the day.

Where to go in Utah

The destinations we cover in Utah, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.

  1. Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National ForestIdaho, Utah, Wyoming
    PeakPeak 22 Sep best 21 to 24 Sep
  2. Alta Ski AreaUtah
    PeakPeak 25 Sep best 24 to 27 Sep
  3. Brighton Ski AreaUtah
    PeakPeak 27 Sep best 26 to 29 Sep
  4. Ashley National ForestUtah, Wyoming
    PeakPeak 28 Sep best 27 to 30 Sep
  5. Snowbird Ski AreaUtah
    PeakPeak 30 Sep best 29 Sep to 2 Oct
  6. Solitude Ski AreaUtah
    PeakPeak 30 Sep best 29 Sep to 2 Oct
  7. High Uintas WildernessUtah
    Near peakPeak 19 Sep best 18 to 21 Sep
  8. Ashley Karst National Recreation and Geologic Area National Recreation AreaUtah
    Near peakPeak 21 Sep best 20 to 23 Sep
  9. Caribou-Targhee National ForestIdaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  10. Manti-La Sal National ForestColorado, Utah
    Near peakPeak 3 Oct best 2 to 5 Oct
  11. Sawtooth National ForestIdaho, Utah
    Near peakPeak 4 Oct best 3 to 6 Oct
  12. Fishlake National ForestUtah
    Near peakPeak 4 Oct best 3 to 6 Oct
  13. Brian Head Ski AreaUtah
    Too earlyPeak 5 Oct best 4 to 7 Oct
  14. Lone Peak WildernessUtah
    Too earlyPeak 6 Oct best 5 to 8 Oct
  15. Mount Naomi WildernessUtah
    Too earlyPeak 7 Oct best 6 to 9 Oct
  16. Cedar Breaks National MonumentUtah
    Too earlyPeak 7 Oct best 6 to 9 Oct
  17. Mount Nebo WildernessUtah
    Too earlyPeak 8 Oct best 7 to 10 Oct
  18. Dixie National ForestUtah
    Too earlyPeak 10 Oct best 9 to 12 Oct
  19. Flaming Gorge National Recreation AreaUtah, Wyoming
    Too earlyPeak 10 Oct best 9 to 12 Oct
  20. Ashdown Gorge WildernessUtah
    Too earlyPeak 10 Oct best 9 to 12 Oct
  21. Mount Olympus WildernessUtah
    Too earlyPeak 11 Oct best 10 to 13 Oct
  22. Twin Peaks WildernessUtah
    Too earlyPeak 11 Oct best 10 to 13 Oct
  23. Snowbasin Ski AreaUtah
    Too earlyPeak 11 Oct best 10 to 13 Oct
  24. Nelson Mountain WildernessUtah
    Too earlyPeak 12 Oct best 11 to 14 Oct

Also forecast in UtahArches National ParkBox-Death Hollow WildernessBryce Canyon National ParkCanyonlands National ParkCapitol Reef National ParkDesert Range Exp. Station Experimental AreaGlen Canyon National Recreation AreaMount Timpanogos WildernessWellsville Mountain WildernessZion National Park

When to go

Across 29 counties, peak color is forecast to arrive first in Duchesne County around Sep 21 and last in Washington County around Oct 10. Most of the state peaks near Sep 30.

Each date is the middle of the four days we’d aim a trip at, and each place page names them. We publish what the model got wrong, region by region.

This autumn is running 1 day late in Utah. September has run warmer than the 1991 to 2020 normal so far, and the dates above already include that. It’s a real signal but a modest one: temperature explains under a tenth of how much peak color moves year to year.

3 of 29 counties here are corrected by people who have actually looked at the trees this season. 6 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.

Late September at high elevations, early-to-mid October along the Wasatch Front is how Utah is usually described.

What actually turns

Utah's fall is a dual show: aspens turn gold on the high plateaus while bigtooth maples along the Wasatch Front go vivid scarlet, creating one of the most colorful mountain fronts in the West.

  • Quaking Aspen
  • Bigtooth Maple
  • Gambel Oak
  • Narrowleaf Cottonwood
  • Rocky Mountain Maple

The Alpine Scenic Loop around Mount Timpanogos is draped in bigtooth maple scarlet and aspen gold, and it produces color intensity that surprises everyone expecting a monochrome western fall.

Worth the drive

Utah County

Utah County contains the Alpine Scenic Loop around Mount Timpanogos, which produces the most intense fall color in Utah and arguably the most colorful mountain drive in the American West outside of Colorado. The secret is bigtooth maples, a species that turns vivid scarlet and rivals any eastern sugar maple for intensity. The maples line Provo Canyon and the American Fork Canyon slopes, peaking in early-to-mid October.

Every county, by peak week

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.

Sep 21 to Sep 22

Daggett, Duchesne, Juab observed, Sanpete regional

Sep 24 to Sep 29

Beaver, Carbon, Emery, Garfield, Piute, Summit, Uintah, Wasatch, Wayne corrected

Sep 30 to Oct 5

Box Elder, Cache, Davis, Grand, Iron, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Rich, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sevier, Tooele, Utah corrected, Weber

Oct 10

Washington

How this map is madeThe trees, the elevation, this September’s weather and reports from the ground, scored against 68 forest cameras. Median error 6 days.

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