When is peak fall color at Canyonlands National Park?

Our forecast puts peak color at Canyonlands National Park around 23 Oct. The four days to aim for are 22 to 25 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Canyonlands National Park Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Canyonlands National Park?

Quaking Aspen, Bigtooth Maple, Gambel Oak, Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Rocky Mountain Maple. 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.

Peak color23 OctAim for 22 to 25 Oct

In the park 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 Canyonlands National Park San Juan County holds most of the park and is nearly peak today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 21 days earlier than the park’s own stands: the park is still green. Wayne County, to the west, is 3 days ahead.

By elevation The park runs from about 4,080 to 6,486 feet. That’s 23 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 17, the low ground holds until about Oct 28, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 5,000 to 6,000 foot band.

6,000–7,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1711%
5,000–6,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2344%
4,000–5,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2840%

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

Today from the NEON.D13.MOAB.DP1.00033 camera, 43 km from Canyonlands National Park — See it now PhenoCam Network, Moab camera, 43 km away, captured Sep 25.

That’s 2 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.

The place

If Arches is the polished sibling, Canyonlands is the one who disappeared into the desert and never came back. 337,598 acres carved by the Colorado and Green rivers into three districts, one of which (the Maze) is so remote that rangers recommend you bring extra water, extra food, and a healthy respect for your own mortality. This is Utah canyon country at its most unmediated.

Established 1964. About 911K/year visitors.

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

Thursday 22 October to Friday 23 October

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

Up at 6,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 17; down at 5,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 28. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 17
5,000–6,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 23
4,000–5,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 28

Where to drive: Boulder Mountain (UT 12), about 86 miles · Fish Lake Scenic Byway (UT 25), about 102 miles · Dallas Divide (CO 62), about 108 miles
What turns: quaking aspen, Gambel oak, bigtooth maple, serviceberry, narrowleaf cottonwood
Entrance: $30

What turns, and when

quaking aspen31%
Gambel oak27%
bigtooth maple12%
serviceberry12%
narrowleaf cottonwood8%
willow6%

Also named across Utah, outside what the canopy read measures here: Rocky Mountain Maple.

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.

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 Utah