Photograph: More Than Just Parks
Before you drive inAngels Landing needs a permit, and the canyon runs on the shuttle. The permit is a lottery on Recreation.gov. Entry to the park itself needs no reservation. The park’s own page on it.
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.
When is peak fall foliage at Zion National Park in 2026?
Our forecast puts peak color at Zion National Park around Oct 25, and the four days to aim for are Oct 24 to 27.
The park runs from about 4,128 to 7,440 feet, and the color comes downhill over about 24 days: the high stands around Oct 11, the low ground around Oct 30. That's 1 day later than our model alone would say, because this September has been running warm.
| Week | In the park | Elevation at peak |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 21 to Sep 27 | Still green | |
| Sep 28 to Oct 4 | Starting to turn | |
| Oct 5 to Oct 11 | Starting to turn | 7,000 to 8,000 ft |
| Oct 12 to Oct 18 | Nearly peak | 6,000 to 7,000 ft |
| Oct 19 to Oct 25 | Peak color | 5,000 to 6,000 ft |
| Oct 26 to Nov 1 | Peak color | 4,000 to 5,000 ft |
| Nov 2 to Nov 8 | Just past peak | |
| Nov 9 to Nov 15 this week | Fading |
- 7,000–8,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 1112%
- 6,000–7,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 1735%
- 5,000–6,000 ftFadingpeak Oct 2331%
- 4,000–5,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 3018%
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.
That’s 1 day later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.
The place
There are parks you visit and parks that rearrange you. Zion is the second kind. You drive through a tunnel bored into a cliff, round a corner, and the canyon opens below you like the earth split itself apart and forgot to close. The walls are 2,000 to 3,000 feet of Navajo sandstone, stained red and orange and cream by iron oxide and desert varnish, and in late afternoon light they glow like something that should not be geologically possible. Zion still stops us cold.
Established 1919. About 4.7 million/year visitors.
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.
Saturday, October 24 to Sunday, October 25
You’ll find it fading up high, nearly peak lower down.
Up at 7,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 11; down at 5,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 30. Pick your elevation for the day you come.
- 7,000–8,000 ftFadingpeak Oct 11
- 6,000–7,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 17
- 5,000–6,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 23
- 4,000–5,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 30
- Where to drive
- Boulder Mountain (UT 12), about 101 miles · Fish Lake Scenic Byway (UT 25), about 112 miles
- What turns
- Gambel oak, bigtooth maple, quaking aspen, serviceberry
- Entrance
- $35
What turns, and when
- Gambel oak41%
- bigtooth maple35%
- quaking aspen12%
- serviceberry12%
Also named across Utah, outside what the canopy read measures here: 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.
Questions people ask about Zion National Park
- When is peak fall foliage at Zion National Park?
Our forecast puts peak color at Zion National Park around Oct 25, and the four days to aim for are Oct 24 to 27.
- Where is the best fall color at Zion National Park right now?
On Nov 10 the park is fading. The last band to peak was 4,000 to 5,000 feet, around Oct 30.
- How long does peak last at Zion National Park?
About four days at the top, Oct 24 to 27, with a week or so either side that's still worth the drive. Across the park's elevations the color moves over about 24 days, so there's peak color somewhere in it for roughly 28 days.
- Is Zion National Park past peak?
Yes. Peak was around Oct 25, and on Nov 10 it's fading.
- What trees turn color at Zion 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.
- Is there an entrance fee at Zion National Park?
Entrance fee $35.
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
Nearby, and when they turn
Dixie and Bryce Canyon and Kaibab are on the map above, with their own date.
- Peak Oct 25 best Oct 24 to 27
- Peak Oct 21 best Oct 20 to 23
- Peak Oct 21 best Oct 20 to 23
Fall color roads near Zion National Park
Nearest first. Distances are straight-line from the park, so allow more by road.
- Boulder Mountain (UT 12)
Torrey to Boulder over the aspen plateau, with Capitol Reef below.
- Fish Lake Scenic Byway (UT 25)
Pando, the largest aspen clone on earth, along the lake.