Photograph: More Than Just Parks
Peak color lands around Oct 9 in most of Vermont, but it moves 6 days across the state. Here’s where, and when, and how sure we are.
Vermont fall foliage map for the week of Nov 9
When is peak fall foliage in Vermont in 2026?
Most of Vermont peaks between Oct 7 and Oct 10. The first county to peak is Lamoille County, around Oct 6, and the last is Orange County, around Oct 12.
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. This fall is running 1 day early on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
| Week | Where it peaks | Most of the state |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 5 to Oct 11 | Green Mountain National Forest, Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area, Glastenbury Wilderness and 13 counties | Peak color |
| Oct 12 to Oct 18 | Orange 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 27 long-running forest monitoring sites in this part of the country and publish what it got wrong.
1 of 14 counties here are corrected by people who have actually looked at the trees this season. 5 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 through mid-October, north to south is how Vermont is usually described.
Vermont’s season place by place
Every place we forecast in Vermont, each set on the calendar at its peak and painted by how far along it is today, Nov 10.
First: Breadloaf Wilderness, Oct 4. Last: Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, Oct 19.
The dashed rule is today; the solid one is the median of the places on this chart, Oct 7. The date at the top of the page is the median county, which includes the low ground between them.
Where to go in Vermont
The destinations we cover in Vermont, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.
- Past peakPeak Oct 4 best Oct 3 to 6
- Past peakPeak Oct 5 best Oct 4 to 7
- Past peakPeak Oct 6 best Oct 5 to 8
- Peru Peak WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 6 best Oct 5 to 8
- Past peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Past peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Lye Brook WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Past peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Big Branch WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- George D. Aiken WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Bristol Cliffs WildernessPast peakPeak Oct 7 best Oct 6 to 9
- Missisquoi National Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 8 best Oct 7 to 10
- Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical ParkPast peakPeak Oct 9 best Oct 8 to 11
- Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife RefugePast peakPeak Oct 19 best Oct 18 to 21
Questions people ask about Vermont fall foliage
- When is peak fall foliage in Vermont?
Most of Vermont peaks between Oct 7 and Oct 10. The first county to peak is Lamoille County, around Oct 6, and the last is Orange County, around Oct 12. This fall is running 1 day early on September's temperatures, and the dates here already include it.
- Where is the best fall foliage in Vermont right now?
Peak has passed in the places we cover in Vermont as of Nov 10. Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and 13 more was the last, around Oct 19. The live map still shows where russet and late gold are holding.
- How long does peak last in Vermont?
In any one place, about four days at the top, with a week or so either side that's still worth the drive. Across Vermont as a whole, peak moves 6 days from Lamoille County to Orange County, so there's peak color somewhere in the state for about 10 days.
- Is Vermont past peak?
Yes. As of Nov 10, every one of Vermont's 14 counties is past peak by our forecast. Orange County was the last, around Oct 12.
- How far along is Vermont's fall foliage today?
On Nov 10, no county in Vermont is at peak yet: 14 of Vermont's 14 counties (100 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 Vermont?
The first color shows in Lamoille County around Sep 15 and peaks there around Oct 6. Orange County is the last of Vermont's 14 counties, peaking around Oct 12. Most of the state turns through the weeks around Oct 9.
- What's the best time to visit Vermont for fall foliage?
The week of Oct 9 catches the most of the state at once, and the four days we'd aim at there are Oct 8 to 11. That's the leaf peeping window for Vermont as a whole. For Lamoille County and the counties around it, aim for the week of Oct 6; for Orange County and its neighbors, the week of Oct 12.
What actually turns
Sugar maples turn brilliant orange and scarlet, birches go gold, beeches fade to bronze, and against the dark green of spruce the effect is iconic.
- Sugar Maple
- Red Maple
- Yellow Birch
- White Birch
- American Beech
The Northeast Kingdom colors first, typically late September. Route 100 through the Green Mountains is the classic drive, but the quieter roads around Peacham and Craftsbury are where the real magic is.
Worth the drive
Lamoille County is home to Stowe and the spine of the Green Mountains, and it is the beating heart of Vermont's fall foliage tourism. Route 100 through the Stowe valley and the Smugglers' Notch Road (Route 108) through the narrowest mountain pass in the state are two of the most photographed fall roads in America. Arrive by the first week of October for peak color.
Orleans County in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont is where fall color arrives first in New England. The rolling hills, dairy farms, and small villages of the Kingdom produce a pastoral fall landscape that feels like it was designed for a calendar. This is the quiet, uncrowded Vermont that existed before Instagram, and it is still the best.
Every county by peak week
Lamoille
Addison, Bennington regional, Caledonia regional, Chittenden observed, Essex regional, Franklin, Grand Isle, Orange regional, Orleans regional, Rutland, Washington regional, Windham regional, Windsor
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
The official Vermont report
Vermont publishes its own foliage report through the season, from Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation. That's a state forestry agency, which means foresters reporting conditions rather than a tourism office. Once the season starts it will be more current than any forecast, including ours.
See it on the map
The live map covers every county in the country, with a timeline you can scrub through the season, the nearest forest monitoring camera, and the long-term record where we hold one. If you’re going this weekend, the weekend report names where color is at peak right now, region by region.
Before you drive, it’s worth checking fire and smoke conditions for the same forests. A perfect color week is no good under a smoke plume.