Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.
Weather Wind to 29 mph Saturday. Color may come down before it turns.
1 report came in from Addison County this week, 1 of them just starting. Our date held. See the county on the map.
Still greenStartingNearly peakPeakPast peakNo fall canopy we forecastInside the line, each band of elevation is painted on its own date.
Around Breadloaf Wilderness Nearly all of the wilderness is in Addison County, which is starting to turn today. Washington County, to the northeast, is 1 day behind.By elevation The wilderness runs from about 1,487 to 3,178 feet. That’s 5 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 2, the low ground holds until about Oct 7, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 2,000 to 2,500 foot band.
3,000–3,500 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 210%
2,500–3,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 324%
2,000–2,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 536%
1,500–2,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 625%
1,000–1,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 75%
SepOctNov
Height off 3DEP inside the wilderness’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the wilderness stands in it.
See it now PhenoCam Network, University of Vermont camera, 57 km away, captured Sep 25.
That’s 1 day earlier than our model alone would say. This September has been running cool, which shifts peak color.
Set the days you can be here. Everything under them answers for those days, not for peak.
Saturday 3 October to Sunday 4 October
You’ll find it peak color up high, nearly peak lower down.
Up at 3,000 feet the stands peak around Oct 2; down at 2,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 6. Pick your elevation for the day you come.
3,000–3,500 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 2
2,500–3,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 3
2,000–2,500 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 5
1,500–2,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 6
Where to drive
Route 100, about 17 miles · Route 112 (Lost River Road), about 55 miles · Kancamagus Highway, about 73 miles
What turns
sugar maple, red maple, paper birch, yellow birch, American beech
What turns, and when
sugar maple30%
red maple20%
paper birch20%
yellow birch10%
American beech10%
quaking aspen10%
Also named across Vermont, outside what the canopy read measures here: White Birch.
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.
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. We score it here against 27 long-running forest cameras: two dates in three land within 10 days of the camera’s own peak. How this map is made
