When is peak fall color at Mount Rogers National Recreation Area?

Our forecast puts peak color at Mount Rogers National Recreation Area around 22 Oct. The four days to aim for are 21 to 24 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Mount Rogers National Recreation Area?

Red Maple, Tulip Poplar, White Oak, Hickory, Sourwood. Shenandoah's overlooks reveal a warm mosaic of gold tulip poplars, scarlet maples, bronze hickories, and the deep wine of white oaks stretching along the Blue Ridge.

Peak color22 OctAim for 21 to 24 Oct

In the recreation area today, Sep 25Still green

Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.

3 reports came in from Grayson County this week, 3 of them still green. 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 Mount Rogers National Recreation Area Washington County holds most of the recreation area and is still green today. Grayson County, to the east, is 5 days ahead. Smyth County, to the northwest, is 3 days ahead.

By elevation The recreation area runs from about 2,290 to 4,553 feet. That’s 12 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 13, the low ground holds until about Oct 25, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 2,500 to 3,000 foot band.

4,500–5,000 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 136%
4,000–4,500 ftStarting to turnpeak Oct 167%
3,500–4,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1815%
3,000–3,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2127%
2,500–3,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2330%
2,000–2,500 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2515%

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

That’s 5 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.

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

Wednesday 21 October to Thursday 22 October

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

Up at 3,500 feet the stands peak around Oct 18; down at 2,500 feet they hold on until about Oct 25. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

3,500–4,000 ftJust past peakpeak Oct 18
3,000–3,500 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 21
2,500–3,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 23
2,000–2,500 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 25

Where to drive: Blue Ridge Parkway (NC Section), about 77 miles · Highland Scenic Highway (Route 150), about 131 miles · Route 39 (Goshen Pass), about 136 miles
What turns: northern red oak, red maple, white oak, shagbark hickory, sugar maple

What turns, and when

northern red oak28%
red maple22%
white oak20%
shagbark hickory14%
sugar maple8%
blackgum4%

Also named across Virginia, outside what the canopy read measures here: Tulip Poplar, Sourwood.

Shenandoah's overlooks reveal a warm mosaic of gold tulip poplars, scarlet maples, bronze hickories, and the deep wine of white oaks stretching along the Blue Ridge.

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 16 long-running forest cameras: two dates in three land within 7 days of the camera’s own peak. How this map is made

All of Virginia