National Park·Virginia·196,758 acres
Shenandoah National Park
Forecast issued Nov 10, 7:57am ET
Before you drive inAn Old Rag day-use ticket is required for every hiker on Old Rag. Through Monday, November 30, on the Saddle, Ridge and Ridge Access trails. $2 a person, sold online ahead of time on Recreation.gov, not at the Old Rag entrance station. The park entrance pass is separate, $30 a vehicle for seven days. The park’s own page on it.
Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.
Weather Hard frost Saturday night. Peak may come early and go fast.
70 reports came in from Page County this week, 14 of them past peak and 14 of them at peak. Our date held. See the county on the map.
When is peak fall foliage at Shenandoah National Park in 2026?
Our forecast puts peak color at Shenandoah National Park around Oct 11, and the four days to aim for are Oct 10 to 13.
The park runs from about 664 to 3,124 feet, and the color comes downhill over about 12 days: the high stands around Oct 6, the low ground around Oct 18. That's 5 days earlier than our model alone would say, because this season's reports from the ground moved it.
| Week | In the park | Elevation at peak |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 21 to Sep 27 | Starting to turn | |
| Sep 28 to Oct 4 | Nearly peak | |
| Oct 5 to Oct 11 | Peak color | 2,000 to 2,500 ft, 2,500 to 3,000 ft, 3,000 to 3,500 ft |
| Oct 12 to Oct 18 | Peak color | 500 to 1,000 ft, 1,000 to 1,500 ft, 1,500 to 2,000 ft |
| Oct 19 to Oct 25 | Just past peak | |
| Oct 26 to Nov 1 | Fading |
- 3,000–3,500 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 67%
- 2,500–3,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 914%
- 2,000–2,500 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 1121%
- 1,500–2,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 1321%
- 1,000–1,500 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 1517%
- 500–1,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 1820%
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 5 days earlier than our model alone would say. This season’s reports from the ground moved it, and they outrank us.
The place
Skyline Drive runs 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge with over 70 overlooks, and on a clear fall morning the ridgelines stack up in progressively bluer layers until they disappear into haze. Shenandoah is the great eastern park that most people only see from their car windows. Get out and walk. The 500 miles of trail, including a stretch of the Appalachian Trail, are where this park actually lives.
Established 1935. About 1.6 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 10 to Sunday, October 11
You’ll find it peak color up high, nearly peak lower down.
Up at 2,500 feet the stands peak around Oct 9; down at 1,000 feet they hold on until about Oct 18. Pick your elevation for the day you come.
- 2,500–3,000 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 9
- 2,000–2,500 ftPeak colorpeak Oct 11
- 1,500–2,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 13
- 1,000–1,500 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 15
- 500–1,000 ftNearly peakpeak Oct 18
- Where to drive
- Skyline Drive, about 5 miles · Route 39 (Goshen Pass), about 66 miles · Highland Scenic Highway (Route 150), about 89 miles
- What turns
- northern red oak, white oak, red maple, shagbark hickory, sugar maple
- Entrance
- $30
What turns, and when
- northern red oak29%
- white oak26%
- red maple20%
- shagbark hickory15%
- sugar maple5%
- blackgum3%
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.
Questions people ask about Shenandoah National Park
- When is peak fall foliage at Shenandoah National Park?
Our forecast puts peak color at Shenandoah National Park around Oct 11, and the four days to aim for are Oct 10 to 13.
- Where is the best fall color at Shenandoah National Park right now?
On Nov 10 the park is leaves down. The last band to peak was 500 to 1,000 feet, around Oct 18.
- How long does peak last at Shenandoah National Park?
About four days at the top, Oct 10 to 13, with a week or so either side that's still worth the drive. Across the park's elevations the color moves over about 12 days, so there's peak color somewhere in it for roughly 16 days.
- Is Shenandoah National Park past peak?
Yes. Peak was around Oct 11, and on Nov 10 it's leaves down.
- What trees turn color at Shenandoah National Park?
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.
- Is there an entrance fee at Shenandoah National Park?
Entrance fee $30.
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
Nearby, and when they turn
Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks and Monongahela are on the map above, with their own date.
- Peak Oct 29 best Oct 28 to 31
- Peak Oct 20 best Oct 19 to 22
- Peak Oct 27 best Oct 26 to 29
- Peak Nov 3 best Nov 2 to 5
Fall color roads near Shenandoah National Park
Nearest first. Distances are straight-line from the park, so allow more by road.
- Skyline Drive
The full length of Shenandoah National Park from Front Royal to Rockfish Gap. 75 overlooks in 105 miles. Best in mid-to-late October.
- Route 39 (Goshen Pass)
A quiet Valley of Virginia gem that follows the Maury River through a gorge of red oaks and hemlocks.
- Highland Scenic Highway (Route 150)
Runs along the crest of the Allegheny Mountains above 4,000 feet. One of the least-visited and most beautiful fall drives in the eastern US.