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Forecast issued 25 Sep, 3:53pm ET

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The sun setting behind a ridge of the Olympic Mountains from Hurricane Ridge, pink clouds overhead and a subalpine meadow in the foreground.

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Washington Fall Foliage Map 2026

Forecast issued 25 Sep, 3:53pm ET

Photograph: More Than Just Parks

Peak color lands around Oct 4 in most of Washington, but it moves 19 days across the state. Here’s where, and when, and how sure we are.

Washington’s season, place by place

The 24 places closest to their peak in Washington, each set on the calendar at its peak and painted by how far along it is today, Sep 25.

First: Pasayten Wilderness, Sep 26. Last: Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Area, Oct 3.

The dashed rule is today; the solid one is the median of the places on this chart, Oct 1. The date at the top of the page is the median county, which includes the low ground between them.

The county map today

Pasayten WildernessStephen Mather Wilderness AreaRoss LakeLake Chelan-Sawtooth WildernessLake ChelanLake RooseveltTumwater Botanical AreaNorth CascadesLittle Pend OreilleNoisy-Diobsud Wilderness
Washington, Sep 25 Still green to peak to past peak, the map’s own scale. Open the live map to scrub the day.

Where to go in Washington

The destinations we cover in Washington, in the order their color arrives. Each carries its own forecast and its own band, because a state isn’t one place.

  1. Pasayten WildernessWashington
    PeakPeak 26 Sep best 25 to 28 Sep
  2. Stephen Mather Wilderness AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 27 Sep, maple 9 Oct best 26 to 29 Sep
  3. Ross Lake National Recreation AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 27 Sep, maple 16 Oct best 26 to 29 Sep
  4. Lake Chelan-Sawtooth WildernessWashington
    PeakPeak 28 Sep best 27 to 30 Sep
  5. Lake Chelan National Recreation AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 28 Sep best 27 to 30 Sep
  6. Lake Roosevelt National Recreation AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 28 Sep best 27 to 30 Sep
  7. Tumwater Botanical AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 28 Sep, maple 7 Oct best 27 to 30 Sep
  8. North Cascades National ParkWashington
    PeakPeak 29 Sep, maple 8 Oct best 28 Sep to 1 Oct
  9. Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife RefugeWashington
    PeakPeak 30 Sep best 29 Sep to 2 Oct
  10. Noisy-Diobsud WildernessWashington
    PeakPeak 30 Sep, maple 9 Oct best 29 Sep to 2 Oct
  11. Sulphur Creek Recreation AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 30 Sep, maple 11 Oct best 29 Sep to 2 Oct
  12. Pat's Prairie Botanical AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 1 Oct best 30 Sep to 3 Oct
  13. Tyler Peak Botanical AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 1 Oct, maple 7 Oct best 30 Sep to 3 Oct
  14. Big Four Recreation AreaWashington
    PeakPeak 1 Oct, maple 16 Oct best 30 Sep to 3 Oct
  15. Idaho Panhandle National ForestsIdaho, Montana, Washington
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct, larch 16 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  16. Alpine Lakes WildernessWashington
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct, maple 12 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  17. Columbia National Wildlife RefugeWashington
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct, maple 15 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  18. Boulder River WildernessWashington
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct, maple 11 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  19. Mount Skokomish WildernessWashington
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct, maple 11 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  20. Nez Perce National Historical ParkIdaho, Washington
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct, alder 10 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  21. Mirror Lake Recreation AreaWashington
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  22. Sunnyside-Red Bridge Recreation AreaWashington
    Near peakPeak 2 Oct, maple 13 Oct best 1 to 4 Oct
  23. Colville National ForestWashington
    Near peakPeak 3 Oct, larch 12 Oct best 2 to 5 Oct
  24. Daniel J. Evans Wilderness AreaWashington
    Near peakPeak 3 Oct, maple 16 Oct best 2 to 5 Oct

Also forecast in WashingtonColumbia River Gorge National Scenic AreaGifford Pinchot National ForestGlacier Peak WildernessHenry M. Jackson WildernessMount Baker National Recreation AreaMount Rainier National ParkMt. Baker-Snoqualmie National ForestOkanogan-Wenatchee National ForestOlympic National ForestOlympic National ParkUmatilla National ForestWild Sky Wilderness

When to go

Across 39 counties, peak color is forecast to arrive first in Walla Walla County around Sep 22 and last in Asotin County around Oct 11. Most of the state peaks near Oct 4.

Each date is the middle of the four days we’d aim a trip at, and each place page names them. We publish what the model got wrong, region by region.

This autumn is running 1 day early in Washington. September has run cooler than the 1991 to 2020 normal so far, and the dates above already include that. It’s a real signal but a modest one: temperature explains under a tenth of how much peak color moves year to year.

4 of 39 counties here are corrected by people who have actually looked at the trees this season. 18 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.

The first half of October for the subalpine larches at treeline, mid-to-late October for the western larch in the Okanogan, mid-to-late October in the Cascade valleys, early November in the Puget Sound lowlands is how Washington is usually described.

What actually turns

Vine maples turn scarlet in the Cascade understory, bigleaf maples go gold in the lowlands, and the western larches in the Okanogan and Wenatchee forests turn amber on the high slopes.

  • Vine Maple
  • Bigleaf Maple
  • Black Cottonwood
  • Red Alder
  • Western Larch

The Leavenworth area along US 2, with the Tumwater Canyon's vine maples and the larch-covered slopes above, produces the most concentrated fall color in Washington.

Every county, by peak week

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.

Sep 22

Walla Walla observed

Sep 24 to Sep 29

Douglas, Franklin regional, Okanogan observed

Sep 30 to Oct 6

Adams regional, Benton regional, Clallam, Columbia regional, Garfield regional, Grant, Island, Jefferson, King corrected, Kitsap regional, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Pierce regional, San Juan corrected, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Spokane, Stevens, Whatcom, Whitman regional

Oct 7 to Oct 11

Asotin, Chelan, Clark, Cowlitz, Ferry, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Yakima

How this map is madeThe trees, the elevation, this September’s weather and reports from the ground, scored against 68 forest cameras. Median error 6 days.

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