National Park·Washington·910,275 acres
Olympic National Park
Forecast issued Nov 12, 5:26pm ET
Photograph: More Than Just Parks
black cottonwood and willow
bigleaf maple and vine maple, peak Oct 12
Peak color should arrive around Sep 19 for the black cottonwood and willow, and around Oct 12 for the bigleaf maple and vine maple.
Roadsides and wetland edges turn first, and the woods behind them run a few days later.
No new reports from the ground here this week.
When is peak fall foliage at Olympic National Park in 2026?
Our forecast puts peak color at Olympic National Park around Oct 3, and the four days to aim for are Oct 2 to 5. bigleaf maple and vine maple peak later, around Oct 12.
The park runs from about 272 to 5,223 feet, and the color comes downhill over about 15 days: the high stands around Sep 19, the low ground around Oct 4. That's 2 days earlier than our model alone would say, because this September has been running cool.
| Week | In the park | Elevation at peak |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 to Sep 6 | Still green | |
| Sep 7 to Sep 13 | Starting to turn | |
| Sep 14 to Sep 20 | Starting to turn | 5,000 to 6,000 ft |
| Sep 21 to Sep 27 | Nearly peak | 4,000 to 5,000 ft |
| Sep 28 to Oct 4 | Peak color | 0 to 1,000 ft, 1,000 to 2,000 ft, 3,000 to 4,000 ft |
| Oct 5 to Oct 11 | Peak color | 2,000 to 3,000 ft |
| Oct 12 to Oct 18 | Just past peak |
- 5,000–6,000 ftLeaves downpeak Sep 197%
- 4,000–5,000 ftLeaves downpeak Sep 2614%
- 3,000–4,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 317%
- 2,000–3,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 623%
- 1,000–2,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 121%
- 0–1,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 417%
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 2 days earlier than our model alone would say. This September has been running cool, which shifts peak color.
The place
Three ecosystems that have no business sharing a zip code. Olympic gives you temperate rainforest soaking up 12 feet of rain a year, 73 miles of driftwood-strewn Pacific coastline, and glacier-capped peaks pushing 8,000 feet. You can stand in a moss-dripping old-growth forest in the morning and be watching waves pound sea stacks by lunch. No other park in the system covers this much range.
Established 1938. About 3.5 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.
Thursday, November 12 to Friday, November 13
You’ll find it with the leaves down.
Peak color was 41 days before you arrive, around Oct 3.
- 4,000–5,000 ftLeaves downpeak Sep 26
- 3,000–4,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 3
- 2,000–3,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 6
- 1,000–2,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 1
- 0–1,000 ftLeaves downpeak Oct 4
- What turns
- black cottonwood, bigleaf maple, red alder, willow, vine maple
- Entrance
- $30
What turns, and when
- black cottonwood25%
- bigleaf maple24%
- red alder18%
- willow14%
- vine maple12%
- red-osier dogwood6%
Also named across Washington, outside what the canopy read measures here: Western Larch.
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.
Questions people ask about Olympic National Park
- When is peak fall foliage at Olympic National Park?
Our forecast puts peak color at Olympic National Park around Oct 3, and the four days to aim for are Oct 2 to 5. bigleaf maple and vine maple peak later, around Oct 12.
- Where is the best fall color at Olympic National Park right now?
On Nov 12 the park is leaves down. The last band to peak was 2,000 to 3,000 feet, around Oct 6.
- How long does peak last at Olympic National Park?
About four days at the top, Oct 2 to 5, with a week or so either side that's still worth the drive. Across the park's elevations the color moves over about 15 days, so there's peak color somewhere in it for roughly 19 days.
- Is Olympic National Park past peak?
Yes. Peak was around Oct 3, and on Nov 12 it's leaves down.
- What trees turn color at Olympic National Park?
Black cottonwood is 25 percent of the trees that turn here, then bigleaf maple (24 percent), red alder (18), willow (14), vine maple (12) and red-osier dogwood (6). Black cottonwood, bigleaf maple, red alder and willow turn yellow or gold; vine maple and red-osier dogwood turn red. What turns, and when
- Is there an entrance fee at Olympic 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. Out here we score it against NASA's satellite record of when the canopy shuts down, read inside each unit’s own boundary: two dates in three land within 12 days of it. How this map is made
Nearby, and when they turn
Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie is on the map above, with its own date.
- Peak Oct 1 best Sep 30 to Oct 3
- Peak Oct 2 best Oct 1 to 4
- Peak Oct 11 best Oct 10 to 13
- Peak Oct 4 best Oct 3 to 6
- Peak Oct 4 best Oct 3 to 6
Fall color roads near Olympic National Park
Nearest first. Distances are straight-line from the park, so allow more by road.
- Mountain Loop Highway
A loop through the Cascade foothills east of Everett. Bigleaf maples and vine maples color the narrow valleys.