When is peak fall color at John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway?

Our forecast puts peak color at John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway around 25 Sep. The four days to aim for are 24 to 27 Sep. We publish our error rate.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway?

Quaking Aspen, Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Rocky Mountain Maple, Water Birch, Willow. The Tetons rising above the golden cottonwoods of the Snake River flats is one of the most famous fall landscapes in the American West, and the aspen groves at elevation add hillsides of gold.

Peak color25 SepAim for 24 to 27 Sep

In the parkway today, Sep 25Peak color

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

Weather Hard frost Tuesday night. Peak may come early and go fast.

2 reports came in from Teton County this week, 2 of them patchy color. 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 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway Nearly all of the parkway is in Teton County, which is peak color today.

By elevation The parkway runs from about 6,794 to 8,423 feet. That’s 12 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 16, the low ground holds until about Sep 25, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 6,500 to 7,000 foot band.

8,000–8,500 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 166%
7,500–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 2020%
7,000–7,500 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 2240%
6,500–7,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 2529%

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

That’s 1 day 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

Thursday 24 September to Friday 25 September

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

Up at 7,500 feet the stands peak around Sep 20; down at 7,000 feet they hold on until about Sep 25. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

7,500–8,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 20
7,000–7,500 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 22
6,500–7,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 25

Where to drive: Teton Park Road, about 23 miles · Teton Scenic Byway (ID 31, 32 and 33), about 33 miles · Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (WY 296), about 78 miles
What turns: narrowleaf cottonwood, quaking aspen, willow, water birch, thinleaf alder

What turns, and when

narrowleaf cottonwood30%
quaking aspen23%
willow20%
water birch10%
thinleaf alder5%
Rocky Mountain maple4%

The Tetons rising above the golden cottonwoods of the Snake River flats is one of the most famous fall landscapes in the American West, and the aspen groves at elevation add hillsides of gold.

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

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