When is peak fall color at Platte River Wilderness?

Our forecast puts peak color at Platte River Wilderness around 29 Sep. The four days to aim for are 28 Sep to 1 Oct. We publish our error rate.

Platte River Wilderness Fall Foliage: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Q: What trees turn color at Platte River Wilderness?

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 color29 SepAim for 28 Sep to 1 Oct

In the wilderness today, Sep 25Nearly peak

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

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

No new reports from the ground here this week.

Still greenStartingNearly peakPeakPast peakNo fall canopy we forecastInside the line, each band of elevation is painted on its own date.

Around Platte River Wilderness Nearly all of the wilderness is in Carbon County, which is peak color today. That’s the county as a whole, which peaks 4 days earlier than the wilderness’s own stands: the wilderness is nearly peak. Jackson County, to the south, is on the same day. Albany County, to the northeast, is 8 days ahead.

By elevation The wilderness runs from about 7,702 to 9,050 feet. That’s 8 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Sep 20, the low ground holds until about Sep 28, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 7,500 to 8,000 foot band.

9,000–9,500 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 207%
8,500–9,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 2335%
8,000–8,500 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 2639%
7,500–8,000 ftNearly peakpeak Sep 2819%

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

Today from the glees camera, 5 km from Platte River Wilderness — See it now PhenoCam Network, Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site camera, 5 km away, captured Sep 24.

That’s 2 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

Monday 28 September to Tuesday 29 September

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

Up at 8,500 feet the stands peak around Sep 23; down at 8,000 feet they hold on until about Sep 28. Pick your elevation for the day you come.

8,500–9,000 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 23
8,000–8,500 ftJust past peakpeak Sep 26
7,500–8,000 ftPeak colorpeak Sep 28

Where to drive: Snowy Range Scenic Byway (WY 130), about 19 miles · Cache la Poudre Canyon (CO 14), about 49 miles · Trail Ridge Road (US 34), about 56 miles
What turns: quaking aspen, Gambel oak, bigtooth maple, serviceberry, narrowleaf cottonwood

What turns, and when

quaking aspen43%
Gambel oak20%
bigtooth maple10%
serviceberry10%
narrowleaf cottonwood9%
willow6%

Also named across Wyoming, outside what the canopy read measures here: Rocky Mountain Maple, Water Birch.

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

All of Wyoming