This Interactive Fall Foliage Map Will Tell You Exactly When and Where Leaves Will Peak in 2025
"I used SmokyMountains.com's detailed foliage map, released in late August, which relies on a refined data model combining historical and forecast temperature and precipitation, the dominant tree types, historical trends, and user-submitted real-time leaf reports (added in 2022); the team says they’re confident in the model but cautions that weather can always change. The interactive map lets you slide week to week to see where colors are green (not changing), bright (at peak), or brown (past peak), and the site also provides a scientific overview of why leaves change plus a handy list of the best leaf-peeping spots in all 50 states. Their forecast calls for cooler, drier conditions in the Northeast and Appalachians that could bring earlier, more vivid color—northern New England, the Adirondacks, and the Poconos may peak in late September to early October—while higher mountain terrain (the Rockies, the Cascades, the Smoky Mountains, and the Blue Ridge) is likely to peak well over a week earlier than lower elevations, creating layered spreads of color. The map projects Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes peak in mid-October, the Mid-South and central U.S. in late October, and the Deep South, Southern Plains, and Florida not until early to mid-November; by contrast, the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West are expected to be warmer and wetter (delaying and dulling color), and the Southeast and Deep South warmer and drier (also delaying and potentially subduing foliage). For specific state windows, they list Tennessee peaking Oct. 20–31, Vermont Sept. 29–Oct. 10, Washington Oct. 6–17, Upstate New York Oct. 6–17, and Colorado Oct. 13–17." - Stacey Leasca Stacey Leasca Stacey Leasca is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Be a Travel Writer, an online course for the next generation of travel journalists. Her photos, videos, and words have appeared in print or online for Travel + Leisure, Time, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, and many more. You'll usually find her in an airport. If you do see her there, please say hello. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
