Fall foliage peak dates by location

Typical peak Oct 26

Typical peak Oct 27

Typical peak Oct 28

Arkansas River Valley, AR · 865 ft

A railed rim platform looks across the canyon at a 95-foot fall dropping into Cedar Creek, with oak and red maple on both walls. Overcast holds detail in the white water and keeps the wet sandstone from going flat.

Talladega Mountains, AL · 2,283 ft

A bare rock outcrop on the shoulder of Alabama's highest mountain, facing west over the Talladega Valley and national forest. The open ledge gives a foreground the low sun rakes across.

Ouachita Mountains, OK · 1,017 ft

A clear lake below the north face of Winding Stair Mountain, with the ridge standing behind the water. Still mornings put the whole slope on the surface, and the pine understory gives the oak color something dark to sit against.

Little River Canyon National Preserve, AL · 1,171 ft

A 45-foot cascade at the head of Little River Canyon, framed by sandstone ledges and hardwoods along the rim. Color runs late here, often holding into the first week of November.

Winding Stair Mountain, OK · 1,914 ft

A mountain-top vista on the Talimena byway looking down the Ouachita ridge lines and the valleys between them, ranks of hills stacking east toward Arkansas. Shortleaf pine holds the slopes green year-round, so oak and hickory color reads as patches against evergreen instead of a solid wall.

Mingo Basin, MO · 460 ft

A surviving remnant of the cypress-tupelo swamp that once filled the bootheel, in an old abandoned channel of the Mississippi. Cypress runs rust well ahead of the surrounding oak and gum, so the swamp and the ridge above it are rarely doing the same thing at once.