Fall Foliage in Alabama: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Peak color in Alabama typically runs November 1 to November 15. Exact timing shifts one to two weeks year to year — a warm, wet autumn pushes peak later, while drought stress or an early hard frost accelerates it.

Color usually becomes noticeable around October 20, starting with North Alabama mountains (Mentone, Little River Canyon) (late October – early November) and spreading across the state over the following weeks.

Most years the show is largely over by November 25. Central Alabama holds color latest (mid-November), and oak-dominated woods keep muted color for another week or two beyond the maples.

Lookout Mountain Parkway; Little River Canyon Rim Parkway (AL 176); Talladega Scenic Drive. Go midweek during the peak window if you can — the marquee routes draw serious weekend traffic at peak.

The palette here is built on oak, hickory, maple, sweetgum, sourwood. Reds and oranges come from anthocyanins that sugar maples and red maples manufacture in sunny, cool-night weather; the yellows in birch and aspen are carotenoids that were in the leaf all summer, unmasked when chlorophyll breaks down.

The recipe for a great year is a moist growing season followed by a sunny September of warm days and cool — not freezing — nights. Watch late-summer drought maps: stressed trees turn early and dull. The windows on this page are the reliable planning anchor either way.

In any single spot, expect 5–10 good days. Statewide, the window runs November 1 to November 15 because North Alabama mountains (Mentone, Little River Canyon) (late October – early November) and Central Alabama (mid-November) are staggered — if you can move, Alabama gives you weeks of peak somewhere.

Chase the stagger: earlier terrain has already peaked, later terrain hasn't yet. Arrive too early and head for North Alabama mountains (Mentone, Little River Canyon); too late, drop to Central Alabama. The color map on this page shows today's estimated status across the area you search.