Fall Foliage in Louisiana: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Peak color in Louisiana typically runs November 15 to November 30. 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 November 1, starting with North Louisiana hills (mid-late November) and spreading across the state over the following weeks.

Most years the show is largely over by December 10. Cypress swamps & bayous holds color latest (late November – early December), and oak-dominated woods keep muted color for another week or two beyond the maples.

LA 2 across the northern hills; Creole Nature Trail (cypress gold). Go midweek during the peak window if you can — the marquee routes draw serious weekend traffic at peak.

The palette here is built on bald cypress, sweetgum, oak, red maple, hickory. 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 15 to November 30 because North Louisiana hills (mid-late November) and Cypress swamps & bayous (late November – early December) are staggered — if you can move, Louisiana 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 Louisiana hills; too late, drop to Cypress swamps & bayous. The color map on this page shows today's estimated status across the area you search.