Fall Foliage in Massachusetts: 2026 Peak Color Forecast

Peak color in Massachusetts typically runs October 10 to October 24. 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 September 28, starting with Berkshires (first two weeks of October) and spreading across the state over the following weeks.

Most years the show is largely over by November 2. Boston & the coast holds color latest (late October), and oak-dominated woods keep muted color for another week or two beyond the maples.

Mohawk Trail (Route 2); Route 7 through the Berkshires; Quabbin Reservoir loop. Go midweek during the peak window if you can — the marquee routes draw serious weekend traffic at peak.

The palette here is built on sugar maple, red oak, birch, 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 October 10 to October 24 because Berkshires (first two weeks of October) and Boston & the coast (late October) are staggered — if you can move, Massachusetts 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 Berkshires; too late, drop to Boston & the coast. The color map on this page shows today's estimated status across the area you search.