Fall foliage

Fall foliage in California

Fall 2026 · updated daily

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California’s fall color is concentrated in the Eastern Sierra, and it is early.

A deep blue mountain lake below granite peaks, with aspens in yellow along the slope on the left.
Lake Sabrina, in Bishop Creek CanyonPhoto: Don Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
A gravel road winding between aspens in gold and orange, with a snow-dusted peak ahead.
Laurel Lakes Road, above Convict LakePhoto: Michael Kwok · CC BY 4.0 · source
A row of yellow aspens along the shore of a still lake below a granite peak with a dusting of snow.
June Lake and Carson Peak, on the June Lake LoopPhoto: Sandip Bhattacharya · CC BY 2.0 · source

Aspen above Bishop Creek, around Convict Lake and along the June Lake Loop turns in the second half of September, with the high canyons of Kings Canyon among the first.

The Merced River flowing between maples and cottonwoods in gold, with Half Dome in the distance.
The Merced River in Yosemite ValleyPhoto: RuggyBearLA · CC BY 2.0 · source

Yosemite Valley and the west slope follow in early October as bigleaf maple, dogwood and black oak come in.

A vineyard hillside in red and orange leaves beside a row of tall poplars turning gold.
Vineyards in autumn, in Napa ValleyPhoto: Brocken Inaglory · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Elsewhere the season is later and quieter: valley oaks and the wine-country vineyards color through late October, and the coast shows little change at all.

In a typical year

Bordering states

Color: Fallcast, the same map as the app. Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors, Protomaps. Place outlines: U.S. Census Bureau.