Fall foliage

Fall foliage in North Carolina

Fall 2026 · updated daily

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North Carolina’s color begins above five thousand feet and takes about a month to reach the Piedmont.

Newfound Gap Road curving through orange and gold trees, with a ridge in the haze beyond.
Newfound Gap Road, North Carolina sidePhoto: Andrew Heneen · CC BY 4.0 · source
Red and orange patches high on the Richland Balsam ridge above green slopes, seen through yellow leaves from a Parkway overlook.
Richland Balsam, from the Blue Ridge ParkwayPhoto: Thomson200 · CC0 · source

Roan Mountain, Newfound Gap and the highest stretches of the Blue Ridge Parkway turn in the middle of October;

The Linn Cove Viaduct curving along a mountainside of red, orange and yellow trees.
Linn Cove Viaduct, on Grandfather MountainPhoto: Matthew Trudeau Photography · CC0 · source

the valleys around Banner Elk, Boone and Bryson City follow in the third and fourth weeks;

the foothills at Chimney Rock, Lake Lure and Hendersonville close the mountain season at the end of the month.

The Piedmont peaks in early November and the coastal plain later still.

Oaks, hickories and maple make up the mountain forest; sweetgum, dogwood and willow oak color the towns downstream.

In a typical year

Bordering states

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