When do the leaves change in Cincinnati?
A city of seven hills earns its overlooks in autumn. Eden Park and Ault Park look down on the Ohio River through layers of turning hardwoods, Spring Grove Cemetery doubles as a world-class arboretum, and Mount Airy Forest — one of the largest urban forests in the country — rolls on in oak and maple for nearly 1,500 acres.
Peak: October 17–October 21
Color builds from October 11 · mostly bare by November 10
Sampled at Cincinnati’s own coordinates rather than a regional average. Dates are computed for Cincinnati itself at 173 m elevation. Street trees vary block to block, so check locally before you plan a weekend around it.
22 weather points cover Ohio, and the model shifts their answer 1 day later, which is what it takes to match 1 published peak date from smokymountains.com. This year's weather has the peak running 5 days earlier than a normal year. Ohio turns close to together, with about 2 days between its earliest corner and its latest. How the forecast works
Fall activities in Cincinnati
Drag the date slider to see when color moves through the country around Cincinnati, or tap a pin for that stop’s own peak window.
Indiana
105 miPeak October 18
Brown County State Park and the Hoosier National Forest turn sugar maple, oak-hickory, and sweetgum into a patchwork of red and gold across Indiana's forested hill country by mid-to-late October.
Kentucky
119 miPeak October 24
Sandstone cliffs and arches at Red River Gorge and Cumberland Falls frame sugar maple, sassafras, and oak-hickory color across the Daniel Boone National Forest, typically peaking in mid-to-late October.
Ohio
123 miPeak October 17
Sugar maple, oak, beech, and sassafras color the sandstone gorges of Hocking Hills State Park and Mohican State Forest, with much of the state reaching peak color in mid-October.
West Virginia
207 miPeak October 15
Almost entirely mountainous, West Virginia's sugar and red maples turn early, with the Highland Scenic Highway and Blackwater Falls State Park in the Allegheny highlands often peaking by late September into early October.
Tennessee
248 miPeak November 2
Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cades Cove turn sugar maple, tulip poplar, and sourwood in a slow cascade from ridge to valley, with the higher Smokies peaking in mid-October.
Where locals go
Things to do in fall in Cincinnati
Orchards, cider, haunts, and harvest season. These are the iconic fall stops within a day trip of Cincinnati.
The Dent Schoolhouse
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks October 18
The Dent Public School opened in 1894 and, as the legend goes, gave up the remains of missing students from its basement in 1955.
Shaw Farms
FarmColor nearby peaks October 18
Over 200 years of farming on Route 131 east of Cincinnati, where Pumpkin Times runs through October with a 15-acre corn maze and…
Fall festival
Color nearby peaks October 17
Downtown Waynesville shuts down Main Street every second weekend of October for a sauerkraut-themed street fair that has grown to hundreds…
in Ohio
Cider mill
Color nearby peaks October 20
Just outside Lexington, Evans Orchard presses its own cider and fries apple pies and doughnuts to go with it, then lets you walk off the…
in Kentucky
Gallrein Farms
69 miPumpkin patch
Color nearby peaks October 22
Run for more than 30 years by Bill Jr.
in Kentucky
Frequently asked
- When do leaves peak in Cincinnati in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for October 17–October 21 (best estimate October 19). Color starts around October 11 and trees are mostly bare by November 10. These dates are computed for Cincinnati itself, at 173 m elevation, using the same weather model as the tracker.
- When is fall foliage season in Cincinnati?
- Cincinnati colors during autumn (September to November). Counting from the first turn to bare branches that is about 30 days, and the best of it falls in the week either side of October 19.
- What's the best foliage near Cincinnati?
- Indiana (105 mi, peak ~October 18); Kentucky (119 mi, peak ~October 24); Ohio (123 mi, peak ~October 17).
- What are the best things to do in fall in Cincinnati?
- Beyond the leaves: The Dent Schoolhouse (9 mi); Shaw Farms (18 mi); Ohio Sauerkraut Festival (37 mi); Evans Orchard & Cider Mill (61 mi); Gallrein Farms (69 mi). All of them are mapped on this page.