Fall color near Los Angeles
Los Angeles trades maple red for a scatter of liquidambar streets and ginkgo blocks that color quietly in late fall. The real show is a road trip: aspens light up the eastern Sierra around Bishop Creek and June Lake, and the oak country near Oak Glen turns while the basin stays green.
Fall activities in Los Angeles
Little classic fall color reaches Los Angeles itself, so these are the closest real shows, ranked by distance.
Drag the date slider to see when color moves through the country around Los Angeles, or tap a pin for that stop’s own peak window.
California
229 miPeak November 16
Eastern Sierra aspens turn gold along the June Lake Loop, Bishop Creek Canyon, and Lundy Canyon, often paired with turning black oak in the foothills. Peak color generally arrives in early-to-mid October at elevation.
Arizona
374 miPeak November 3
Aspens gild the San Francisco Peaks and White Mountains by late September, while bigtooth maples set Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona ablaze in red and orange through mid-to-late October at lower elevation.
Nevada
369 miPeak October 19
Aspen groves turn gold across the Great Basin's mountain ranges, most famously Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains and Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park. Peak color typically runs late September into mid-October.
Utah
516 mi · worth the flightPeak October 14
Quaking aspen turns the Wasatch and high plateaus gold along the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway, while Fishlake National Forest hosts Pando, the massive aspen clone. Peak color typically falls in late September to early October.
In Los Angeles itself
Peak: November 24–November 28
Color builds from November 14 · mostly bare by December 20
Sampled at Los Angeles’s own coordinates rather than a regional average. Dates are computed for Los Angeles at 91 m, about 0.5 day later than the surrounding terrain. Street trees vary block to block, so check locally before you plan a weekend around it.
74 weather points cover California, and the model shifts their answer 3 days later, which is what it takes to match 3 published peak dates from monocounty.org and explorefall.com. This year's weather has the peak running 1 day later than a normal year. California does not turn all at once, and the gap from the earliest corner to the latest runs about 30 days. How the forecast works
Where locals go
Things to do in fall in Los Angeles
Orchards, cider, haunts, and harvest season. These are the iconic fall stops within a day trip of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks November 27
Griffith Park's abandoned Old Zoo becomes the town of Midnight Falls each fall, with a tractor-pulled hayride through the ruins at its…
Knott's Scary Farm
20 miHaunted attraction
Color nearby peaks November 26
Southern California's original theme-park haunt hands Knott's Berry Farm over to 10 mazes and 5 scare zones on select nights, with hundreds…
in California
Fall festival
Color nearby peaks November 26
The 29th Annual Fall Harvest Festival spreads across 50 acres of the Tierra Rejada Valley: a corn maze, tractor-drawn wagon rides…
in California
Tanaka Farms
37 miFarm
Color nearby peaks November 26
Five generations of the Tanaka family have farmed in California since Great-Grandfather Takeo emigrated from Hiroshima in the early 1900s…
in California
Riley's Farm
75 miOrchard
Color nearby peaks November 15
A working apple orchard in Oak Glen with over 30 varieties, from heirlooms grown for flavor over appearance to trees more than a hundred…
in California
Guides
Frequently asked
- Does Los Angeles get fall colors?
- Some, but it stays understated. Expect scattered street trees rather than a hillside, with the color worth planning around out toward California and Arizona.
- Where's the closest good foliage to Los Angeles?
- California, about 229 mi away, peaking around November 16. Eastern Sierra aspens turn gold along the June Lake Loop, Bishop Creek Canyon, and Lundy Canyon, often paired with turning black oak in the foothills. Peak color generally arrives in early-to-mid October at elevation.
- When does Los Angeles see what color it gets?
- The model predicts the area's late-season change around November 24–November 28. It stays subtle in town, and it is no match for a trip toward California and Arizona.
- What are the best things to do in fall in Los Angeles?
- Beyond the leaves: Los Angeles Haunted Hayride (6 mi); Knott's Scary Farm (20 mi); Underwood Family Farms Fall Harvest Festival (37 mi); Tanaka Farms (37 mi); Riley's Farm (75 mi). All of them are mapped on this page.