When do the leaves change in Nashville?
Nashville backs up against real wooded hills. Radnor Lake's forested bowl is the city's autumn heart, the ridgeline trails of Percy Warner Park roll through miles of hardwoods, and the Natchez Trace Parkway begins its long, leafy run just southwest of town. Cheekwood's gardens add a manicured version of the same show.
Peak: November 6–November 10
Color builds from October 24 · mostly bare by December 1
Method: daily ERA5 temperatures (Open-Meteo) drive a photoperiod + chilling phenology model, sampled at Nashville’s own coordinates rather than a regional average. Dates are computed for Nashville itself at 159 m elevation. Estimates, not promises — street trees vary block to block. Check locally before you plan around a weekend.
Fall activities in Nashville
Tennessee
37 miPeak November 8
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.
Kentucky
124 miPeak October 29
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.
Alabama
232 miPeak November 16
Cheaha State Park and Little River Canyon on Alabama's southern Appalachian foothills turn oak, hickory, and sweetgum by late October, with milder color continuing into November across the rest of the state.
Indiana
268 miPeak October 25
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.
Mississippi
288 miPeak November 19
Foliage is subtle here: sweetgum, hickory, and bald cypress along the Natchez Trace Parkway and Delta bottomlands turn bronze and rust rather than blazing red, with color lingering into late November.
Where locals go
Things to do in fall in Nashville
Orchards, cider, haunts, and harvest season — the iconic fall stops within a day trip of Nashville.
Boo at the Zoo (Nashville Zoo)
Fall festivalColor nearby peaks November 8
Nashville Zoo strings its paths with pumpkins and fall scenery for Boo at the Zoo, a trick-or-treat and costume event built for younger kids, with the regular animal exhibits open late into the evening. It has run every October for years on Nolensville Pike, just south of downtown Nashville.
Don’t miss: Trick-or-treat trail · Fall-themed zoo scenery · Late animal exhibits
Nashville Nightmare
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks November 8
Nashville's biggest haunted house packs four separate walk-through scares under one roof in Madison, from a twisted fairy-tale maze to a slasher-movie set piece, plus an escape room and laser maze if you need a break between screams. The 2026 run is select nights from September 6 through November 9.
Don’t miss: Four themed haunted houses · Escape room and laser maze · Select nights Sept-Nov
Nashville Fall Festival
Fall festivalColor nearby peaks November 9
A working farm on the west side of Nashville turns into a full fall carnival each year, with a corn maze, a sunflower field left over from summer, hayrides and a pumpkin patch all on one property. Some weekends even bring helicopter rides over the farm if you want the color from the air.
Don’t miss: Corn maze and pumpkin patch · Sunflower field and hayrides · Optional helicopter rides
Honeysuckle Hill Farm
Corn mazeColor nearby peaks November 8
Half an hour north of Nashville, this Robertson County farm runs a cut corn maze alongside a pumpkin patch, pig races, a pumpkin cannon and a skeleton band. The 2026 season is posted as September 26 through November 1.
Don’t miss: Cut corn maze · Pumpkin cannon and pig races · Pumpkin patch and skeleton band
Morning Glory Orchard
19 miOrchard
Color nearby peaks November 9
A second-generation family orchard south of Nashville that presses its own award-winning hard cider and runs tastings and orchard tours through the fall. On Saturdays the farm also turns out apple cider doughnuts, worth timing your visit around if you are driving down from Brentwood or Franklin.
Don’t miss: Award-winning hard cider · Orchard tours and tastings · Saturday cider doughnuts
in Tennessee
Lucky Ladd Farms
30 miPumpkin patch
Color nearby peaks November 9
A 60-acre family farm park south of Nashville whose Fall Harvest Festival adds a pumpkin patch and corn maze to nearly 60 standing attractions. The Travel Channel named the patch one of the top 15 in the U.S., and the petting farm is billed as Tennessee's largest.
Don’t miss: Travel Channel top-15 pumpkin patch · Corn maze and after-dark maze nights · Tennessee's largest petting farm
in Tennessee
Guides
Frequently asked
- When do leaves peak in Nashville in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for November 6–November 10 (best estimate November 8). Color starts around October 24 and trees are mostly bare by December 1. These dates are computed for Nashville itself — at 159 m elevation — from the same weather model as the tracker.
- When is fall foliage season in Nashville?
- Nashville colors during autumn (September–November). Nashville backs up against real wooded hills. Radnor Lake's forested bowl is the city's autumn heart, the ridgeline trails of Percy Warner Park roll through miles of hardwoods, and the Natchez Trace Parkway begins its long, leafy run just southwest of town. Cheekwood's gardens add a manicured version of the same show.
- What's the best foliage near Nashville?
- Tennessee (37 mi, peak ~November 8); Kentucky (124 mi, peak ~October 29); Alabama (232 mi, peak ~November 16).
- What are the best things to do in fall in Nashville?
- Beyond the leaves: Boo at the Zoo (Nashville Zoo) (6 mi); Nashville Nightmare (7 mi); Nashville Fall Festival (17 mi); Honeysuckle Hill Farm (18 mi); Morning Glory Orchard (19 mi). All of them are mapped on this page.
- What are the best things to do in autumn near Nashville?
- Come autumn — autumn (September–November) — locals head for Boo at the Zoo (Nashville Zoo) (6 mi); Nashville Nightmare (7 mi); Nashville Fall Festival (17 mi); Honeysuckle Hill Farm (18 mi); Morning Glory Orchard (19 mi). Each is on the map with the distance from Nashville.