When do the leaves change in Portland?
Portland does autumn properly: bigleaf and vine maples color the West Hills, the Japanese Garden's laceleaf maples turn crimson, and Hoyt Arboretum stacks larches, oaks and maples along its trails. When the city peaks, the Columbia River Gorge doubles the show with golden cottonwoods under basalt cliffs.
Peak: October 27–November 4
Color builds from October 14 · mostly bare by November 20
Sampled at Portland’s own coordinates rather than a regional average. Dates are computed for Portland at 25 m, about 0.7 day later than the surrounding terrain. Street trees vary block to block, so check locally before you plan a weekend around it.
50 weather points cover Oregon, and the model shifts their answer 8 days later, which is what it takes to match 2 published peak dates from smokymountains.com and explorefall.com. Oregon is running 2 days later than its own average this year. Oregon does not turn all at once, and the gap from the earliest corner to the latest runs about 17 days. How the forecast works
Fall activities in Portland
Drag the date slider to see when color moves through the country around Portland, or tap a pin for that stop’s own peak window.
Columbia River Gorge
21 miScenic drive
Peak October 26
The Historic Columbia River Highway threads waterfalls and bigleaf maples between Troutdale and Hood River, with Vista House at Crown Point…
in Oregon
State park
Peak October 26
The Trail of Ten Falls loop passes behind and beside ten waterfalls through a canyon of vine maple and Douglas fir that color through…
in Oregon
Where locals go
Portland Japanese Garden
GardenPeak November 2
Terraced ponds and a strolling garden in Washington Park turn deep red and gold as Japanese and vine maples color through late October into…
Things to do in fall in Portland
Orchards, cider, haunts, and harvest season. These are the iconic fall stops within a day trip of Portland.
Shanghai Tunnels Underground Tour
Ghost tourColor nearby peaks November 2
A guide leads you through more than 14,000 square feet of tunnels under Portland's Old Town, telling the darker side of the city's…
Fear PDX
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks October 31
Billed as Portland's largest Halloween event, Fear PDX packs five separate haunted houses, five outdoor scare zones, and a couple of bonus…
Bella Organic Farm
Corn mazeColor nearby peaks October 31
A hundred-acre certified organic farm on Sauvie Island, twenty five minutes from Portland, where summer u-pick berries give way to a fall…
The Pumpkin Patch
Pumpkin patchColor nearby peaks October 31
Farming the same stretch of Sauvie Island since 1967, this fifteen-hundred-acre, third-generation farm grows fifty five crops and harvests…
Shock13 Haunted House
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks November 6
This haunted house occupies a storefront in downtown Oregon City and is built around Dr.
Topaz Farm
FarmColor nearby peaks October 31
Twenty minutes from downtown Portland, this 130-acre farm on Sauvie Island opened as Kruger's Farm in 1999 and now runs cow train rides…
Guides
Frequently asked
- When do leaves peak in Portland in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for October 27–November 4 (best estimate October 31). Color starts around October 14 and trees are mostly bare by November 20. These dates are computed for Portland itself, at 25 m elevation, using the same weather model as the tracker.
- When is fall foliage season in Portland?
- Portland colors during autumn (September to November). Counting from the first turn to bare branches that is about 37 days, and the best of it falls in the week either side of October 31.
- What's the best foliage near Portland?
- Columbia River Gorge (21 mi); Silver Falls State Park (44 mi). For a longer trip: Oregon (150 mi, peak ~October 24); Washington (166 mi, peak ~October 16); Idaho (402 mi, peak ~October 11).
- What are the best things to do in fall in Portland?
- Beyond the leaves: Shanghai Tunnels Underground Tour (1 mi); Fear PDX (7 mi); Bella Organic Farm (10 mi); The Pumpkin Patch (10 mi); Shock13 Haunted House (11 mi). All of them are mapped on this page.