When do the leaves change in Richmond?
Richmond's color comes with a river through it. The James River Park trails run under gold sycamores and oaks, Hollywood Cemetery's hills look down on the rapids, and Maymont's arboretum grounds are the city's showpiece. When the Blue Ridge calls, Skyline Drive and the Charlottesville hills are about ninety minutes west.
Peak: October 26–October 30
Color builds from October 20 · mostly bare by November 20
Sampled at Richmond’s own coordinates rather than a regional average. Dates are computed for Richmond itself at 55 m elevation. Street trees vary block to block, so check locally before you plan a weekend around it.
16 weather points cover Virginia, and the model shifts their answer 4 days earlier, which is what it takes to match 1 published peak date from smokymountains.com. Against Virginia's own climatology, the 2026 weather puts the peak 6 days earlier. Virginia does not turn all at once, and the gap from the earliest corner to the latest runs about 15 days. How the forecast works
Fall activities in Richmond
Drag the date slider to see when color moves through the country around Richmond, or tap a pin for that stop’s own peak window.
Virginia
80 miPeak October 22
Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway carry travelers through oak-hickory ridges and scattered sugar maples in Shenandoah National Park, with color typically peaking in mid-October at higher elevations.
Maryland
122 miPeak October 31
From Garrett County's sugar maple ridges peaking in early October to the oak-hickory woods around Catoctin Mountain Park and the Eastern Shore's cypress sloughs coloring into November, Maryland spans the season.
Delaware
145 miPeak November 4
Delaware's low, flat terrain turns gradually, with oaks and sweetgums coloring the Brandywine Valley by mid-October and bald cypress swamps at Trap Pond State Park holding russet tones into November.
North Carolina
171 miPeak November 11
The Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park turn sourwood, maple, and hickory to scarlet by mid-October, while Piedmont oaks and the coastal plain hold color into November.
West Virginia
194 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.
Where locals go
Maymont
GardenPeak October 28
A hundred-acre Richmond estate built around a Gilded Age mansion, with an Italian garden, a Japanese garden, and an arboretum of mature…
Pocahontas State Park
State parkPeak October 28
Virginia's largest state park sits just southwest of Richmond, close to 8,000 acres of pine and hardwood forest laced with more than 90…
Things to do in fall in Richmond
Orchards, cider, haunts, and harvest season. These are the iconic fall stops within a day trip of Richmond.
Haunts of Richmond Ghost Tours
Ghost tourColor nearby peaks October 28
Billed as Richmond's original ghost tour company since 2004, running six walking tours at $27 a head through Shockoe Bottom, Church Hill…
Hanover Vegetable Farm
Pumpkin patchColor nearby peaks October 26
A Hanover County farm north of Richmond that has been selling produce since 1902 and opens its pumpkin field each autumn.
Haunted attraction
Color nearby peaks October 27
Kings Dominion swaps its usual coasters for scare mazes and roaming actors on select nights from mid-September through Halloween week, with…
in Virginia
Fall festival
Color nearby peaks October 27
Virginia's state fair takes over Meadow Event Park in Doswell for about ten days each fall with livestock judging, a giant vegetable…
in Virginia
Ghost tour
Color nearby peaks November 3
Williamsburg's original ghost walk leaves from Merchants Square every night at eight, ninety minutes past the Capitol and the old Public…
in Virginia
Haunted attraction
Color nearby peaks November 4
After dark each fall, Busch Gardens Williamsburg turns its European-village theme park into Howl-O-Scream, with five haunted houses, six…
in Virginia
Guides
2026 Fall Foliage Forecast: When Leaves Peak in Every State
Our 2026 fall foliage forecast for the US and Canada, region by region, built from ERA5 weather data and a phenology model, with live peak dates on the map.
5 Leaf-Peeping Road Trips for 2026
Five real fall road trips for 2026, from Vermont's Route 100 to Germany's Alpine Road, with route feel, standout stops, and how many days to plan for each.
Frequently asked
- When do leaves peak in Richmond in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for October 26–October 30 (best estimate October 28). Color starts around October 20 and trees are mostly bare by November 20. These dates are computed for Richmond itself, at 55 m elevation, using the same weather model as the tracker.
- When is fall foliage season in Richmond?
- Richmond colors during autumn (September to November). Counting from the first turn to bare branches that is about 31 days, and the best of it falls in the week either side of October 28.
- What's the best foliage near Richmond?
- Virginia (80 mi, peak ~October 22); Maryland (122 mi, peak ~October 31); Delaware (145 mi, peak ~November 4).
- What are the best things to do in fall in Richmond?
- Beyond the leaves: Haunts of Richmond Ghost Tours (1 mi); Hanover Vegetable Farm (16 mi); Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion (20 mi); State Fair of Virginia (21 mi); The Original Ghost Tour of Williamsburg (44 mi). All of them are mapped on this page.