When do the leaves change in Washington, DC?
The monuments get the postcards, but Washington is a genuinely leafy city. Rock Creek Park runs a wooded gorge right through town, the National Arboretum turns on with maples and hickories, and Great Falls frames the Potomac in color. Shenandoah's Skyline Drive is a morning's drive west, and the city itself peaks later — two chances at the show.
Peak: October 28–November 2
Color builds from October 21 · mostly bare by November 21
Sampled at Washington, DC’s own coordinates rather than a regional average. Dates are computed for Washington, DC itself at 25 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 Washington, DC
Drag the date slider to see when color moves through the country around Washington, DC, or tap a pin for that stop’s own peak window.
State park
Peak October 25
Cunningham Falls tumbles 78 feet down a rock face in the Catoctin Mountains, the largest cascading waterfall in Maryland, reached by a…
in Maryland
Skyline Drive
62 miScenic drive
Peak October 16
Shenandoah National Park's 105-mile ridge-top drive along the Blue Ridge crest strings together 75 overlooks of the Shenandoah Valley and…
in Virginia
Old Rag Mountain
71 miTrail
Peak October 15
The 9-mile circuit to Old Rag's 3,284-foot summit climbs through a mile-long boulder scramble that's become Virginia's most popular hike…
in Virginia
Where locals go
Great Falls Park
National parkPeak October 28
The Potomac drops 76 feet over jagged bedrock cascades at this 800-acre National Park Service site near McLean, with cliffside trails past…
Things to do in fall in Washington, DC
Orchards, cider, haunts, and harvest season. These are the iconic fall stops within a day trip of Washington, DC.
Field of Screams Maryland
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks October 29
A multi-haunt scream park on Olney Laytonsville Road, north of the Capital Beltway, known for its Trail of Terror, Haunted Trail and…
Butler's Orchard
24 miOrchard
Color nearby peaks October 28
Five generations of the Butler family have farmed this roughly 300-acre Germantown property since 1950; its Pumpkin Festival, running since…
in Maryland
Cox Farms
24 miFarm
Color nearby peaks October 26
This Centreville farm runs a daytime Fall Festival of slides, hayrides, and pumpkins alongside Fields of Fear, a nighttime haunted…
in Virginia
Clark's Elioak Farm
24 miFarm
Color nearby peaks October 29
Once home to figures from Baltimore's old Enchanted Forest storybook park, Clark's Elioak Farm folds those fairy tale statues into a…
in Maryland
Fall festival
Color nearby peaks November 1
A wooded fairground in Crownsville turns into a 16th century village every fall weekend, with jousting, jesters, and more than a hundred…
in Maryland
Ellicott City
28 miHistoric town
Color nearby peaks October 29
Three Quaker brothers founded this mill town on the Patapsco River in 1771, and its steep Main Street still holds the granite storefronts…
in Maryland
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 Washington, DC in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for October 28–November 2 (best estimate October 30). Color starts around October 21 and trees are mostly bare by November 21. These dates are computed for Washington, DC itself, at 25 m elevation, using the same weather model as the tracker.
- When is fall foliage season in Washington, DC?
- Washington, DC 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 30.
- What's the best foliage near Washington, DC?
- Cunningham Falls State Park (53 mi); Skyline Drive (62 mi); Old Rag Mountain (71 mi). For a longer trip: Virginia (140 mi, peak ~October 22); Maryland (25 mi, peak ~October 31); West Virginia (197 mi, peak ~October 15).
- What are the best things to do in fall in Washington, DC?
- Beyond the leaves: Field of Screams Maryland (19 mi); Butler's Orchard (24 mi); Cox Farms (24 mi); Clark's Elioak Farm (24 mi); Maryland Renaissance Festival (25 mi). All of them are mapped on this page.