When do the leaves change in Mississippi?
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.
Peak: November 10–November 24
Color builds from November 7 · mostly bare by December 11
23 weather points cover Mississippi, and the model shifts their answer 2 days later, which is what it takes to match 1 published peak date from farmersalmanac.com. Mississippi is running 5 days earlier than its own average this year. Mississippi does not turn all at once, and the gap from the earliest corner to the latest runs about 14 days. How the forecast works
Known for
Things to do in fall in Mississippi
9 iconic stops, including scenic drives, farms, haunts, and the views locals plan their October around.
Natchez Fall Pilgrimage
Fall festivalColor nearby peaks November 26
Since 1932, Natchez has opened its antebellum mansions (Longwood, Stanton Hall, and Melrose among them) for guided tours each fall, when…
Cedar Hill's Haunted Farm
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks November 7
Five night attractions on a working farm south of Memphis: a haunted hayride, a quarter-mile Trail of Terror through dark woods, the…
Mississippi State Fair
Fall festivalColor nearby peaks November 20
Eleven days every October, the Mississippi Fairgrounds in downtown Jackson fill with carnival rides, livestock barns and fair food, plus a…
McRaven Tour Home
Ghost tourColor nearby peaks November 22
McRaven calls itself Mississippi's most haunted house, a claim built on three families' worth of history packed into one Vicksburg home…
Columbus, Mississippi
Historic townColor nearby peaks November 10
Columbus was laid out in 1821 and never lost its antebellum core, blocks of columned homes that survived the Civil War because the town…
Mitchell Farms
FarmColor nearby peaks November 24
A family farm in the Piney Woods that has grown row crops since 1960 and now opens its fields each fall for a pumpkin patch and corn maze…
Bull Bottom Farms
Corn mazeColor nearby peaks November 11
A north Mississippi corn maze big enough to lose an afternoon in, with a pumpkin patch, a magic-carpet slide and a jumping pillow for kids…
Landrum's Homestead & Village
Historic townColor nearby peaks November 24
Eighty-five buildings under a pecan grove outside Laurel recreate an 1800s Mississippi village, a schoolhouse, chapel and blacksmith shop…
Frequently asked
- When do leaves peak in Mississippi in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for November 10–November 24 (best estimate November 17). Color starts around November 7 and trees are mostly bare by December 11.
- How reliable is the Mississippi forecast?
- The forecast blends recent-year weather normals with photoperiod and elevation; it tightens as the season approaches. Against published peak dates the model lands within a few days for most regions, but it can be a week or more out. Mountains and coastlines are the hardest. Higher elevations turn roughly one day earlier per 300 m.
- When is Mississippi's autumn season?
- Mississippi is in the northern hemisphere, so its color season is autumn (September to November). The turn takes roughly 34 days end to end, centered on November 17, and the last 15 of those are thinning canopy rather than color.
- What are the best things to do in fall in Mississippi?
- The iconic stops: Natchez Fall Pilgrimage, Cedar Hill's Haunted Farm, Mississippi State Fair, McRaven Tour Home, Columbus, Mississippi, Mitchell Farms. Every one is mapped on this page with its peak-color timing.
Nearby & similar
Season by season
2026 (forecast)
Peak November 10–November 24
November 7 → December 11