Fall Colors

Fall color on a farm in Monroe County.

Trying to predict the peak of fall color is difficult. Missouri is blessed with a great variety of trees, shrubs and vines. Their leaves turn at different times and, as a result, Missourians enjoy a fall color season that may last four to six weeks. Sassafras, sumac and Virginia creeper are some of the earliest to change. They begin to show their fall colors by mid-September. By late September, black gum, bittersweet and dogwood are changing.

The peak of fall color in Missouri is usually mid-October. This is when maples, ashes, oaks and hickories are at the height of their fall display. Normally by late October, the colors are fading and the leaves are beginning to drop from the trees.

This progression of color change starts earliest in northern Missouri and moves southward across the state to the Bootheel. Generally, the color change is predictable but can vary from year to year. Much depends on the weather.

Follow the show of Missouri’s fall color, and find events on your route

Enjoy “local color” as well as leaf color—the Missouri Division of Tourism’s online calendar (listed below as “Visit Missouri”) is packed with events happening all across Missouri.