Fall Color

Posted Oct. 15, 2026

"Real" fall color change is starting in the Central Region. Sugar maples are in the earliest stages; near-frost temperatures this weekend should force them to blossom in another week.

Some trees are showing color due to drought stress. Dogwoods and sassafras are orange; walnuts are showing some yellow; cottonwoods and sycamores are yellow in places; sumacs growing in fields are red; some maples are starting to turn red and orange; most elms have started to drop their leaves; and persimmons are starting to show their yellow foliage display.

Across central Missouri, hickories are browning up, but the oaks are still green.

Along the roadsides, wildflowers have finished their color displays. Brushy species such as smooth sumac, Virginia creeper, and dogwoods are adding some nice color down low.

Fall Color Hot Spots

Grand Bluffs Conservation Area has a nice trail with an overlook of the bluffs that should be nice this time of year.

Posted Oct. 15, 2026

In the Kansas City area, the trees are still mostly green with sporadic fall color. So far, the color is mostly muted yellow and brown, with the occasional brilliant red on Virginia creeper vines. Some bright red is peeking from black gum, flowering dogwood, and smooth sumac. Sweet gum and white ash are slowly starting a magnificent show of vibrant yellows, reds, and purples. The following trees are continuing to yellow: some hickory, honey locust, cottonwood, walnut, hackberry, red and white mulberry, catalpa, pawpaw, sycamore, ironwood, ginkgo, redbud, and American elm. Maples are turning orange and red.

You can expect the Kansas City Region to burst into color over the next two weeks as temperatures cool.

Fall Color Hot Spots

For fall color hiking, try Hidden Valley Park or Rocky Point Glades in Swope Park. To get a closer look at the canopy, check out Go Ape Zipline and Adventure Park near the glades. Don’t forget to catch the ginkgo trees when they turn vibrant yellow on the south lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Enjoy a drive down Blue River Road from Swope Park to Mission Lake. The Visit Kansas City website gives additional fall color recommendations for the area.

Posted Oct. 15, 2026

With the temperatures falling this weekend, be prepared to see some leaf drop in walnut, hackberry, and sycamore trees. Hickories throughout the Northeast Region have shut off and are a rusty brown instead of the typical mild yellow. Scarlets and purples are coming on strong in the region and will be especially striking in white ash, sumac, sassafras, black cherry, and dogwood trees.

Yellows are coming out in green ash, hackberry, northern catalpa, and tulip trees (yellow poplars). Look for orange and reds in maple trees in town and scattered in the woods. In urban areas, expect ginkgo leaves to turn bright yellow over the next few weeks. Fall color has been dull this year, but with mid and late October upon us, colors will take off but will still be short-lived.

Posted Oct. 15, 2026

The middle of October brings a little more color to the Northwest Region. The overall autumn scene looks much more characteristic now, with a significant percentage of canopies showing golden yellows and oranges.

Shagbark hickory and red mulberry are now showing bright yellow in the woodland midstory. Keep an eye out for these pops of color during your autumn hike, and notice the vibrant reds from poison ivy, fragrant sumac, and Virginia creeper on the ground and in the understory. Gusty winds and stormy conditions over the past week have left a blanket of colored leaves on the ground, along with other debris such as twigs and whole limbs.

A few species have yet to turn. Some are still entirely green, some have already gone dormant, and some are hanging onto brown, crunchy leaves. Marcescent species such as ironwood and some oaks will do this, holding their dead leaves throughout the winter.

Fall Color Hot Spots

Although peak coloration may be behind schedule, the cool autumn mornings are a great time to get outside and enjoy a hike or stroll before the day warms up. This Sunday, Oct. 18, is our Poosey Conservation Area Fall Driving Tour, a great opportunity to view colors, see wildlife, and take a relaxing, leisurely cruise through the area. Other places that offer colorful drives include Crooked River Conservation Area and the Loess Hills.

Posted Oct. 15, 2026

The Ozarks are finally starting to look and feel like fall. With dropping temperatures and some recent rainfall, color changes are coming. The standout of the new fall color lineup is the native hickory species. The leaves of our most common hickories — black, mockernut, pignut, and shagbark — turn a soft yellow, often edged with subtle flares of orange. Hickories make up a good chunk of our woods’ overall volume, and their onset of new color has made quite an impact on the landscape.

Native redbuds are also becoming quite yellow now. Our usual early yellows, walnuts, tulip trees (yellow poplars), and silver maples, have been changing for a while now.

Flowering dogwood is turning pallid red with little bright red spots in its fruits. The sassafras tree, known for its pleasant aroma, is turning a very attractive red. In the rocky hills of the Ozarks, sassafras does not reach a large timber size but can grow to a significant size in wet areas. Black gum continues to change sporadically, giving off an unmissable bright red on portions of its canopy.

Overall, although many trees are changing or showing signs of change, fall is not in full swing. When the ever‑hesitant oaks finally turn, they will complete the last piece of the fall color palette.

Fall Color Hot Spots

As the season nears peak color, it’s a good time to take a “Sunday drive” and enjoy the color along scenic highways. Road edges sometimes show accelerated fall color because of sunlight exposure. If you’re in the northern Ozark area, try driving south on State Highway 8 from St. James through pine- and hardwood-timbered ridges across the Meramec River to Steelville. Another striking drive up north is I-44 west of Rolla through Pulaski County to Waynesville, where you can see good vistas of steep timbered ridges mixed with the high bluffs along the Big Piney and Gasconade rivers.

Down south, State Highway 19 offers a long, winding, beautiful drive completely enveloped in timber. Crossing Highway 19 in Eminence is State Highway 106, similarly surrounded by timber; as you move east, this trend continues through Ellington. To the west toward Texas County, the landscape gives way to mixed prairies and timber in cattle country. But remember, some of the best bits of landscape are often in the lesser-known little places off the beaten track.

Posted Oct. 15, 2026

Fall colors are gaining momentum across the Southeast Region's many exceptional landscapes. More maple species are making their fall-color debut, adding the blonde silver maple to the red and sugar maples. Persimmons, draped in juicy apricot life fruits and plum and orange leaves, are the newest species to show their fall color. Wait to taste this delectable native delight until closer to the first frost, or your mouth might pucker!

Keep enjoying the steady march of dazzling ruby-red sumacs along roadsides and field edges. Keep an eye out for other smaller yet mighty species, such as American hornbeam and serviceberry, as they glow in the forest understory. More oaks, especially the drier upland species such as black, post, southern red, and chinquapin, reveal their tawny and tan shades. Scarlet and white oak show a burst of maroon. Other species, such as American beech with creamy tones and Kentucky coffee tree with pale yellow tones, help soften the landscape.

Fall Color Hot Spots

As colors ramp up, take time for a walk around a lake at one of your favorite city parks, a local conservation area, or along a stream.

• Perry County Community Lake
• Tywappity Community Lake
• Lake Girardeau Conservation Area
• Millstream Gardens Conservation Area
• Amidon Memorial Conservation Area
• Robert G. Delaney Lake Conservation Area
• General Watkins Conservation Area

Posted Oct. 15, 2026

Fall tree color in the 17 counties of the SW Region differs depending on where you are.

Extreme southwest and west parts of the region are not very showy yet. 

Eastern and northern counties have more color, with yellows showing up in some hackberries, hickories, and maples. In some places, red and purple are showing up in sumac, sassafras, and flowering dogwood. In many locales, flowering dogwoods turned brown with the drought. Many areas in the region have trees that, due to drought conditions, turned brown without going through their usual color changes. The rain and cooler temperatures expected this week may induce more color changes.

Posted Oct. 15, 2026

Although autumn weather has hopefully come to stay, widespread fall color still has yet to arrive. This week’s rain and color temperatures should help, especially if we get more nights down into the 40s. Less moisture stress will boost pigment production in leaves, while cooler evenings will help keep those pigments in the leaves rather than translocating them to other parts of the tree. If high temperatures and dry conditions linger, it is likely many trees will drop their leaves before turning. If this week’s storms bring high winds or heavy rain, the weather might directly strip some leaves from trees.

This week's species palette remains about the same as last week’s. Sycamores, hackberries, and catalpas have taken on an autumnal, although not particularly bright, hue. Sumacs, sassafras, lindens, ashes, and tulip trees (yellow poplars) are some early changers that provide pops of color. The feathery leaves of honey locust and black walnut reveal a bright yellow, but these trees are also quickly beginning to lose leaflets. Some walnuts have already lost their leaves, but they still hold onto abundant nuts to provide seasonal aesthetic interest. In the woods, some hickories and sugar maples have begun to turn yellow. While many of the biological processes that produce fall color are more controlled by day length than temperature, temperature still plays an important role. So, because of the urban heat island effect, colors often appear first in the hinterland before they reach the urban core. As the season progresses, it should be possible to follow fall color through the metropolitan area.

Fall Color Hot Spots

With conditions largely the same as last week, the same places are all great to visit to see autumn’s last blooms and its first bits of color. Try a visit to any of the following:

• Frank, Emma Elizabeth and Edna Reifsnider State Forest
• Labarque Creek Conservation Area
• Hickory Woods Conservation Area
• Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park
• Washington State Park
• Forest Park’s Kennedy Forest Savanna
• Cuivre River State Park
• Little Indian Creek Conservation Area