2025 Upstate NY fall foliage: When will leaves change, peak?

Autumn is so close, we can almost smell cider doughnuts, taste the sweet bite of freshly picked apples and feel the joy that accompanies Upstate New York’s favorite pastime: the leaf peeping.

But as we dream of these fall delights, two important questions loom: When will leaves start changing Upstate? And when will fall foliage peak?

Lucky for leaf peepers, there’s a map that helps adventurers determine the best places (and times) to catch prime fall colors.

Explore Fall is a website purely dedicated to predicting when leaves will start to change and hit their brilliant, riotous peak across the continental United States, including in Upstate New York.

The real-time, explorable map lets travelers see when leaves will start to transform from green to yellow, orange and red. Explore Fall said it uses data about temperature, precipitation and daylight to create its “high-accuracy foliage forecasts.”

While it is impossible to perfectly predict when leaves will change, Explore Fall said it estimates its model is accurate “within three days 80% of the time.”

The interactive map tracks leaves on their journey from green (classified as “little to no color”) to carpeting the ground (“past peak color.“)

The first hints of fall are expected to appear around Sept. 14 with small patches of “low color” near Dix Mountain in the Adirondacks and Hunter in the Catskills, according to Explore Fall.

By the start of October, fall foliage is set to start peaking in the highest parts of the Empire State — including in the High Peaks region.

Here’s when fall colors are expected to peak across Upstate N.Y., according to Explore Fall:

Oct. 1-Oct. 7

• Mount Marcy, Dix Mountain, Lake Placid, Whiteface Mountain and Gore Mountain in the Adirondacks
• Round Top, Elka Park and Sundown Wild Forest in the Catskills

Oct. 8-Oct. 14

• Most of the Adirondacks, including Lake George, Saranac Lake, Indian Lake, Old Forge, Tupper Lake and Ticonderoga
• Gloversville and Thompson’s Lake in the Capital Region
• Most of the Catskills, including Hunter, Peekamoose, Phoenicia, and Delhi
• Cooperstown, Redfield, Camden and Dolgeville in Central New York
• Alfred in the Southern Tier

Oct. 15-Oct. 21

• Ausable Chasm, Plattsburgh and Malone in the Adirondacks
• Much of the Capital Region, including Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and Glens Falls
• Saugerties and Woodstock in the Catskills
• Much of Central New York, including Skaneateles, Utica, Sylvan Beach, Cazenovia and Cortland
• Naples in the Finger Lakes
• Kingston, Rhinebeck and Pine Plains in the Hudson Valley
• Much of Northern New York, including Alexandria Bay, Clayton and Potsdam
• Much of the Southern Tier, including Corning, Olean and Whitney Point
• Letchworth State Park in Western New York

Oct. 22-Oct. 28

• Albany and Troy in the Capital Region
• Syracuse, Auburn, Oswego and Fair Haven in Central New York
• Much of the Finger Lakes, including Ithaca, Geneva and Penn Yan
• Much of the Hudson Valley, including Poughkeepsie, Amenia and Kerhonkson
• Binghamton, Elmira and Owego in the Southern Tier
• Much of Western New York, including Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls and Jamestown

Oct. 29-Nov. 4

• Aurora in Central New York
• Seneca Falls in the Finger Lakes
• Fredonia, Chautauqua and Irondequoit in Western New York