• Fall colors in Michigan usually appear from late September through late October 
  • The Upper Peninsula sees the change earlier than the Lower Peninsula
  • State parks, particularly those along the Great Lakes, offer some of the best viewing spots.

One of the surest signs that fall is coming to Michigan isn’t the morning chill or the swap from sandals to sneakers. It’s the explosion of reds, oranges and golds that slowly sweep the state’s 14 billion trees.

Bridge Michigan
This story also appeared in Bridge Michigan

This year, the fall colors will begin to emerge in mid-September in the Upper Peninsula, with leaves near Gaylord starting to turn around Sept. 22 and becoming more vibrant by the end of the month, according to fall foliage forecasts. 

The UP is expected to hit peak color the first week of October, while northern Lower Michigan should peak in early to mid-October. The rest of the state will light up later in the month, wrapping up the season around Halloween.

Behind the show is a little science. As days grow shorter and nights cooler, chlorophyll, the green pigment that dominates in summer, begins to break down, revealing pigments that have been hiding all along. 

Leaves along highways and on the edges of forests often change first and can appear more vivid thanks to extra sun exposure. That means a routine drive can turn into a scenic route during the state’s most colorful season.

A colorful reputation

Fall color tours routinely bring tourists to Michigan, and the region’s reputation for fall scenery continues to grow nationally. 

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Last year, USA Today ranked the UP the best place in the country to see fall colors, citing its 7 million acres of forest, Great Lakes shorelines and 10 designated color routes covering nearly 1,500 miles.

Travelers looking to time their fall color tours more precisely can sign up for weekly updates from UPTravel.com, beginning September 17.

Pure Michigan, the state’s tourism arm, also has a weekly newsletter that includes fall color updates and tourist attractions. 

Best places to see fall colors

Michigan’s state parks, many tucked along the shores of the Great Lakes, remain some of the best spots to take it all in. 

Whether it’s the fiery reds surrounding Tahquamenon Falls, the sweeping overlooks in the Porcupine Mountains or the hardwoods glowing around Ocqueoc Falls, the largest waterfall in the Lower Peninsula, there’s no shortage of views.

Classic routes, like the Tunnel of Trees along M-119, promise 22 miles of postcard-ready scenery. In West Michigan, the fall colors near Holland State Park and the Lake Macatawa shoreline will peak in October. 

Mapping the color change

Check out estimated fall foliage conditions for Michigan, as forecast by Explorefall.com, in the maps below. 

The maps go from green in early September, indicating little to no color, to red and brown by October, meaning peak or past peak colors. 

  • A map of the estimated fall foliage conditions for Sept. 3, 2025. It looks virtually all green, meaning no fall colors.
    Sept. 3
  • A map of the estimated fall foliage conditions for Sept. 15, 2025. It's mostly green with some yellow in the northern parts of the USA. Yellow indicates low levels of fall colors. 
    Sept. 15
  • A map of the estimated fall foliage conditions for Sept. 22, 2025. A lot of the map is yellow, meaning many places are expected to have low levels of fall colors. 
    Sept. 22.
  • A map of the estimated fall foliage conditions for Sept. 29, 2025. Many places are still yellow, meaning there are low levels of fall colors. Some places in the northern USA are orange, meaning there are moderate or high levels of fall colors. 
    Sept. 29.
  • A map of the estimated fall foliage conditions for Oct. 6, 2025. Many places are yellow, meaning low levels of fall colors. More places in the northern USA are orange and red, meaning there are moderate or high levels of fall colors. 
    Oct. 6.
  • A map of the estimated fall foliage conditions for Oct. 13, 2025. Many places are orange, meaning moderate fall colors. Some places are past the peak of fall colors in northern parts of the USA. 
    Oct. 13
  • A map of the estimated fall foliage conditions for Oct. 20, 2025. Several places in the northern USA are past the peak of fall colors. There are moderate to high levels of fall colors in other places. 
    Oct. 20.
  • A map of the estimated fall foliage conditions for Oct. 27, 2025. Many areas are past the peak of the fall colors. Some places still have high levels of fall colors. 
    Oct. 27.

This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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