Fall colors probably will peak in the northern mountains the weekend of Sept. 20, and this year’s show likely will pale in comparison to the past two years, according to forest expert Dan West.
West, an entomologist for the Colorado State Forest Service who annually spends late-summer weeks evaluating the health of forests around the state from the air and on the ground, believes leaf peepers may be disappointed this year — at least in comparison to the past two.
“2023 was a banner year,” West said. “It was wonderful. Everywhere you went in the state, aspens had the fullest crowns going into the fall, lots of leaves, no maladies, no issues. 2024 was a good year, but certainly not as good as 2023. I think 2025 is going to be an OK year, but not great.
“We all have short memories,” West continued. “Over the last couple of years, it’s been so good. This year there could be a bit of a letdown, because some of the colors are going to be muted.”
West expects colors in the central mountains — Summit County, Eagle County and the Interstate 70 corridor — to peak the weekend of Sept. 27-28. The southern mountains should see their peak early in October.
So far, there has been little color change. West has observed only hints of what is coming.
“The coldest areas — river bottoms, some of the willows, some of the cottonwoods along riparian areas — are just now starting to turn,” West said. “Up north, off Highway 14 on the way to Steamboat, things are just now starting.”
Some trees are showing colors that West attributes to drought damage, rather than the seasonal fall color shift that signals winter is coming.
“At this point it’s kind of hard to tease out what is yellow from brown,” West said. “You’ve got to get out of your car and look. Everything I got out and looked at, that looked fairly yellow, it was pretty much some kind of drought (damage).”
Despite the prospect of fall foliage falling short of the brilliance seen in recent years, West says it will be worth the gasoline for road trips this fall.
“As far as the I 70 corridor is concerned, I still feel like there is going to be plenty of show,” West said. “Some stands still look green as you’re driving through, (some) look a little off color if you’re looking really closely. But for the most part it’s just starting to get into the swing of things. It’s now time to start planning your trips.”
For the second year, the Breckenridge Tourism Office is ramping up Leaf Brief, an online program that will offer weekly photo updates tracking the progress of fall colors in and around Breckenridge. Updates will be posted on the tourism office’s website, gobreck.com, and at @gobreck on Instagram. Leaf Brief also will offer tips and trail recommendations. The Town of Breckenridge will offer free guided foliage hikes.
West believes it might be a good year to consider checking out fall colors on the eastern plains and in riparian areas east of Interstate 25. Large swaths of eastern Colorado have evaded the drought plaguing most of the state west of 25.
“They’ve had above-average precipitation,” West said. “The cottonwoods look really beautiful.”
Unfortunately there is an unsettling hue in some Front Range forests: the color of rust in trees that don’t take part in seasonal fall foliage changes, the evergreen pines.
“Conifers along the Front Range are really suffering,” West said. “If you’ve driven I 70 or 285 over Kenosha Pass, you cannot help notice the pockets of dead trees from the mountain pine beetle.”
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West has seen that in Boulder, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Jefferson counties and a few spots in Douglas County.
“Maybe rust is another fall color, but we don’t want to see that in our conifers,” West said. “Unfortunately, that’s the case right now. Other parts of the state have experienced this widespread mortality for a number of years, but the Front Range has really kind of evaded some of that — until now.”