DENVER – Fall colors are really coming in strong across Colorado’s mountains as summer-time temps continue to hang on along the Front Range.
Denver7 meteorologists are tracking where in Colorado you can see moderate to peak colors and where the best chances have already passed.
If you are planning a trip to the higher elevations to check out our high color and peak color, it's mostly through our northern and central mountains as of September 28, according to Denver7 meteorologist Stacey Donaldson.
“The peak color right now is just off to the west to Leadville up toward just north of Granby into Rocky Mountain National Park,” Donaldson said.
As of September 28, peak colors were expected in Rocky Mountain National Park west of Fort Collins, and in areas like the Pike San Isabel and Gunnison National Forests southwest of Denver, according to explorefall.com’s interactive live map.
The area surrounding Steamboat in northwest Colorado, as well as the area southwest of the Sangre de Cristos in southern Colorado, were seeing high color as of September 28, according to the map.
Parts of the San Juan Mountains and areas to the east of Aspen were expected to already past peak color.
Explorefall.com is a website that tracks fall foliage reports and shows areas of peak colors growing throughout Colorado's high country.
This interactive map tracks where.
We don't have a lot happening yet here across the eastern plains as we get into the next week, with much of the area in low color. Explorefall.com shows peak color in Denver and to the east in mid- to late October.
If you need some ideas on the best places to hike, drive or take a train ride to see the colors — Denver7 has compiled this map of locations below.
Heading west from Vail, take a turn down Highway 24 through Leadville to see high-to-peak colors before switching back to low to moderate colors through Buena Vista.
Across the Park Range in northern Colorado, moderate to peak colors are showing, according to Explore Fall’s map.
The Sangre De Cristo Mountains are in low to moderate colors with portions showing peak color.
Photographers in Denver7’s Discover Colorado photography group have been dropping beautiful snapshots of the changing colors in the state, including gorgeous golden views in the Steam Boat Springs area.
South from there, Photographer Hollie Flesher Hardman shared peak colors along driving along Highway 131.
Pictures from Monica Breckenridge Photography taken at Independence Pass showed a full range of breathtaking fall colors, including one photo of the reds, yellows and greens forming a heart into the landscape.
The U.S. Forest Service updated when colors were expected to peak in the San Juan Mountains. Here's their current fall foilage report as of September 27:
San Juan Skyway
- Durango to Purgatory: Partial
- Purgatory to Coal Bank: Near Peak
- Coal Bank to Molas Pass: Peak
- Molas Pass to Silverton: Peak
- Silverton area: Peak
- Silverton to Red Mtn Pass: Peak
- Red Mtn Pass to Ouray: Peak
- Ouray to Telluride (Dallas Divide): Partial
- Lizard Head Pass to Telluride: Partial
- Rico to Lizard Head Pass: Partial
- Dolores to Rico: Partial
- Mancos Area: Partial
Other Areas
- Pagosa Springs: Minimal to Patchy
- Missionary Ridge: Partial
- La Plata Canyon: Patchy
While conditions this weekend won’t quite feel like fall, it’ll be beautiful weather to take in Colorado’s fall colors as high temperatures are expected to remain above normal for this time of the year.
If you're looking to get a glimpse of what fall colors look like in our beautiful Colorado mountains, Denver7 has put together a 15-minute reel of drone footage from past years. Click to watch the breathtaking video below.
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