Fall foliage

Fall foliage in New Mexico

Fall 2026 · updated daily

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A mountainside of dark evergreens with broad patches of gold and green aspen across its slope.
Aspen on the slopes above Santa FePhoto: Bryan Ungard · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Tall gold cottonwoods along a bend of the Rio Grande under a deep blue sky.
The Rio Grande near EmbudoPhoto: Fletchersparadox · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

New Mexico’s color is elevation-driven, from the high Sangre de Cristos down to the Rio Grande.

Aspen along the Enchanted Circle, around Chama, and on the slopes above Taos and Angel Fire turns in the second and third weeks of October;

A grove of gold aspens with white trunks above a meadow of tawny grass, with a dark stormy sky behind.
Aspens near La Cueva, in the JemezPhoto: Larry Lamsa · CC BY 2.0 · source
A steep mountain slope with bands of gold aspen among dark evergreens, above the wide valley below.
Aspens in the Sandia MountainsPhoto: BFS Man · CC BY 2.0 · source

the Jemez and the Sandias follow;

Looking up into the gold leaves of tall cottonwoods against a deep blue sky.
Cottonwoods along the Rio Grande near SocorroPhoto: Chris English · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

cottonwoods in the Rio Grande bosque go gold in the last days of October and into November.

Gambel oak on the middle slopes adds rust and red.

The drop from the peaks to the bosque spans more than a month over a short distance.

In a typical year

Bordering states

Color: Fallcast, the same map as the app. Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors, Protomaps. Place outlines: U.S. Census Bureau.