New Arizona fall foliage map shows when, where to see changing leaves

Temperatures are dropping below 100 degrees in Phoenix and the pumpkin spice lattes are back in stock. You know what that means, people. Fall is upon us.

Though you won’t catch the autumnal wonders of North America in the Phoenix metro area, you can in parts of Arizona’s sprawling forested regions.

While Arizona’s forests — which cover more than a quarter of the state — are primarily made up of evergreen pines, there are parts of the state where the crisp yellows, reds, oranges and browns will show up on deciduous trees and overtake the landscape.

Thanks to a map created by Explore Fall, it’s possible to see when and where that will happen. The map shows the predicted degree of fall colors that will be seen across the state from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30. Simply slide the scale to change the date.

Color will start creeping into the north and eastern parts of the state around the end of September, according to the map, starting around the Apache National Forest near the border with New Mexico.


But by Oct. 15, much of the state will start to see colors changing moderately, with a few pockets in the east and areas near the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Flagstaff experiencing “peak” fall colors.


Between then and Halloween is prime time for an autumnal trip to the wooded parts of the state. By the end of the month, many of the trees in those areas are past peak fall colors, though a wider area of the state’s north and eastern parts will be in peak form.


By about Nov. 15, pretty much all of that area will be past peak color — the exception being southeastern parts of the state like Cochise County, where Bisbee is located.


And of course, from then until December, the non-native deciduous trees of Phoenix will start changing color, which they sometimes do until around Christmas, depending on temperature and rainfall.


But if you’re feeling the itch to catch cooler temperatures and the beautiful changing of the seasons, there are plenty of short trips outside the Valley that will scratch it.