About Leaves.com

Leaves.com grew out of a New England tradition: chasing peak fall color.

Born in leaf-peeping country

Leaves.com is owned by Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company based in New England, where fall foliage season is one of the busiest and most anticipated times of the year. Every autumn, visitors from across the country and around the world come to see the hillsides turn, a tradition known as leaf peeping. Scenic drives like Vermont’s Route 100, New Hampshire’s Kancamagus Highway, and the Mohawk Trail in western Massachusetts are fall traditions of their own.

Around here, “Is it peak yet?” is a real question. Locals trade tips about which valleys have turned and which ridges are already past. Travelers try to plan a trip weeks ahead without knowing whether they’ll arrive to green leaves, perfect color, or bare branches.

Why we built it

Leaves.com was created to help people get a general idea of when the best fall color can be seen, not just in New England but across the country. Peak moves in a predictable way: it starts in the far north and at high elevation, then works south and downhill over several weeks. Knowing that pattern makes it much easier to pick a weekend, choose a destination, or decide whether to drive north or head for the mountains.

The site brings that together in one place: a fall foliage forecast map for any city or ZIP code, typical peak dates by state and destination, a leaf guide for naming the trees you see, and a plain-language look at why leaves change color.

How the forecast works

Every estimate on the site comes from a model of typical years, built on latitude, elevation, and distance from the ocean and Great Lakes. It reflects long-run patterns, not this year’s observations, so weather can move peak by a week or more. For the full methodology, see how our fall foliage forecast works.

Use of AI

AI tools assisted with the development and creation of Leaves.com. Foliage estimates are produced by the Leaves.com forecast model described here.

Independent

Leaves.com isn’t affiliated with any state tourism office, park, or government agency, and destination pages don’t endorse any business.

Data and credits

State boundaries come from U.S. Census Bureau cartographic files, packaged by the open-source us-atlas project. Maps are drawn with the open-source D3 and TopoJSON libraries. City and ZIP code locations come from a free public ZIP code database distributed in the open-source zipcodes package. Text, leaf illustrations, and the forecast model are original to Leaves.com. The typeface is Bricolage Grotesque, used under the SIL Open Font License. Full license notices are in licenses.txt.

Get in touch

Questions, corrections, or partnership ideas? Contact us.