Leaf guide › Aspens & poplars
Quaking aspen
Populus tremuloides
The gold of the Rockies. Whole mountainsides of aspen turn at once because the trees are clones.
- Fall color
- YellowOrange (some groves)
- Turns
- Early in the West, mid-season in the East
- Leaves
- Alternate (one per spot)
- Size
- 1.5–3 in. across
- Found in
- Rockies, Great Lakes & North Woods, New England & New York, Southwest, Pacific Northwest
How to recognize it
- Nearly round leaf with a short pointed tip.
- Small, even, rounded teeth along the edge.
- Flat leaf stem makes the leaves tremble in the slightest breeze.
- Smooth white to pale green bark with black scars.
Where to find it
Look for it on mountain slopes in the Rockies, roughly between 7,000 and 11,000 feet in Colorado, and along roads, lakeshores, and old clearings in the North Woods and northern New England, where it’s one of the first trees to move in after fire or logging.
Where you’ll see it this fall
Quaking aspen is one of the main trees in the fall color at these destinations. Dates are the typical peak.
Arizona: Flagstaff (Oct 9)
California: Rock Creek Canyon (Sep 27), Monitor Pass (Oct 2), Bishop Creek Canyon (Oct 4), Lundy Canyon (Oct 6), Mammoth Lakes (Oct 7), June Lake (Oct 8), Hope Valley (Oct 9), South Lake Tahoe (Oct 13), Mount Shasta (Oct 23), Quincy (Oct 27)
Colorado: Kenosha Pass (Sep 24), Breckenridge (Sep 25), Crested Butte (Sep 28), Telluride (Sep 30), Vail (Sep 30), Aspen (Oct 1), Estes Park (Oct 1), Steamboat Springs (Oct 4)
Michigan: Copper Harbor (Sep 26), Marquette (Oct 1)
Minnesota: Ely (Sep 18), Grand Marais (Sep 26), Duluth (Sep 28)
Montana: Bozeman (Oct 4), West Glacier (Oct 7), Missoula (Oct 9)
New Mexico: Taos (Oct 7), Santa Fe (Oct 7)
South Dakota: Spearfish Canyon (Oct 10)
Utah: Park City (Oct 2)
Wisconsin: Minocqua (Sep 27)
Wyoming: Jackson Hole (Oct 2)
Easy to confuse with
Paper birch
Longer, more pointed leaf with double teeth, and bark that peels in papery sheets.
Cottonwood
Larger, triangular leaf with coarse curved teeth.
Bigtooth aspen
Same shape but with big, coarse teeth.
Worth knowing
An aspen grove is often one organism, sprouting from a single root system. Pando, a grove in Utah covering about 106 acres, is one of the largest living things known. Here’s more on why whole aspen groves turn at once.
Common questions
What color does quaking aspen turn in fall?
Quaking aspen turns a clear gold in fall. A few groves turn orange or even reddish, and because the trees in a grove are often a single clone, a whole stand usually turns together.
When does quaking aspen change color?
In the Rockies it’s one of the first trees to turn, often peaking in late September at high elevations. In the East and around the Great Lakes it colors closer to the middle of the season.
How can you tell quaking aspen from paper birch?
Paper birch: Longer, more pointed leaf with double teeth, and bark that peels in papery sheets. Quaking aspen: Nearly round leaf with a short pointed tip.
Where does quaking aspen grow?
In the lower 48, look for it in the Rockies, the Great Lakes & North Woods, New England & New York, the Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest.
See where the color is peaking today.
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