Foliage map › Destinations › New Hampshire › Franconia Notch
Franconia Notch, New Hampshire fall foliage
In a typical year, fall color in the Franconia Notch area peaks around October 3, with the best viewing from roughly October 1 to October 10.
- Typical peak
- October 3
- Best viewing
- Oct 1 – Oct 10
- Color starts
- Around Sep 21
- Leaves mostly down
- Around Oct 16
- Elevation
- 1,950 ft
2026 foliage season
Typical season
Peak around October 3. Turn on JavaScript to see today’s estimated status and the five-week outlook.
The season at a glance
Bar height shows how good the viewing typically is on each day, from September 1 through November 30. Colors show the stage, from green through peak red to bare.
Open Franconia Notch on the foliage mapWhere to see the color around Franconia Notch
Franconia Notch is a mountain pass between the Kinsman and Franconia ranges, and most of it lies within Franconia Notch State Park. For the best-known foliage view in the notch, take the short, steep trail up Artist’s Bluff at the north end, which looks down over Echo Lake to Cannon Mountain. Nearby, Profile Lake sits below the cliff where the Old Man of the Mountain rock formation stood until it collapsed in 2003; a memorial plaza by the lake shows what it looked like. At the south end, the Flume Gorge is an 800-foot-long chasm with walls about 90 feet high, and a paved recreation path runs through the length of the notch.
Scenic drive
The Franconia Notch Parkway carries I-93 for about eight miles through the notch as a two-lane road between the Flume at the south end and Echo Lake at the north, with the Franconia Ridge rising to the east and Cannon Mountain to the west. To make a longer day of it, continue south to Lincoln and follow the Kancamagus Highway east through the White Mountain National Forest.
If you arrive too early or too late
Too early? Still mostly green
Look for higher ground
None of the destinations we track within 150 miles of Franconia Notch typically peaks much earlier. Look for higher ground nearby: in this part of the country, color tends to arrive about 4 to 5 days earlier for every 1,000 feet you climb.
Too late? Already past peak
Head lower
Lincoln (Kancamagus), NH (7 miles away, lower down) typically peaks about 6 days later, and Jackson, NH (25 miles away, lower down) typically peaks about 5 days later.
National park and forest guide
Scenic drive guide
Nearby destinations
- Lincoln (Kancamagus), NHTypical peak Oct 9, 6 days later. 7 miles away.
- Jackson, NHTypical peak Oct 8, 5 days later. 25 miles away.
- North Conway, NHTypical peak Oct 10, 7 days later. 28 miles away.
- Hanover, NHTypical peak Oct 11, 8 days later. 43 miles away.
- Montpelier, VTTypical peak Oct 9, 6 days later. 45 miles away.
Trees you’ll see turning
Common questions
When is peak fall foliage in Franconia Notch?
In a typical year, fall color in the Franconia Notch area peaks around October 3, with the best viewing from roughly October 1 to October 10. Weather can shift the timing by about a week either way.
How long does peak color last in Franconia Notch?
Near-peak color usually holds for about 10 days. Color starts to show around September 21, and most leaves are down by about October 16.
Is Franconia Notch early or late compared with the rest of New Hampshire?
Franconia Notch typically peaks about 8 days earlier than the New Hampshire average of Oct 11. It ranks 1 of 7 New Hampshire destinations from earliest to latest.
What trees color up around Franconia Notch?
The main fall color in this area comes from sugar maple, red maple, paper birch, and American beech. See the leaf guide to identify them.
Estimates come from the Leaves.com model of typical years, based on latitude, elevation, and distance from large bodies of water. They are not live observations. How it works.