Southern Utah fall guide
When the aspens peak on Cedar Breaks, Highway 14, Duck Creek Village, and down to Zion, by elevation and by date. Built from twelve years of dated observations, our own photos, and the first-frost record, not a guess.
Drag the date. Every place on the ladder is colored by its typical stage that day, from the Cedar Breaks rim at 10,400 feet down to Zion Canyon at 4,000. In season, the tracker also reads this year's first frost from the SNOTEL station above the village and tells you which way the year is leaning.
On Oct 1 in a typical year. Cedar Breaks: peak color. Brian Head: peak color. Strawberry Pt.: peak color. Navajo Lake: peak color. Duck Creek: peak color. Bryce Canyon: peak color. Cedar Canyon: turning. Kolob Terrace: peak color. Cedar City: still green. Zion Canyon: still green.
| Place | Elevation | What turns | Turning from | Peak color | Leaves down by | From the inn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Breaks rim & SR-148 | 10,000 to 10,500 ft | Aspen | Sep 10 | Sep 22 to Oct 3 | Oct 12 | 30 min |
| Brian Head & SR-143 | 9,800 to 11,300 ft | Aspen | Sep 8 | Sep 20 to Oct 2 | Oct 12 | 45 min |
| Strawberry Point road | 8,800 to 9,200 ft | Aspen | Sep 15 | Sep 26 to Oct 7 | Oct 16 | 30 min |
| Navajo Lake, Midway Valley & upper SR-14 | 9,000 to 9,800 ft | Aspen | Sep 14 | Sep 25 to Oct 6 | Oct 15 | 15 min |
| Duck Creek Village & Aspen Mirror Lake | 8,300 to 8,600 ft | Aspen | Sep 17 | Sep 28 to Oct 8 | Oct 18 | Walk out the door |
| Bryce Canyon rim | 7,600 to 9,100 ft | Aspen and maple | Sep 14 | Sep 23 to Oct 6 | Oct 16 | 75 min |
| Cedar Canyon & lower SR-14 | 6,200 to 7,800 ft | Maple, oak, cottonwood | Sep 28 | Oct 6 to Oct 18 | Oct 30 | 20 min |
| Kolob Terrace Road | 5,000 to 8,000 ft | Aspen and maple | Sep 22 | Sep 30 to Oct 12 | Oct 24 | 100 min |
| Cedar City & Parowan | 5,800 to 6,100 ft | Cottonwood and maple | Oct 6 | Oct 16 to Oct 30 | Nov 12 | 40 min |
| Zion Canyon | 3,900 to 4,500 ft | Cottonwood and maple | Oct 8 | Oct 22 to Nov 8 | Nov 20 | 80 min |
How to read the spread. These are typical-year windows. The high country's first hard freeze at Midway Valley has landed anywhere from September 1 to October 23 since 2003, with the middle half of years between Sep 13 and Oct 1. Peak follows the same spread: plan for the window, then check the weekly report and our live cams the week before you drive.
Color starts at the top of the mountain in mid-September and walks downhill about a thousand feet a week. Follow it.
Sept 15 to 25
Turning to early peak at 10,000 ft. The village is still mostly green with single trees flashing.
Sept 25 to Oct 8
Peak on Cedar Mountain. This is the week to book. The rim goes past peak around the first weekend of October.
Oct 8 to 20
Maple and oak reds in the canyons while the high aspens drop. Often the first snow at the top.
Oct 20 to Nov 10
Cottonwood yellow in the valleys and along the Virgin River. The mountain is bare and quiet.
Ranked by how much color per mile, starting with the road you will drive in on.
Three peaks in three weeks: the top late September, the village around October 1, Cedar Canyon into mid-October
The main event. The road leaves Cedar City through maple and oak in Cedar Canyon, climbs past Woods Ranch and Webster Flat into pure aspen, crosses the black lava flows above Navajo Lake at nearly 10,000 feet, and drops into the village. Because it spans 4,000 feet of elevation you can drive it any week from mid-September to mid-October and find peak somewhere. Pull-outs at Zion Overlook and the Navajo Lake overlook are the classic stops.
Highway 14 guideTypically Sep 22 to Oct 3
Gold aspens set against the pink and orange amphitheater, with four overlooks in six miles. The visitor center closes for the season around the second week of October, but the road itself stays open until snow closes it, usually late November. It is the earliest show on the mountain and the first to go; check the tracker before you commit a morning to it.
Cedar Breaks guideTypically Sep 20 to Oct 2 on the high sections
Take SR-14 west to SR-148, north across the Cedar Breaks rim, then SR-143 through Brian Head and down past Panguitch Lake to Panguitch, and back on US-89 and SR-14. Sydney Valley east of Cedar Breaks is where the Cedar City tourism bureau photographs its reddest groves, and the long descent toward Panguitch Lake runs through aspen for miles.
Brian Head guideTypically Sep 25 to Oct 6
The paved road around Navajo Lake threads dense aspen groves between the lake and the lava, and the Deer Hollow meadows across the highway carry the same color with a dog-friendly trail through it. This is the drive to do on a quiet weekday morning when the light is on the west shore.
Navajo LakeTypically Sep 26 to Oct 7
Forest Road 058 leaves Highway 14 four and a half miles east of the visitor center and runs through aspen the whole way to the overlook. The reward is the rim: hoodoos dropping away below you and Zion on the horizon. Sunset from here in early October, with the aspens gold behind you, is the best hour of the season. Any passenger car can do it when dry.
Strawberry Point guideTypically Sep 30 to Oct 12, descending the road over three weeks
The back way into Zion climbs from desert through maple and oak canyons into aspen near Kolob Reservoir. Color runs down the road a band at a time, so the top can be past peak while the middle canyons are still red. A good pairing with a Zion day once the mountain has gone bare.
Zion guideTypically Oct 22 to Nov 8
The last act. Fremont cottonwoods along the Virgin River turn yellow in the last week of October, and bigtooth maple lights up the side canyons. By then the shuttle is quieter, the light is low, and the mountain behind you has usually seen its first snow. Stagger the trip: mountain first, Zion last.
Zion guideShort ones. Fall on the mountain rewards standing still more than covering miles.
Go before 9 am for still water and the reflection that gives the lake its name. The whole shoreline is aspen.
Our own peak-week photos on this page were taken here. Sedge meadow, open water, and a wall of gold on the far shore.
A rim-edge trail with aspens above and the Pink Cliffs dropping into the headwaters of the Virgin River below.
The earliest color on the mountain, around a spring-fed pond below the rim. Go in the last ten days of September.
The summer and fall version of the winter ski area: open meadow edged with aspen and spruce, and elk at dusk.
The shortest walk with the biggest view. No railings; keep children close and go for the last hour of light.
Taken by us, within a mile of the inn, with the date and altitude read from the photo file. They are the anchors for the Duck Creek window on the tracker.
The record
Every dated observation we could source, plotted against the first hard freeze at 9,830 feet. The pattern is the whole reason the tracker works: the high country is past peak within about a week of that diamond, and it has never held color through it.
Hover or tap a dot for the observation and its source.
Early years: 2020 (hard freeze September 8, Navajo Lake gold by September 27) and 2019 (record cold October 10 to 12 stripped the mountain by mid-October). Late years: 2022 (no hard freeze until October 19, then a foot of snow on October 23) and 2015. Typical: 2023, when Cedar Breaks and the village peaked the same weekend, October 1, with a dusting of snow at Brian Head the next morning.
The trigger is day length. As September days shorten, aspens stop making chlorophyll, the green fades, and the yellow carotenoids that were there all summer show through. Cool nights and bright days push sugars into the leaf and make anthocyanin, which is where the reds and oranges on the Cedar Breaks side come from. That is why the clearest, coldest Septembers give the best color, and why a wet growing season followed by a dry, sunny fall is the recipe every forester quotes.
The patchwork is genetics. A grove of quaking aspen is usually one organism: a single root system sending up hundreds of identical trunks. Each clone turns on its own schedule, so the mountainside changes in blocks of slightly different gold, and one clone above the lava flows goes red while its neighbors stay yellow. Elevation sets the order, roughly a thousand feet a week from the rim down to Cedar City. Then the first hard freeze ends it.
Drought muddies the picture. In a dry year the leaves can brown and drop before they color, which is what Utah State University extension foresters warned about in 2025. The tracker cannot see that; the weekly report can, which is why we link it.
Median date with the middle half of years. Sensors where we have them, ERA5 reanalysis where we do not; reanalysis reads a few days warm on still nights.
Frost most mornings from mid-September, T-shirt afternoons into October, and the first snow at the top around October 15.
| Month | Typical high | Typical low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| September | 69°F | 39°F | 1.9 in |
| October | 56°F | 29°F | 2.3 in |
| November | 45°F | 21°F | 1.9 in |
Highway 14 and SR-143 are open and plowed all year. SR-148 through Cedar Breaks closes for winter once snow makes it unsafe, usually late November (November 26 in 2024). Strawberry Point road is gravel and goes unplowed after the first big storm. Check live road conditions and the Highway 14 cams the morning you drive.
The median first snow on the ground is October 15 at 9,830 feet and November 16 at 7,800 feet. A dusting during peak week is common at the rim and rarely lasts the day. Our snow report tracks it live.
A real jacket for the 7 am reflection at Aspen Mirror Lake, a hat, and layers you can shed by noon. Sunglasses; the light at 9,000 feet in October is fierce. A polarizer if you shoot; it pulls the gold out of the sky. Water. Elk bugle at dusk in late September, so bring binoculars too.
Backlight the aspens: shoot toward the sun with the trunks between you and it, early or late. Overcast days saturate the color and are better for the groves; blue-sky days are better for the rim and the lava flows. Aspen Mirror Lake is still before 9 am and rarely after.
Fall is also the best fishing month on Navajo Lake and the elk rut on the meadows. See the fishing guide, our September elk post, and the month-by-month guide to Cedar Mountain.
September 26 to October 3, 2026
The village’s own week of peak color, timed to the window on the tracker. Walk out of the inn and you are in it.
DetailsSaturday and Sunday afternoons, early to late September
Live music and beer on the Giant Steps patio while the aspens below the resort turn. Confirm dates and hours on the resort site.
Official pageWeekly from mid-September
The tourism bureau posts a ground-truth report by elevation band every week of the season. It goes live September 15. We cross-check our tracker against it.
Official pageAll of October
Scarecrows on Main Street in Parowan, at the bottom of the SR-143 loop.
DetailsOctober 23 to 25, 2026
The sheep parade down Main Street. Late enough that the canyon maples are the color and the mountain is bare.
DetailsMore on the Southern Utah events calendar and the Cedar City events page.
What guests ask us every September.
In a typical year the aspens around Duck Creek Village, Aspen Mirror Lake, and Duck Creek Pond peak from Sep 28 to Oct 8. Our own photos from October 1, 2023 are at full peak. A cold September pulls that a week earlier; a warm one pushes it a week later.
The Cedar Breaks rim and SR-148 typically peak Sep 22 to Oct 3, about a week ahead of the village because the rim sits 2,000 feet higher and sees its first frost around September 14. The first weekend of October is usually the last good one.
The last week of September through the first week of October for Cedar Mountain, Cedar Breaks, Brian Head, and Highway 14. For Zion Canyon, plan the last week of October or the first week of November instead. If you want both in one trip, come around October 1 and finish with Zion.
It is one of the best in Utah. The 40 miles from Cedar City to Duck Creek Village climb from 5,800 to nearly 10,000 feet through maple, oak, and aspen, so there is peak color somewhere on the road every week from mid-September to mid-October. The road is paved, open all year, and plowed.
A light frost with cool, sunny days helps: it slows chlorophyll and sharpens the reds. A hard freeze, a night at 28 degrees or below, ends the season in the band it hits, usually within a week. Our year-by-year log shows the high country going past peak within days of the first hard freeze at 9,830 feet, every year on record.
Aspens grow as clones: a whole grove is one root system sending up genetically identical trunks. Each clone turns on its own schedule, so the mountain changes in patches of slightly different gold rather than all at once. The Forest Service and Utah State University both describe this, and you can see it on the Navajo Lake road.
Usually until late November. SR-148 through Cedar Breaks closes for the winter once snow makes it unsafe; UDOT closed it on November 26 in 2024 and it was still open on November 19 in 2025. SR-14 and SR-143 stay open all year. Check our live road conditions page before an October morning.
Busier than a normal shoulder season, nothing like summer at the parks. The last weekend of September and the first weekend of October fill up at the inn and the cabins, so book those early. Weekdays are quiet even at peak.
The median first snow on the ground is October 15 at 9,830 feet and November 16 at 7,800 feet, from the SNOTEL record. A dusting during peak week is common at the top, as on October 2, 2023, and it photographs beautifully.
Updated September 6, 2026
We watch the aspens turn from the inn every year and photograph them with the date on. The typical-year windows on the tracker are fitted to those photos plus every dated observation we could source from the Cedar City-Brian Head Tourism Bureau's weekly reports, St. George News, the National Park Service, and the Forest Service, and cross-checked against the first-frost record from the two SNOTEL stations that bracket the village. The dataset is open; the sources are linked from every observation in the log above.
The places on the tracker, each with its own page.
What works best in each season before you lock in dates.
See page
Choose your season for hiking, foliage, snow, or quiet mountain air
Plan this
Alpine amphitheater, sunset overlooks, and an International Dark Sky Park, 20 minutes from the inn
View guide Strawberry Point overlook: the gravel road from Highway 14, the five-minute walk to the rim, hoodoos and Zion views, sunset timing, and the cliff-edge and road-season cautions
See strawberry point
Small alpine lake hidden in aspens: wildlife and reflections
See lake The official 7-day forecast for Duck Creek Village at 8,600 ft, with live weather alerts.
See page Live SR-14 cameras, current mountain weather, and closure detours before you drive up.
See page
ATV trails, fishing, fall colors, caves, and mountain-town living at 8,400 feet
View guideA village day for trails, lake air, easy meals, and a slower Southern Utah pace
See itineraryA combined high-country day plan pairing Cedar Breaks viewpoints with Navajo Lake downtime.
See itineraryWhere to fish near Duck Creek Village — Navajo Lake, Duck Creek Pond, Aspen Mirror Lake, and Panguitch Lake with species, gear, and seasonal tips
See fishingRooms and cabins at Duck Creek Village Inn, 8,400 feet, with the aspens across the road. The last weekend of September and the first of October book out first.
