Fall doesn't start for another week, but Wyoming's trees are already bursting into vibrant colors. The window of opportunity to see it all is small — but spectacular.
Anyone who wants to see the Cowboy State at its most colorful will want to plan and prioritize. Wyoming's tapestry of deciduous trees reaches its peak at different times, and many regions are finished when others have just started.
"I've seen people already posting beautiful fall colors," said Shane Smith, horticulturist and founder/director emeritus of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. "You can go leaf-peeping for three or four weeks, depending on when and where you go."
Websites like Explore Fall have maps that track the timing of peak fall colors across the nation, but that doesn't come with a guarantee. Color cravers will want to make the most of every resource and moment while the trees are still kaleidoscopic.
"There's not one week where everything turns, and I'm glad it isn't that way," Smith said. "It's nice to enjoy the fall colors and weather at different altitudes and different locations."
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography)
Aim High At The Start
When most people think of fall colors in Wyoming, they're thinking of the glorious gold of aspens. They're usually the first trees to turn because of where they grow.
"Aspens are what most people are looking for," Smith said. "They favor wetter areas at higher altitudes. And the higher up you go, the cooler you get."
The mountains will reach their peak color first and transition quickly. According to Explore Fall, the aspens at the highest points in the Snowy, Wind River, and Bighorn Mountains will reach and lose their peak colors between Sept. 20-28.
Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks should be covered in gold, yellow, orange and red by Sept. 26. By Oct. 4, all of northwest Wyoming will be past its peak.
But aspens aren't the only trees in town. Smith encourages arbor enthusiasts to seek out the lower places in the high places for a good glimpse of color.
"The mountain valleys are usually the last colors to turn," he said. "The willows, dogwoods, cottonwoods, and shrubbery will make a patchwork quilt of yellows, reds, and oranges that'll be turning through the end of October or even November, depending on the season."
Western Wyoming will be devoid of fall colors by mid-October, while eastern Wyoming will be reaching its peak. For Smith and others, strategizing involves timing and chasing colors from the highest to the lowest elevations, based on which trees turn.
"There are a lot of determining factors, but it's primarily a function of temperature and altitude,” he said.
Whether The Weather Is Cold
Altitude is fixed, but the weather is ever-changing. Is Wyoming's weather going to cooperate for the best fall colors?
"In my experience, high wind events and big, heavy snow dumps take all the leaves off," said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day. "The best years for fall colors are when we can get through September without a big storm, a lot of wind, and a lot of snow."
Snow has already been seen in Togwotee Pass, and the Beartooth Highway is expected to get up to 6 inches of snow before the end of the week. Despite the snow, Day said the forecast for the latter half of September is looking fairly good.
"We don't see a big storm coming in over the next 10 days," he said. "I like the way the weather's looking this weekend, with temperatures trending warmer than average, and everything's looking quite nice going into next week."
Beyond that, the weather's impact on fall foliage varies depending on elevation and topography. Like Smith, Day encouraged people to check their pockets.
"I was in the Snowy Range this weekend, and there were some little pockets where the color was already awesome, and some pockets where the trees weren't even changing yet," he said. "You expect that with different elevations and the different ways that trees are either shaded or not shaded."
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
An explosion of color has begun to cover Wyoming's landscapes, and the transition happens fast. Wyomingites who want to see the best and boldest golds, reds and oranges will want to plan and prioritize to ensure they see everything at its peak. (Courtesy David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography)
Get The Green
Pinedale photographer Dave Bell hasn't had a colorful September so far. He's been preoccupied with the ongoing Dollar Lake Fire, which has burned over 19,000 acres in Bridger-Teton National Forest and, as of Tuesday, is around 63% contained.
The aspens along the Upper Green River have already started turning. Bell described it as "a kaleidoscope of color."
"There are a lot of orange and reddish trees this year," he said. "No rhyme or reason to it, but there are some beautiful colors up there right now."
While everyone's after the fall colors, Bell encourages photographers to get out before they reach their peak. Yellows, reds, and oranges epitomize fall color, but he believes green brings a lot to the palette.
"What's nice about the early season is you have the full spectrum of colors," he said. "You get everything from the greens all the way up to brilliant reds, but it progresses rapidly once it starts."
Bell estimated that roughly 50% of the trees in the Upper Green River area had already started turning and expected them to be near their peak by this weekend. If anyone wants to capture the kaleidoscope, the time is now.
"I suppose we've got another 10 days with color," he said. "If somebody waited till next week, they should still have luck, weather dependent, but it's going to get spotty after that."
Don't Wait For Perfection
Going off of Explore Fall's map, Wyoming will be completely colorless by the end of October. Most of eastern and central Wyoming, along with the Bighorn Basin, will reach peak color by mid-October, long after western Wyoming has reached and passed its peak.
That aligns with how Wyoming's experts believe this year's fall colors will present themselves. It depends on when, where, and what trees people want to see.
"Latitude plays a role, and there's quite a gradient in Wyoming," Day said. "You'll see the peak colors occur up in Yellowstone and the northern part of Wyoming just a little bit earlier than the lower latitude areas in southern Wyoming,"
Anyone who wants to see peak color in aspens should plan to head into the mountains within the next two weeks, as they'll be past their prime before the end of September.
The cottonwoods, willows, and deciduous trees in the lower elevations will contribute to a colorful October, so long as wind and snow don't rob them of their leaves.
"There are a lot of sites that post predicted maps about when and where to find peak colors, but it's dependent on a lot of things," Smith said. "Willows should start getting a nice yellow color after the aspens, the cottonwoods provide an awful lot of enjoyable color and usually don't start turning until after the aspens are done, and there are lots of small shrubs that get nice color near wetter spots."
If you snooze, you lose. The most colorful time of year doesn't last long in Wyoming, so it's best to get out and about before it's too late.
"We're at the beginning of the best time to see fall color," Day said. "The next two to three weeks will be the prime time for peak color, but the weather could change in a heartbeat. If you keep waiting for the perfect day for the peak color, you might miss it, and there are already pockets of color that are just fabulous."
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
