Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome)
The highest point in the Smokies and the first place color arrives. Spruce-fir forest means the show here is golden birch and scarlet mountain ash berries against dark evergreen, with 100-mile views on clear mornings.
When do the leaves peak at Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome)?
Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome) sits at 6,643 ft, and this year the model puts peak color around Sunday, October 4, with a likely window of Sep 30 to Oct 9. The long-run median peak here is Oct 4, so conditions are running on schedule. Today the canopy reads 56/100 (Peak), with a 20% chance you are inside the peak window. Drive time from Gatlinburg is about 60 minutes.
Color today · Oct 9
56/100
Color on about half the trees
Peak
Full color across the canopy. This is the window everyone plans around.
Predicted peak
Oct 4
Window Sep 30 to Oct 9
Historical median
Oct 4
-0.5 day weather shift
Peak probability today
20%
97% model confidence · Very confident
Expected vibrancy
73/100 · Vivid
12 cold nights, 0 frosts logged
This location vs. its own normal year
Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome) is running on schedule compared with its own ten-year day-by-day climate record from the ERA5-Land reanalysis, downscaled to this elevation.
- Timing shift
- -0.5d
- Daytime temperature
- +0.0°F
- Rainfall
- 24% of normal
- Cold nights logged
- 12
Peak pulled earlier
Close to normal
1.4 in observed · 5.9 in typical
Nights below 45°F · air dryness 0.53 kPa
How far to trust this
Strong evidenceForecast-grade through Oct 27. After that the curve is this location's historical average, not a prediction of this year's weather.
- Numerical weather forecast through Oct 24
- Cloud-free satellite canopy scene 2 days old
- Scored camera frame today
- Current official drought classification
- Timing corrected against 15 scored past seasons
Leaf-drop risk
Next 14 daysElevated risk around Oct 10, with color on the ground rather than on the trees.
- Heavy rain (3.3 in) knocks tired leaves loose
Next three weeks here
Tap any day to see what to expect. Use the buttons to jump ahead a week at a time.
Friday, October 9
Color 56/100 · Peak · 20% chance of peak
Peak dates, recent years
How this year's prediction compares with observed peaks here.
- 2019Oct 6
- 2020Oct 2
- 2021Oct 8
- 2022Oct 3
- 2023Oct 9
- 2024Oct 5
- 2025Oct 2
- 2026Oct 4
What turns here
- Mountain ash
- Yellow birch
- American beech
- Fraser fir (evergreen)
Weather notes
- Temperatures are close to seasonal normal.
- 12 nights below 45°F so far. Cool nights trap sugars in the leaf and deepen reds.
- The US Drought Monitor has this county at D1. Drought-stressed trees turn early and drop fast, with more brown in the canopy.
- Sunnier than usual, which builds the red pigments that make a vivid season.
- Satellite canopy is holding green longer than expected: peak pushed 2.2 days later.
- Past seasons scored here ran 0.1 days earlier than the model expected, so that correction is applied.
Plan around it
PeakScenic drive
Clingmans Dome Road
7 miles of ridge-top driving off Newfound Gap with pull-offs looking down on color below.
Hike
Observation tower spur
Half-mile paved climb, steep, delivers a 360° view over every elevation band at once.
Hike
Andrews Bald
3.6 miles round trip to a grassy bald ringed with early-turning hardwoods.
Photography
Sunrise from the tower ramp
Fog fills the valleys below while the ridge line lights up. Arrive 45 minutes before sunrise.
Overlook
Forney Ridge parking pull-offs
Fewer people than the tower, same descending-color perspective.