Color map
Where is the color best today?
Each dot sits on its real spot on the map. Bigger dots are higher elevations, and the color shows how far along the leaves are. Tap any dot for the details.
Live Smokies ridge map
Color keyShowHide
How to read this map
Summer green (0-25)
Canopy is summer green with only scattered early turners.
Patchy (26-61)
Color is arriving in patches: good, not yet the main event.
Near peak (62-83)
Most of the canopy has turned. Excellent conditions, still improving.
Peak (84-100)
Full color across the canopy. This is the window everyone plans around.
Past peak (after peak)
Leaves are dropping. Bare branches, muted browns, long views opening up.
Past peak is the one band that is not decided by the color index alone. A spot flips to past peak once it is more than 6 days beyond its predicted peak and the canopy has dropped back below 78, which is why a fairly high color index can still read past peak when the leaves are on the way down.
Peak probability is the chance a given day lands inside the true peak window. We center a bell curve on the predicted peak date and widen it as certainty drops: days further out, or spots without recent camera or observer confirmation, get a wider curve and therefore lower peak probability. A day right on the predicted peak with strong recent evidence reads near 100%; a day a week away, or a forecast three weeks out, drops off quickly.
Looking beyond the Smokies?
The county-level national map covers the whole US, week by week.