Catskills & Adirondacks Fall Foliage Reports 2023

Another bleak weekend ahead, though! Saturday will be rainy. Sunday will be cold and windy.

If you want to catch this year’s golden goodness, I’d get here here soon.

Catskills & Adirondacks Fall Foliage Report 2023
Week 5: Oct 11-Oct 17

Patchy as all-get-out this year, IMO. The Adirondacks are well ahead of the Catskills, and Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have yet to kick off down low.

UPDATE: TUE., OCT. 17

After another rainy weekend, I made it out to the Western Catskills. Are we past peak already? I can’t honestly say so because, this year, we never really got to peak! This was mostly because of several consecutive rainy and stormy weeks which defoliated half the trees quite early in the season.

The remaining trees are in full foliage mode, but the overall effect right now is very muted.

But don’t lose heart. As with last year, there are still epic locations if you know where to look…

Your Best Bets Now…

It’s true that may Catskill locations currently look like this…

…and this…

…and this…

But at lower elevations—where most people hike, anyway!—there are still lots of places that look like this…

So while we don’t have rolling hills of yellow, red and gold this year, it’s still extremely lovely to walk in the Catskills forests.

Two more points…

• Your best shot for excellent foliage is now in the eastern cloves because that’s where the leaves are best protected from storms and cold—so look at Kaaterskill Clove and Waterfall, and Platte Clove;
• On my drive west along Route 28 yesterday, I noticed that Tremper Mountain was still almost entirely green—so the Central Catskills are worth a look, too.

UPDATE: WED., OCT. 11

I’m traveling right now, in New Hampshire today, on Mount Chocorua. Tomorrow, I’m heading back to New York via Vermont.

This is the state of play in New Hampshire at elevation, where the deciduous trees are now clearly differentiated from the evergreens…

On the other hand, down low, everything is still pretty green…

Catskills & Adirondacks Fall Foliage Report 2023
Week 4: Oct 4-Oct 10

It smells like fall. It looks like fall. Fall has come to the Catskills.

The foliage has really started to pop over the last few days. I think that this weekend (the 7th) and next weekend (the 14th) could possibly be it for the 2023 Catskills Fall Foliage season.

Stormy weather hits both the Adirondacks and the Catskills this weekend, and this may defoliate trees. You should get here immediately. (Fall foliage is definitely happening in the Adirondacks.)

Hudson Highlands? This coming week is looking good for fall colors down there.

UPDATE: WED., OCT. 4

Last evening, I hiked the big loop around Hunter mountain, from Spruceton, up past Diamond Notch Falls, over the summit, and back down the other side. Here’s what it looks like on the ground right now—gorgeous!

Lower down, things are still pretty green. But the Devil’s Path mountains are definitely turning red.

I hope to get to the Adirondacks over the next few days and will update this page a.s.a.p.

Catskills & Adirondacks Fall Foliage Report 2023
Week 3: Sept 27-Oct 3

In the Catskills, it’s beginning to start. So far, the very earliest colors seem a little muted. 

UPDATE: WED., SEP. 27

I hiked up to North Point for its classic Catskills view of North/South Lake Campground. As you can see, it’s just a very light sprinkling of ochres and mustard yellows in a swath of rich green…

Things are a little further along in the Adirondacks. I’ll get back up there this coming week. And I’ll continue to update this week’s fall foliage report with more photos as I hike.

Catskills & Adirondacks Fall Foliage Report 2023
Week 2: Sept 20-26

Many websites seem to be rushing to tell leaf-peepers, “It’s happening!” but I’m not seeing it on the ground, locally.

I am getting some reports of low down leaves turning and falling, which signals the beginning of the autumn change — but this is still just the very beginning. We are not at peak, or even near mid-peak.

The rain crushed the weekend and I was not able to get out. However, I was confident that my prediction would hold and that fall foliage has some time to arrive. That proved to be correct. See Week 3 above.

Catskills & Adirondacks Fall Foliage Report 2023
Week 1: Sept 13-19

We’re just beginning. There’s no current need to rush to catch New York’s fall foliage turning. We have several weeks of color development to work through before we get anywhere near peak.

This weekend, The Catskills are predicted to be at 5-15% change but, from what I’m seeing on the ground, I have my doubts. I’ll be out this weekend to shoot the 2023 season’s first fall foliage photos.

UPDATE: SAT., SEP. 17

Here are some photos from Indian Head in the Adirondacks from Saturday…

As you can see, fall foliage is barely beginning upstate, with only the slightest tinge of yellow beginning to come into the leaves.

There are some freshly fallen leaves on the ground, so the season is beginning. But we are still some time from Fall Foliage For Real™.

Predictions for the 2023 Catskills & Adirondacks Fall Foliage Season

This year, once again, we may be starting earlier than usual. I’ve read online that this year’s fall colors may arrive prematurely due to the stunning amount of rain we had this year. This spring and summer, our tree roots did not get as much oxygen and nutrients as they typically do.

“Waterlogged soil keeps roots from respirating and absorbing nutrients efficiently, which leads to stress and can cause the leaves to start turning early. We do expect a lot of early color this year, especially in the red maple wetlands, where some swamp maples are already starting to turn. This should make for a long foliage season overall,” says Jim Salge at newengland.com.

By the beginning of September, hikers have been reporting that they are noticing the first orange and red leaves on Catskills High Peaks. However, so far, it’s minimal and highly localized. I hiked across Giant Ledge and Panther Mountain on September 3 and saw only a handful of turned colors.

We’re still at 99.99% lush green.

Apart from a few fallen maple leaves, the only thing I noticed were the first dying hobblebush leaves of the season — a reliable understory sign of the end of summer — though bear in mind that this always happens well in advance of the fall foliage change.

Once the fall foliage begins to turn, ILOVENY.COM maintain an up-to-date interactive map you can watch at…

• iloveny.com/things-to-do/fall/foliage-report/

Reports are obtained from volunteer field observers and reflect expected color conditions for the coming weekend. Reports are issued every Wednesday afternoon.