The calendar marking Tuesday as the first day of autumn starts the annual fall foliage season, though most leaves in the region have not yet turned.
Peak bursts of foliage colors are still at least a few weeks away, said Julian Maza, forester with the Pinchot State Forest, which comprises 54,000 acres of noncontiguous forests in the Northeast Pennsylvania counties of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming.
But as leaves in death throes lose their green, Pennsylvania, and particularly NEPA and the Poconos, are ideally suited to display nature’s stunning palette of varying shades of reds, oranges, yellows and browns.
Only three regions of the world support deciduous forests that display fall autumn colors: the British Isles and parts of northwest Europe; northeast China and northern Japan in Asia; and eastern North America, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Forests elsewhere on the globe are tropical or dominated by conifers.
In North America, Pennsylvania sits in the heart of fall foliage country on the continent.
“Pennsylvania’s location between 40 degrees and 42 degrees north latitude and its varied topography, from sea level on the coastal plain to over 3,000 feet in the Laurel Highlands, supports 134 species of trees and many more shrubs and vines that contribute to the display of autumn color,” the DCNR website says.
And the diversity results in species turning color at different times and in different shading of hues, Maza said.
“Pennsylvania is very unique and very blessed to have such a variety of opportunities for fall foliage colors, between the diversity of species and the timing” of leaves turning, Maza said Monday in an interview.
In most years, northern Pennsylvania counties generally reach peak colors from Oct. 1 to 10, while central counties peak Oct. 10 to 20 and south central and southeast counties follow Oct. 20 to 31, according to the DCNR.
In NEPA, peak fall foliage starts in Susquehanna and northern Wayne counties, which have more of a hardwood forest of maple, birch, aspen and black cherry trees, among others, as compared to more oak and hickory species in counties to the south, Maza said.
“Those (hardwood) leaves will be dropped as the oaks start to turn color,” he said.
Swamps and other moist areas also seem to have leaves that turn colors earlier, producing red in maples and black gums, yellow in birches and aspens, and orange in sugar maples, to name a few. Shrubs and vines also add to the landscape’s changing palette, including Virginia creeper vines that turn brilliant shades of ruby red, burgundy or purple.
An abundance of state parks, forests and trails in NEPA also make it a popular place to enjoy the outdoors during fall foliage season, when nights get cooler and humidity, ticks and other insects become less prevalent.
“The sights and smells that come with fall, it’s a fun time to be out in the woods,” Maza said.
As fall continues with daylight getting shorter and colder temperatures setting in, leaves increasingly shut down and stop their solar energy production of chlorophyll, the green pigment that absorbs sunlight in photosynthesis.
“That’s when we see the other colors come out,” Maza said of leaves turning from green. “It’s a little bit of death but it gives us some nice colors.”
According to DCNR, tree species have characteristic colors. Oaks turn red, brown or russet; hickories show golden bronze; aspen and yellow-poplar, golden yellow; dogwood, purplish red; beech, light tan; and sourwood and black tupelo, crimson. Maples differ by species — red maple turns brilliant scarlet, sugar maple glows orange-red and black maple a rich yellow. But the little striped maple becomes almost colorless. Leaves of some species such as the elms simply shrivel, turn brown and fall.
The DCNR will maintain a weekly fall foliage report online at pa.gov/agencies/dcnr, but the weekly report has not yet started for 2026.
As the leaf turns
A post on the National Weather Service website describes the fall foliage process:
Color changes in leaves come from chemical processes occurring in trees as the season changes. Cold weather is not solely responsible, as leaves begin to turn before any frosts. During spring and summer, a food-making process takes place in the leaves, within cells containing the pigment chlorophyll. This gives the leaf its green color. The chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight, and uses it in transforming carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch. In the fall, the decrease in intensity and duration of sunlight, and the cooler temperatures, cause the leaves to stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellowish colors or other pigments already in the leaf become visible. Autumn weather conditions favoring the most brilliant colors are warm sunny days and cool, but not freezing, nights. A few hard frosts can cause the leaves to wither and fall from the tree without changing color. The degree of color may also vary from tree to tree. Leaves directly exposed to the sun may turn red, while those on the shady side may be yellow. When warm, cloudy and rainy weather dominates the fall season, leaves tend to have less coloration.
Birch leaves in Dingman Twp., Pike County turned yellow by Sept. 21, 2026 as fall foliage season gets underway. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO).
Jim’s Farm Produce co-owner Jason Schirg puts out tomatoes for sale at the Scranton Co-Op Farmers Market in Scranton Monday, September 21, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Oak leaves in Dingman Twp., Pike County are turning brown on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026 as fall foliage season gets underway. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO).
Oak leaves in Dingman Twp., Pike County are turning brown on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026 as fall foliage season gets underway. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO).
Sandy and Jerry Michaels, of Ledge Hill Farms, work at their stand during the Scranton Co-Op Farmers Market in Scranton Monday, September 21, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Honeycrisp apples are for sale at Heller Orchards during the Scranton Co-Op Farmers Market in Scranton on Monday, September 21, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Debbie Fritz, of Brace’s Orchard waits on a customer at the Scranton Co-Op Farmers Market in Scranton Monday, September 21, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
People walk through the Scranton Co-Op Farmers Market in Scranton Monday, September 21, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Birch leaves in Dingman Twp., Pike County turned yellow by Sept. 21, 2026 as fall foliage season gets underway. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO).