New Jersey Fall Foliage Reports, maps and resources to help plan fall foliage hikes and scenic drives.
Ready to enjoy fall in New Jersey? Check out the New Jersey and the Northeast Foliage Resources below.
For our fall hike recommendations see Best Fall Foliage Hikes in New Jersey and check out the Top 10 Hikes in New Jersey.
Need even more hike ideas? Try our interactive Hike Finder map – now with a 🍁foliage map overlay🍁 during the season in order to choose hikes with the best chance of fall color, updated weekly in season.
Also check out the books Best Day Hikes in New Jersey and Hiking New Jersey (2023) for a nice selection of day hikes.
Peak Foliage in NJ for 2025
*Average New Jersey peak fall color is October 19 through 29*
While there are average times for color change, it really depends on several variables like temperature and rainfall.
Trees at higher elevations turn color before ones at lower elevations. Leaves change first along water so head to areas with lakes, ponds, or rivers.
Leaves usually change color starting from Maine and higher elevations of New England and then work their way south.
New Jersey fall foliage generally starts in the northwest corner at High Point and in the Highlands region in north central, progresses to the central part of the state, and finally to the south and the coastal regions.
This means that leaves could be past peak in North Jersey but still barely changed in South Jersey.
Use the info here to get in as much color as you can, it doesn’t last long!
** Follow @njhiking on socials for more photos weekly. Foliage Resources are below the report section **
** 2025 Foliage Reports **
🍁Be sure to check out the foliage overlay now on our interactive Hike & Foliage Finder Map!!🍁 Choose hikes with the best chance of fall color. Zoom out for popular east coast foliage road trip locations. Finder map updated 10/6/25.
October 10, 2025…
Today… enjoyed excellent weather and beautiful near peak color in northern Passaic County in the Monksville Reservoir and Long Pond Ironworks area, a few photos follow below. Driving through Morris to Passaic County also very nice. And added more suggestions to the hike picks from yesterday.
Photos from Monksville Reservoir boat launch and Monks Loop (hike guide to come). Still some green in there but lovely color reflecting in the very calm water today. The trail was popping with yellows.
Long Pond Ironworks – Big variety of color between the trees and the brush. Hiked along the water and around the historic buildings, didn’t do the full route.
| Potentials for fall color right now, in and around New Jersey (we make no guarantees!) |
|---|
| NEW JERSEY & NEARBY |
| High Point S.P.: Monument Loop / via Steenykill / Appalachian + Monument Trail / Iris Loop |
| Stokes S.F. (Stony Brook Falls / Stony Lake Loop / Sunrise Mountain / Culver Fire Tower) |
| Wawayanda: Lake Loop / Furnace Loop / Cedar Swamp and Lake Lookout |
| Paulinskill Valley: Upper and Lower and Great Valley Loop |
| Bearfort Ridge / Surprise Lake |
| Monksville / Long Pond S.P. area: Horse Pond Mountain to Lake Sonoma Loop / Monksville Reservoir Kayak (also Monks Loop – not on site yet) |
| Ringwood S.P. / Long Pond Ironworks |
| Norvin Green North: Lake Sonoma, Overlook Rock, Manaticut Point |
| Norvin Green South: Wyanokie High Point / Torne Mtn – Osio Rock |
| Ramapo Mountains: Grand Castle Loop / Van Slyke Castle / Ramapo Valley County Res. |
| Apshawa Preserve / Splitrock Reservoir |
| Hacklebarney / Schooleys Mtn / Black River / Columbia Trail |
| FURTHER OUT |
| NY – Gunks region is near Peak: Labyrinth and the Lemon Squeeze, Bonticou Crag, Gertrude’s Nose, Sam’s Point. Higher elevations of Adirondacks and Catskills are slightly past peak, lower is PEAK. The rest of NY at least MODERATE color except for the lower Hudson Valley (area closest to New Jersey border: Harriman/Bear Mtns, Sterling Forest, Anthony’s Nose). |
| PA – Central Poconos is NEAR peak, south is MODERATE. Northern is past peak but some color still on trees. Promised Land State Park / Tobyhanna State Park / Prompton S.P./ Hawk’s Nest |
| Even further out…north |
| Overall, northern New England was ahead of normal and region that normally hit peak this weekend are kinda moving past. South still changing. |
| ME – PEAK conditions midstate while south is approaching peak (Acadia, Bar Harbor). Northern most is moving past peak but still has color/leaves on the trees. |
| VT – Most areas at PEAK or a bit past: Southern more chance of leaves on. |
| NH – PEAK but moving past: Northern; White Mountains. South better. |
| Even further out…south |
| VA – MODERATE: higher elevations; with LOW elsewhere. |
October 9, 2025…
For the upcoming weekend… MODERATE color is across northwest and north central New Jersey, at least above Rt. 80, and quickly moving south. You can find at least LOW color generally elsewhere, somewhat less so along the most southern part of the state and either coast.
There is a freeze coming across part of NJ Thursday night. While we need chilly nights to encourage those colors appear, a frost is not ideal. Jersey also has a storm forecasted for Sunday and while the rain is welcome, that and the wind may knock some leaves down before they change.
It’s looks like it will be nice hiking weather this Friday and Saturday – dry and highs in the low 60s – don’t delay in getting out there for some color!!
October 4-6, 2025…
10/6/25 – Moderate color is in the northern part of New Jersey – aim for roughly north of Rt. 80. The rest of NJ is at low color with pockets of moderate starting to appear.
Of note, foliage color is much nicer once into the forest where the trees are healthier and have held onto more water. Along roads a decent amount of drought stress which is showing as brown or dropped leaves (so the canopy is thin already) – don’t use that to base how the foliage is going.
Another lovely weekend – incredible!! With warmer than normal temps we decided to bike and kayak:
10/5/25 – On Sunday we kayaked Splitrock Reservoir. Overall low color but lots at moderate ringing the lake.
Big variety – yellow, reds, oranges, almost purple – and more change the closer to the water’s edge.
There was hardly any wind so the lake was like glass and reflected the foliage nicely.
The trails appeared to be low but close to moderate color.
We also have two hike guides here: a 6.2 mile roundtrip section of the Four Birds Trail and the challenging Splitrock Resevoir Loop (awesome, but experienced hikers only!).
On the way back we tried Diamond Springs Brewery. Nice, large, outdoor seating area in downtown Denville, enjoyed a flight and took home their “Bavarian Pretz-ale”.
10/4/25 – Saturday we biked the Great Valley Trail Loop in Sussex County, which utilizes 3 rail-trails.
Of note, a portion of the Paulinskill Trail from Warbasse Junction was just resurfaced – wow what a super nice ride now.
Low to moderate color found through out the route, and mixed in there are trees that have already dropped leaves.
After, we swung by Windy Brow Farms to shovel croissants and iced coffee into our faces, and scoop up a jug of cider and some apple butter.
October 3, 2025…
Low color throughout most of New Jersey, so no particular hike picks just quite yet.
Lots of peak color to be found if you can road trip north from NJ this weekend through next.
And with an excellent forecast – sunny skies with temps in the mid 70s to low 80s – being outside anywhere this weekend will be perfect!
| NEW JERSEY & NEARBY |
| LOW color for most of New Jersey, except perhaps northern Monmouth County (Hartshorne / Huber Woods; Atlantic Highlands / Red Bank area) |
| FURTHER OUT |
| NY – PEAK: much of the Adirondacks and Catskills |
| PA – PEAK: Northern Poconos; drought stressed dropping quick after hitting color |
| Even further out…NORTH |
| Overall, peaking early across northern New England; with color not lasting long. |
| ME – PEAK: Northern. |
| VT – Most is near or at peak; drought stressed areas past. |
| NH – PEAK: Great North Woods; NEAR: White Mountains. |
| Even further out…NORTH |
| MD – LOW: west, central |
| VA – LOW: central, northern |
Prior 2025 reports are moved weekly to the New Jersey Foliage Report Archive. This also contains an of njHiking.com reports from 2010 to date. See how the color usually progresses through various hiking areas in New Jersey.
About the NJ Hiking Fall Foliage Report
Since 2010, njHiking.com has been providing New Jersey with suggested foliage locations and hikes, updated weekly in season.
The report is created by reviewing multiple state and regional reports, incorporating map data from The Foliage Report and Explore Fall, combined with our own observations on hikes and drives each week. The result lets Jersey and metro area residents quickly find the best color locally as well as plan east coast road trips.
Resources for tracking fall color in and near New Jersey
Sites that contain forecasts or foliage maps for NJ and the surrounding region such as the Adirondacks or the Catskills in New York or the Poconos in Pennsylvania.
| New Jersey Div. of Parks and Forestry | Facebook updates for NJ during the season |
| New York State Fall Foliage | Foliage report and map |
| PA – Pocono Mountains | Foliage maps and reports for the Poconos, plus webcams. |
| PA – DCNR Fall Foliage Reports | Weekly Fall Foliage Map and Reports. |
Resources for tracking fall color in the Northeast
These can be used to help plan trips to the New England region that change well before New Jersey, such as Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
Savvy planners can hit foliage in several spots as it works it’s way down.
| The Foliage Report | Weekly foliage map and report for The United States. Detailed and accurate for current conditions. |
| ExploreFall | Foliage maps for the United States, including historical map data. |
| MaineFoliage.com | Weekly report and map for Maine. |
| Vermont.com | Current conditions map for Vermont. |
| VisitNH.gov | Foliage reports for New Hampshire. |
| ctvisit.com | Connecticut’s Foliage Finder; based on historical data. |
| Fall Foliage Prediction Map | Interactive U.S. map, slide date for color prediction, from SmokyMountains.com. **Note** This popular map is often used in news articles but is a forecast based on prior year data and is not the current status. It also tends to predict the color moving along much earlier than reality for New Jersey. |
| The Weather Channel | Regional color report maps. |
| New England Today | Northeast usual color map. |
General info about fall foliage in New Jersey
The best fall foliage displays start with healthy green trees. Then September needs warm sunny days and cold but not freezing nights.
If it remains too warm it can delay the change and dull the colors. A cloudy fall also can mute the colors.
Rainfall is also a big factor. Too much before the season is bad for color, while drought conditions can bring on an early change and leaf drop.
Overall it can be very hard to predict the quality of fall foliage every year because it’s a delicate balance between many variables.