Fall Color Report

See where fall color is showing in the tree and plant collections at The Morton Arboretum and visit throughout the season to see the colors change.

Fall color as of Wednesday, October 28, 2026

This week is the peak of fall color at The Morton Arboretum! A wide variety of trees and plants throughout the Arboretum’s gardens, collections, landscapes, and woodlands are showing their brightest and best fall colors. Sugar maples are especially colorful, with deep reds and reddish-oranges in the Maple Collection (parking lot P-14) and around Sterling Pond (parking lot P-28).

For a beautiful hike, take the Main Trail Loop 4 to see a range of golden yellows on butternut hickory, lindens, and American elms. The lone sugar maple near parking lot P-14 is bright orange with dashes of red. Red and orange sugar maples near parking lot P-15 also are also worth a look.

If you prefer to peer at the leaves from your car, a gorgeous display of sugar maples, oaks, hickories, and elms can be seen along the paved Alternate Route on the Arboretum’s East Side. The Alternate Route branches from the Main Route between parking lots P-8 and P-9 and winds through a particularly colorful part of the Arboretum’s East Woods.

Other areas with notable fall color include the Temperate Asia Collection (parking lot P-17), Midwest Collection (parking lots P-2 and P-5), Eastern North America Collection (parking lot P-16), Sterling Pond (parking lots P-24 and P-28), Lake Marmo (parking lots P-27 and P-28), and the Walnut and Birch collections (parking lot P-31). Sumacs near parking lot P-18 are showing rich reds.

In the Arboretum’s central area, seasonal displays in The Gerard T. Donnelly Grand Garden, Arbor Court, and the Visitor Center are accessible via paved paths from parking lot P-1. Notable trees to see in this area include a red three-flower maple in The Gerard T. Donnelly Grand Garden, brilliantly red maples by the Children’s Garden entrance, red and orange maples near the Visitor Center parking lot P-1, and a magnificent sugar maple that overlooks the Maze Garden with blazing orange leaves.

Fall color is at its most varied and vibrant this week. Plan a visit to The Morton Arboretum in the coming days to enjoy the brilliant colors of autumn while they last!

Fall Color Highlights

Fall color as of Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Fall color is developing fast in the gardens, woodlands, plant collections, and landscapes of The Morton Arboretum.

Look for bright reds and oranges on sugar maples and Freeman’s maples, as well as rich reds on sumacs, dogwoods, and tupelo trees. Yellows are showing on silver maples and Miyabe’s maples, hackberries, shagbark and bitternut hickories, corktrees, redbuds, American elms, and lindens.

An especially vibrant and varied display of fall color can be seen in the woodlands of the East Woods via Main Trail Loops 3 and 4, which take you through the Maple Collection. The trails, with a surface of wood chips, stretch from parking lots P-8 through P-14.

There is also plenty of fall color to see from the accessible paved paths near the Arboretum’s central area and around Meadow Lake near parking lot P-1. Take the paths around the Visitor Center, Arbor Court, and through The Gerard T. Donnelly Grand Garden to see festive seasonal displays of pumpkins, mums, and fall’s final blooms.

Venture to the Arboretum’s West Side, where there are some notably colorful trees and plants that are worth the hike (or drive). Look for a purple Freeman’s maple along the DuPage River in the Willow Collection (parking lot P-33), deep red sugar maples near the DuPage River bridge as you exit the Walnut Collection (parking lots P-31 and P-32), red sumacs at the Schulenberg Prairie Visitor Station (parking lot P-25), and sugar maples near Lake Marmo and Sterling Pond (parking lots P-27 and P-28).

The leaf peeping season is underway at The Morton Arboretum, and colors are changing with each passing day. This coming week is a great time to get outdoors, enjoy sunny days, and visit for gorgeous fall colors!

Fall Color Highlights

Fall color as of Tuesday, October 13, 2026

The trees and other plants are increasingly colorful this week at The Morton Arboretum, with leaves changing throughout the living collections, gardens, and woodlands. Look for more color developing on Freeman’s maples, hackberries, walnuts, hickories, corktrees, redbuds, and Kentucky coffeetrees. Dramatic reds can be seen on sumacs, dogwoods, poison ivy, and Virginia creeper.

The beauty of autumn is everywhere at the Arboretum, but the Maple Collection has an especially fine variety of fall color. The trail through the collection, with a surface of wood chips, runs between parking lots P-7 and P-14 on the East Side, with connections to other trails. You also can enjoy the changing colors from paved accessible trails around Meadow Lake at parking lot P-1 and in the Temperate Asia Collection at parking lot P-16, as well as all along the Arboretum’s roads.

In the woodlands of the East Woods and the West Side, native sugar maples are showing deep oranges and reds on the tops of their canopies. As leaves fall from the trees’ branches, the light appears brighter as you drive or walk the trails in the East Woods. Breezes can bring down a colorful sprinkle of autumn colors.

Some particularly notable trees are on the West Side. A sugar maple near Illinois Route 53 is bright reddish-orange. The Schulenberg Prairie (parking lot P-25) is golden. Sugar maples near the DuPage River Bridge as you exit the Walnut Collection (parking lot P-31) are red and orange. A Freeman’s maple along the DuPage River in the Willow Collection (parking lot P-32) is dark purple.

There also are color highlights on the East Side. Sumacs across from parking lot P-18 show a variety of reds. Watch the Miyabe’s maples between parking lots P-17 and P-18; they will be turning a bright yellow over the next week or so. Near the Visitor Center, the display gardens are bright with flowers and jolly with pumpkins.

The weather forecast is for cool nights and bright, warm, sunny days with showers in the middle of the coming week. That should encourage the trees and other plants to develop more color.

Every day in autumn brings new colors, sounds, and smells to the gardens, living plant collections, woodlands, and prairies of The Morton Arboretum. It’s time to get outside and experience the wonders of fall!

Fall Color Highlights

Fall color as of Tuesday, October 6, 2026

The colors of autumn are gradually increasing in the tree collections, gardens, and woodlands of The Morton Arboretum.

Asters are still blooming in our woodlands and prairie. Some trees, including Freeman’s maples, hackberries, redbuds, and Kentucky coffeetrees, are showing more fall color, and scattered golden leaves have appeared in linden and walnut trees. Look for red leaves on sumac shrubs and Virginia creeper vines that climb some trees. Acorns and walnuts are still dropping from trees across the Arboretum’s collections and landscapes.

The Maple Collection, located between parking lots P-7 and P-14, is a good place to take a walk to enjoy the early fall tree color. Sugar maples, which are native to Midwestern woodlands, are just starting to show hints of fall color on the tops of their leafy canopies where leaves are most exposed to sunlight. In the East Woods, the trails and roads may seem lighter, as every leaf that falls opens the canopy to let more sun through.

The forecast for the next few days is for cooler nights and bright, sunny days with cool to moderate temperatures. That kind of weather should stimulate the development of fall color. The best fall color develops when we have bright, warm, sunny days and cool nights.

In the coming days, look for changes in Miyabe’s maples, coffeetrees, tree lilacs, hackberries, sumacs, honey locusts, elms, ironwoods, and redbuds. We should also see more vivid fall colors start to appear in the tops of our woodland sugar maples.

Every day will bring new colors, sounds, and smells to experience at The Morton Arboretum, wherever you go in the gardens, tree collections, woodlands, and prairies. Take time to get outside and experience the wonders of fall!

Fall Color Highlights

Fall color as of Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Asters, goldenrods, and white snakeroot are blooming in the woodlands at The Morton Arboretum, while golden grasses set seed in the prairies. Most trees are still green, but fall color is surely coming.

The most color can be found on trees planted in sites where their living conditions are stressful, such as in parking lots and near pavement. There, leaves of Freeman’s maples are showing some red. Hackberries and Kentucky coffeetrees are turning yellow. Scattered leaves in lindens and walnut trees are starting to turn yellow as well.

Acorns and walnuts are dropping from trees across the Arboretum’s collections and landscapes. Squirrels, chipmunks, and blue jays are busy processing this year’s crop for winter storage.

The best fall color develops in trees when there are bright, warm, sunny days and cool nights. The forecast is for cooler days and nights in coming days, which may slow the development of more intense fall colors.

As you visit the Arboretum over the next week or so, look for hints of yellowing leaves in Miyabe’s maples, Kentucky coffeetrees, tree lilacs, hackberries, and redbuds. Reds are also beginning to show in sumac, Virginia creeper, and dogwoods.

As we head into autumn, each day will bring new colors, sounds, and smells to the Arboretum’s gardens, collections, woodlands, and landscapes. Visit often to enjoy the outdoors and experience the changing wonders of fall.

Fall Color Highlights

Fall color as of Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Autumn is just around the corner in The Morton Arboretum’s tree collections, gardens, and landscapes. Hints that summer has ended and fall is beginning can be seen in the blooming of asters, goldenrods, and white snakeroot in the woodlands. Prairie grasses are setting seed, amid blooming prairie asters and goldenrods.

The earliest trees to turn color, such as Freeman maples with hints of red, are in parking lots and other sites that are stressful for trees to grow in. Meanwhile, yellow leaves are starting to appear in the crowns of linden and walnut trees throughout the Arboretum.

Another sign of fall is the abundance of acorns and walnuts dropping from trees across the Arboretum’s collections and landscapes. Squirrels and chipmunks are busy processing this year’s crop for winter storage.

In the coming days, look for hints of yellowing leaves in Miyabe maples, coffee-trees, tree lilacs, hackberries, and redbuds. Meanwhile, enjoy the fall-blooming flowers in beds around the Visitor Center and the Thornhill Education Center.

The color of trees this autumn will depend on a combination of factors, such as dry weather in much of the summer, recent rains, and the temperatures and rainfall in the coming weeks. Cool nighttime temperatures, bright sunny warm days, and adequate moisture will allow the plants to develop brighter and longer-lasting colors.

Autumn is always a season of change, and the Arboretum’s collections, woodlands, and landscapes offer a constantly changing experience of color, sounds, and smells. Come outside often this fall and enjoy!