The next two months of fall in the northern hemisphere are some of the best times of year to travel for a number of reasons: Flights are cheaper because the busy summer travel season is behind us, crowds are lighter because school is back in session, and maybe the best reason of all – the landscapes explode with color as the leaves change.
Fall is ripe for short-haul travel, and the forests and mountains of North America make for some of the best leaf-peeping in the world. Just a few hours from home, you can fly to watch the leaves change across screensaver-worthy landscapes this year.
But if you have designs on a fall colors trip this year, you'd better get booking. Just two weeks ago, while I was hiking in northern Minnesota, I can confirm that a few trees were beginning to turn. And once it starts, it all goes pretty quickly until the southern U.S. sees the end of its leaf season in November.
The entire United States will be past peak colors by mid-November, with most destinations reaching that point by mid-to-late October, according to the Smoky Mountains Fall Foliage Prediction Map which has a prediction tracker for fall 2024. Note: All predictions in this article are from the Smoky Mountains tracker.
Read on for our favorite fall colors destinations, when you should travel for peak colors and a few suggestions of cheap flights you can take to get there.
Banff National Park & the Canadian Rockies Under $369 RT
Peak Fall Colors: Sept. 18 – Oct. 1.
If you want to go to the Canadian Rockies for some fall colors, you'd better act fast. It's almost already peak colors up north.
But Banff National Park and the surrounding area are well worth a visit in the fall. The summer crowds are gone, and while many of the trees up there are pines, the surrounding color and mountainous backdrop makes for some incredible sights.
Just about a month ago, we sent this flight deal which included nonstop flights to Calgary (YYC) from all of these airports with availability during peak season. It might be a little more expensive now from some of these cities, but there are plenty of flight options flying to Banff this September and October.
Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks Under $249 RT
Peak Fall Colors: Oct. 7 – Oct. 21
Leaf-peeping in Wyoming comes with many of the same benefits as Banff: The mountain backdrops, the incredible scenery, and the lack of crowds come fall.
But what Wyoming also has are two stellar U.S. national parks with nearby (and occasionally cheap) airports.
This flight deal to Bozeman (BZN) puts you right on the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park, and the drive from Bozeman to Yellowstone is a stunner, too.
Yellowstone park services begin to shut down for the season throughout October. You can see exactly when that happens on the park website. But that might just mean you truly have the place to yourself!
Read our guide to visiting the national parks!
And just south of Yellowstone – bordering it, in fact, is Grand Teton National Park. Just outside of Jackson, Wyoming, the Jackson Hole (JAC) airport is actually within the park borders.
Teton National Park is significantly more mountainous than Yellowstone, and its fall colors pop just a few days behind its neighbor to the north, too.
These cheap flights into Jackson (JAC) could be your fall colors ticket this October!
Colorado and the Rocky Mountains Under $197 RT
Peak Fall Colors: Sept. 30 – Oct. 14
If you can affordably get to Colorado for the fall colors this year, you absolutely should. The Rocky Mountains, awash in reds, oranges, and yellows, are a sight to behold. Plus, there's always the chance of a dash of snow at high altitudes, which creates some of the most spectacular vistas on the continent.
Those same high altitudes mean that the leaves turn a lot faster in Colorado – despite its relatively low latitude. But Denver is a short, nonstop flight away for many Americans.
Thanks to the massive network of flights from Denver Airport (DEN), cheap flights to Denver aren't hard to find.
But if you need a little space from the hustle and bustle of DEN, or just want to see a different side of Colorado, consider flying into Vail (EGE). It'll cost you a little bit more, but getting to skip faraway DEN and the brutal drive across I-70 into the Rockies is probably worth it.
Vail's Eagle County Regional Airport is on the far west side of I-70 from Denver, so you don't have to sit in Denver traffic and you can avoid the gnarlier parts of the infamous interstate that connects Vail with Denver.
And if that's not enough, Vail is notorious for high lodging and…well…everything prices during ski season, but fall is a bargain in the Rockies.
Pick your Portland! Maine & Oregon Under $248 RT
Peak Fall Colors for Portland, Maine: Sept. 23 – Oct. 14
Peak Fall Colors for Portland, Oregon: Oct. 14 – Nov. 4
No matter where you live in the U.S., one of the Portlands is an easy weekend trip.
In the northeast is Portland, Maine (PWM), the coastal city that serves as a road trip gateway to the stunning Maine coast.
On top of all the lobster rolls and seaside dining, you get the beautiful mountains of Maine and some of the best fall colors on earth.
Plus, fares to Portland have been low lately. This latest deal was our most popular of last week!
On the West Coast, you have Portland, Oregon (PDX). The mountains and lakes of Oregon are some of the prettiest on the planet, too.
And in Oregon, the falls colors arrive later into October, so you could conceivably take a trip to both Portlands before the leaves fall. Just an idea…
With prices like these, you could afford to! Even travelers on the East Coast could access some of these awesomely low fares to Oregon this fall.
Asheville & the Blue Ridge Mountains Under $198 RT
Peak Fall Colors: Sept. 30 – Oct. 14
The Blue Ridge Mountains occupy one of the most underrated mountainous regions of the country – where the weather is incredible late into fall and the colors still pop.
Last year, your favorite travel website hosted its company retreat in Asheville, North Carolina right around that time and it was as advertised.
You might not think of the mountains when you think of North Carolina, but the Blue Ridge Mountains illuminated in fall colors are something to behold. And because peak fall colors are more than six weeks away, cheap flights to Asheville (AVL) are still in steady supply.
Head for the hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains later in the fall for an ideal retreat.
Montreal, Quebec Under $385 RT
Peak Fall Colors: Sept. 23 – Oct. 7
Pack your passports for Montreal (YUL), where the fall colors are magnificent, but you can also feel like you're getting lost in the streets of Europe.
Montreal is a travelers' favorite, and if you can spare even one day to go leaf-peeping in Quebec, it would be a worthwhile add-on to an already fantastic travel destination.
Plus, you're just a flight away from Montreal all across the United States thanks to Air Canada's reach.
Iceland Under $497 RT
Peak Fall Colors: October
Iceland doesn't really have any trees…that's going to make Iceland a hard sell for leaf-peeping, I know. But hear me out: Despite not having leaves, though, Iceland still has incredible colors.
The mosses and brush that cover the entire, insanely beautiful country all turn colors in the fall. I've been to Iceland in October, and it's an amazing sight. It looks like this photo below.
What else does Iceland have? Incredibly cheap flights all-year round.
That's especially so for October and November, when the landscape is awash in color.
Europe might not seem like a good weekend destination, but considering most of these Iceland flights are only about 5-6 hours long, it's more doable than you think.
And if you're flying from Boston (BOS), you can book Icelandair's lone daytime flight to Reykjavik (KEF) that leaves at about 1 p.m. and arrives in Iceland at 9:50 p.m. No red-eyes here!
Bottom Line
The fall colors are just starting to leak into North America's top leaf-peeping destinations, but it's definitely not too late to book a fall colors trip in 2024.
Between now and the end of October, some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country will become awash with stunning colors, and this year cheap flights are in abundance for many of the best destinations.