When Are Peak Fall Foliage Colors in Brown County, Indiana?
Well, it’s that time of year again in Brown County - when the very first leaves are starting to change colors, the air is noticeably cooler in the mornings and evenings, and an unmistakable note of FALL is in the air.
This is the same time of year when local message boards and Facebook groups start seeing constant posts asking “When will the best fall leaf colors happen in Brown County, Indiana this year?” as people can try to time their visit to overlap with the most intense fall foliage colors.
So if you’re someone trying to figure out when to visit this fall (or any future fall), while maximizing chances of seeing the stunning fall views that Brown County is famous for, here are a few things to consider.
When will the leaves have their best fall colors this year?
Unfortunately - especially the further out you ask - the answer to this question is always going to be “It depends.” So you’re going to need to accept a few things in advance…consider these your Facts of Fall Foliage:
1) There’s no way to know with 100% certainty when peak fall colors will be.
The exact timing of “peak” fall colors varies from year-to-year, based on rainfall timing and other weather patterns, but it's generally sometime between late-September and mid-November.
To demonstrate that point, here’s a comparison of some photos I took at Hesitation Point at Brown County State Park in 2021 and 2022:
October 8, 2021 vs October 14, 2022
November 1, 2021 vs November 1, 2022
2) The further in advance you try to make a prediction, the less likely you are to be correct.
Obviously as the year progresses - and the leaves start to change colors and rainfall and weather patterns are established - it gets a little easier to make a prediction on when the “peak” point might happen.
But I’ve had potential guests at the Brown County Barn Burner ask me a year or more in advance if the dates they’re interested in booking will be during “peak” colors and there’s just no way to know that far out.
3) Even if you knew the exact dates of “peak” fall colors, there’s no way to know how long those colors will last - it could be anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks.
Remember how I said the time range for peak colors in Brown County usually falls somewhere from late-September to mid-November? Well, whenever the peak colors do hit within that two month window, the leaves could stick around and be colorful for a few weeks, or an ill-timed storm could blow them all off after a few days. Again, there's really no way to know in advance what a given year will bring.
Case in point - in the photos below (all taken at Hesitation Point in Brown County State Park) you’ll see that from October 8, 2021 to November 1, 2021 there was some color change, but not a huge difference and almost all the leaves are still on the trees. While from October 14, 2022 to November 1, 2022 “peak” color has clearly passed and almost half the leaves have already fallen.
How to predict when peak fall foliage colors will happen?
As long as you can accept the three “Facts of Fall Foliage” that I just covered, then we can move on to discussing some fall foliage prediction tools that might help with your planning:
Each year, the Smoky Mountains Fall Foliage Prediction Map shows the predicted progression of fall colors across the continental U.S. Here’s what it’s showing as of September 12, 2023:
The leaf cam maintained by the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau provides a year round, live view of the trees and foliage along the Salt Creek Trail, behind the Brown County Inn.
Again, no tool is 100% accurate, and the closer to time that you check these the more likely they are to help you identify the correct timing of leaf color change for Brown County, Indiana (or wherever you’re traveling).
What if I miss out on seeing the peak fall colors this year?
It can be a bummer to miss out on something that you really had your heart set on doing, but I’ve got some good news - Brown County is beautiful year round! So whether you’re here while the leaves are just starting to turn, in full “peak” colors, or after the peak as leaves start to brown and fall you are always in for something magical.
And if it's really important to you to see the most intense fall leaf colors possible, then I would recommend keeping your schedule flexible so that you can make a day trip, based on what you’re seeing on the Brown County Leaf Cam website.
And if you’re planning a trip to Brown County in the fall, make sure to check out my other posts on “What to Do in the Fall in Brown County” and “5 Tips to Have Your Best Visit to Brown County this Fall”.
