Crisp air, football games, and the back-to-school season are some of the earliest signs that fall is on its way.
They point to a new season and the beginning of nature’s vibrant display of colors.
Recommended Videos
To help you plan your fall adventures, SmokyMountains.com has released its 2025 fall foliage prediction map.
It offers people a useful guide about when to catch the peak colors as the leaves change across the country.
When will the leaves change in Michigan in 2025?
Here’s a timeline of when the leaves are predicted to change in Michigan this year:
- Sept. 8: No change for the lower half of the state and parts of the U.P., minimal change for parts of Northern Lower Michigan.
- Sept. 15: Minimal change for the majority of the state and patchy color change for parts of Northern Lower Michigan. For the U.P., areas along Lake Michigan are also expected to see a patchy color change, while the areas along Lake Superior will see minimal change.
- Sept. 22: Patchy change for the majority of the state, with partial change for Northern Lower Michigan. Partial and patchy change is also predicted for most areas of the U.P.
- Sept. 29: Partial change for the majority of the state, near peak color change for Northern Lower Michigan. Several areas of the U.P. will be near peak color change, and areas along Lake Superior will be at partial color change.
- Oct. 6: The majority of the state will be at near peak color change, while Northern Lower Michigan and the western U.P. (and areas along Lake Superior) will be at peak color change.
- Oct. 13: The majority of the state (including Metro Detroit) will be at peak color change. Northern Lower Michigan and areas of the U.P. will be past peak color change.
- Oct. 20: Most of the state will be past peak color change, with a small area of the U.P. at peak color change.
- Oct. 27: The entire state of Michigan will be past peak color change.
2025 Fall Foliage Map
You can check out the interactive 2025 Fall Foliage Map below:
“Similar to a weekend weather forecast, the timing of our map update is important. The backbone of the map is meteorology - temperature, moisture, sunlight and precipitation,” according to Smoky Mountains. “While meteorology is most accurate immediately before an event, a forecast is more useful to travelers and end users when made in advance. With our unique blend of historical and forecast data, we are able to make a highly accurate prediction by the end of August. The drastic year-to-year changes dictate that we create a new map from scratch with new data each year. Our end goal is to produce a map that’s useful and fun!”
Why do leaves change color?
Leaves produce their green hues in the spring and summer because of the creation of chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll turns the sunlight into food for the tree.
As the fall season approaches, the days get shorter and sunlight diminishes, causing chlorophyll production to come to a stop.
As this happens, the leaves turn to their natural gold, red, yellow and orange colors.
Why do leaves fall?
Each year, trees shed their leaves to cope with the freezing temperatures that winter brings.
To protect their limbs and trunk, trees slowly close the veins supplying water and nutrients to the leaves by creating a new cell layer at the leaf stem’s base.
Once that process is done, the lack of water and nutrients causes the leaves to die and weaken at the stem, prompting them to fall to the ground.
After this process is complete, the leaves lose water and nutrients, causing them to weaken at the stem and eventually fall to the ground.