St. Cloud Fall Colors Fading as Peak Moves to Twin Cities, Southern Minnesota

(KNSI) – If you haven’t gotten out to see the fall colors yet, you may need to drive a little south.

The latest Fall Color Finder map from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, updated Thursday, shows much of the St. Cloud area is now past peak. Pockets of 75% to 100% color remain just southeast of the city, stretching toward the Twin Cities through parts of Sherburne and Wright counties.

The best leaf-peeping left in the state is in and around the metro. The map shows Minneapolis and St. Paul at 25% to 50% color, with 50% to 75% along the Minnesota River valley southwest of Minneapolis and near St. Paul. That suggests those areas haven’t hit peak yet and could look their best over the next week or so.

Most of southern Minnesota, including the Rochester area, is at 75% to 100%, meaning it’s at or near peak now.

Up north, the season is mostly over. Nearly all of northern Minnesota, including the North Shore, the Arrowhead and the Bemidji area, is past peak. A couple of small pockets of near-peak color remain in north-central Minnesota, east of Bemidji and west of Duluth.

The DNR builds the map from weekly reports by state park and trail staff, who estimate color at their location. Those reports are then used to project color in surrounding areas.

See what the colors look like at state parks by clicking here.

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