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By Amy Felegy

This month, northwest Minnesota will take the lead in swathing the state with vibrant fall foliage. That color will steadily head southeast through mid-October.

Trees across the state haven’t started peaking yet; look up late next week for those first hues to shift.

Exactly how vibrant they’ll be depends on a lot of factors.

“Brilliant fall color occurs when early fall days are sunny, nights are chilly and there is adequate rainfall throughout the growing season,” said Brian Schwingle, a DNR forest health specialist.

In a press release, the DNR said 2024’s growing season has been significantly wetter than Minnesota’s recent drought years. While that’s better for trees, all that moisture means unharmful fungal diseases on trees, which “might reduce the overall brilliance of the landscape due to early leaf shedding or dead spots and blotches on leaves,” the release says.

Still, the DNR is gearing up for visitors to its parks. Photographers and admirers alike can see what percentage of foliage has turned oh-so-gorgeous — and in what areas — on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s annual Fall Color Finder. There, you can also find predictions by date based on past data.

Typically peaking in the latter half of September and putting on a show until mid-October, those Instagram-worthy reds, oranges and yellows last around two weeks in a given location, according to the DNR.