Written by Aaron-Michael Fox.

The West Virginia Tourism Office has released its 2022 predictive map for fall foliage, estimating the peak of the leaf-peeping season to begin in the highlands of the West Virginia mountains in late September.

Peak fall foliage will emerge in late October in the Huntington area. (Map courtesy W.Va. Dept. of Commerce)

The end of the peak should fall one month later, at the end of October, in the West Virginia lowlands around Huntington, the northern panhandle, the Shenandoah Valley, and in the southwestern coalfields.

Hotel rooms will likely start to book up soon with the release of this year’s map, so make your plans early. To time your visit to Huntington with the leaves, Marshall University’s Homecoming is the week of October 23-29. No. 14 Marshall men’s soccer plays at home on October 23 vs. Georgia Southern and the Homecoming football game is October 29 vs. Coastal Carolina.

The peak of leaf season in the New River Gorge National Park should be roughly the same time as Huntington if you’d like to coordinate your trip. The New River Gorge is located two hours southeast of downtown Huntington.