Michigan fall color · tour map
Twelve named drives, mapped end to end, each tied to the colour model for the region it runs through. Pick a date and every route re-sorts by how close to peak it will be when you are actually in the car. The U.P. routes go first in late September, the Irish Hills and Saugatuck last, usually into the final week of October.
This page is one. Every route is drawn on the map above and coloured by how far along that region's turn is on the date you pick, so you can see which drive is worth doing this weekend rather than guessing from a static list.
It depends entirely on the week. The Keweenaw shore and Brockway Mountain peak first, in late September. The Tunnel of Trees on M-119 follows in the first half of October. The southern routes hold into late October, so the best drive is whichever region is nearest peak when you can actually go.
The live map shows current conditions for all eight regions. Colour runs roughly north to south: the western Upper Peninsula turns first, then the eastern U.P. and the Straits, then northern Lower Michigan, and finally the southern counties.
Each line is the route, each dot a town or landmark along it, and the colour of the line is how far along that region's turn is on your chosen date. These are the routes themselves rather than turn by turn directions: the point is which drive is worth doing on a given weekend, not which exit to take.
Timing comes from the same regional model behind the live map, so nothing here can disagree with it. If you would rather work backwards from where you live, the trip planner ranks regions by drive time from your town instead.
Mileages and drive times are for the scenic route only, without stops. Every one of these takes longer than the number says, because you will pull over.