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New Hampshire

Crystal Cascade & Pinkham Notch

Autumn Guide ↗ put the peak at Mount Washington Cog Railway around September 30. That day has gone, so the newest pictures below are the truer guide to what is left on the trees.

Photographs of Crystal Cascade & Pinkham Notch and the country around it, newest first. Each is shown with the day it was taken.

Photographs by date

A photograph taken near Mount Washington Cog Railway on Oct 7, 2026. — Pinkham Notch on October 7, 2026
Photograph · October 7, 2026
Photograph by rightthewrong · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Mount Washington Cog Railway
Original source photograph ↗

Beyond an open rock ledge, yellow and orange bands cross the wooded slopes among darker conifers. — Baldface slopes — Chatham area
Photograph · October 3, 2026
Photograph by Pat Gavin · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Baldface area, Chatham, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Yellow and orange leaves surround a waterfall in deep shade. Near branches show local autumn color, while the cascade and rocks occupy much of the scene. — Crystal Cascade and nearby trees
Photograph · October 3, 2026
Photograph by Shahid Durrani · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Crystal Cascade, Mount Washington area, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

A rocky ridge rises behind layers of green, yellow, orange and red crowns. The photograph has a strongly saturated treatment. — Wooded ridge at Evans Notch
Photograph · October 3, 2026
Photograph by gerilynns · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Evans Notch, Maine–New Hampshire border area
Original source photograph ↗

Spruce stand in front of a steep hardwood slope, mostly yellow and orange with red patches and some crowns still green. — Baldface slopes in early October
Photograph · October 3, 2026
Photograph by Pat Gavin · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Baldface Circle Trail, Chatham, New Hampshire (Evans Notch area)
Original source photograph ↗

From the bare summit ledges a whole ridge of hardwoods glows orange and gold, with dark spruce on its upper flank and blue ridges beyond. — Ridge below Baldface, mostly turned
Photograph · October 3, 2026
Photograph by Pat Gavin · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Baldface ridge, Chatham, New Hampshire (Evans Notch area)
Original source photograph ↗

A paper birch with yellow leaves above a rocky river, with orange and red trees on the far bank. — Birch over a mountain river, Carroll County
Photograph · October 3, 2026
Photograph by raymondc · iNaturalist ↗ · CC BY-NC 4.0 ↗
Carroll County, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

A tamarack still green in the foreground, with mountain slopes behind turning orange, red and yellow. — Tamarack before coloured hills, Twin Mountain
Photograph · October 1, 2026
Photograph by sarahjn · iNaturalist ↗ · CC BY-NC 4.0 ↗
Twin Mountain, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Colorful crowns line the river near Willey Pond. The saturated September photograph describes that day, not the current stage. — Saco River at Crawford Notch
Photograph · September 30, 2026
Photograph by NC Morrill · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Saco River near Willey Pond, Crawford Notch, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Red, orange and yellow hardwoods climb the slopes around Mount Willard's grey cliff face, with darker spruce mixed in near the top. — Mount Willard cliffs above the notch
Photograph · September 30, 2026
Photograph by frugalphotographer · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Mount Willard, Crawford Notch, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

The cascade drops through granite between maples gone scarlet and orange and birches turning yellow, with spruce on the ridge above. — Silver Cascade in Crawford Notch
Photograph · September 30, 2026
Photograph by frugalphotographer · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Silver Cascade, Crawford Notch, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Birches and maples around the base station are still mostly green with the first yellow and a little red, while a steam train climbs toward the bare summit. — Cog Railway trestle at the base station
Photograph · September 15, 2026
Photograph by i8seattle · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Mount Washington Cog Railway base station, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Earlier autumns

Taken between mid-September and early November in earlier years, these show how the season runs here.

2025

The hardwoods on the notch wall are bare grey and brown, set off by dark spruce and white birch trunks, with cloud on the cliff top. — Crawford Notch gateway in early November
Photograph · November 1, 2025
Photograph by Vincent Colombo · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Gateway of Crawford Notch, Hart's Location, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Bare grey hardwoods fill the slopes below the bluff around Echo Lake, a few yellow birches and tamaracks hold on, and snow dusts the summit beyond. — Echo Lake from Artist's Bluff, bare trees
Photograph · October 28, 2025
Photograph by Daniel Hischer · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Artist's Bluff over Echo Lake, Franconia Notch, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Pale yellow beeches and birches, some already thinning, arch over a boulder-filled brook with fallen leaves on the forest floor. — Brook below Glen Ellis Falls
Photograph · October 13, 2025
Photograph by dsam40324 · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Glen Ellis Falls, Pinkham Notch, Jackson, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Hardwoods on the slope beside the trestle are part green and part rust and orange, and the mountainside beyond is still mostly green with yellow patches. — Notch train on Frankenstein Trestle
Photograph · October 9, 2025
Photograph by Vincent Colombo · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Frankenstein Trestle, Crawford Notch, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Orange and yellow maples and birches crowd the slope down to Echo Lake, with the notch walls behind turning bronze and gold under broken cloud. — Echo Lake from Artist's Bluff
Photograph · October 9, 2025
Photograph by Nola Nate · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Artist's Bluff over Echo Lake, Franconia Notch, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

A granite ledge frames a red and yellow stand of maples and birches below dark spruce, with Cannon Mountain's lower slopes going rust and gold. — Artist's Bluff ledge toward Cannon Mountain
Photograph · October 9, 2025
Photograph by Nola Nate · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Artist's Bluff, Franconia Notch, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

The highway runs under a tunnel of birch and maple going red and bronze, with Frankenstein Cliff's slopes patched yellow, orange and green ahead. — Route 302 below Frankenstein Cliff
Photograph · October 2, 2025
Photograph by blackseal35 · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Frankenstein Cliff on Route 302, Crawford Notch, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

White birch trunks stand among beeches and maples in orange and gold, with leaves already thick on the slope. — Birch and beech hillside, Twin Mountain
Photograph · October 2, 2025
Photograph by blackseal35 · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Twin Mountain, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

The notch walls above the pond glow orange and rust with turning hardwoods among spruce, mirrored in still water under a pink sky. — Willey Pond at dawn, Crawford Notch
Photograph · October 1, 2025
Photograph by David Howland | davidhowlandphoto.com · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Willey Pond, Crawford Notch State Park, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

Mist lifts off the pond in front of a shoreline of maples just turning red and orange among pines, with the hills beyond still mostly green. — Coffin Pond at sunrise in mist
Photograph · October 1, 2025
Photograph by David Howland | davidhowlandphoto.com · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Coffin Pond, Franconia, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

A stony riverbed runs between red maples and yellowing birches, with green alders still full on the near bank. — Gale River in Franconia
Photograph · September 30, 2025
Photograph by New Hampshire Public Radio · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Gale River, Franconia, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

A train crosses the trestle through a hillside of orange maples and yellow birches below a grey cliff, with a coloured ridge across the notch. — Frankenstein Trestle from above
Photograph · September 28, 2025
Photograph by justinthebluecarguy · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Frankenstein Trestle, Hart's Location, New Hampshire
Original source photograph ↗

2024

Maples and birches over the road are mostly green with orange and yellow starting on the left side. — Evans Notch country road in late September
Photograph · September 28, 2024
Photograph by lennycarl08 · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Evans Notch area, Maine
Original source photograph ↗

2022

White birches beside the bridge hold thinning gold leaves, and the bank below is thick with fallen orange leaves. — Artist's Covered Bridge in late October
Photograph · October 24, 2022
Photograph by Kylee Vincent Photography · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Artist's Covered Bridge, Sunday River, Newry, Maine
Original source photograph ↗

Young beeches glow gold beneath tall pines, and the forest floor is covered in copper leaves. — Beech woods by the Sunday River
Photograph · October 24, 2022
Photograph by Kylee Vincent Photography · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Woods by the Sunday River, Newry, Maine
Original source photograph ↗

Oaks in deep red and birches and larches in gold fill the foreground, with mist in the valley below the ski mountain. — Sunday River valley in late October
Photograph · October 24, 2022
Photograph by Kylee Vincent Photography · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Sunday River valley, Newry, Maine
Original source photograph ↗

A ridge of orange, gold and red hardwoods under spruce stands in front of a far summit dusted with snow. — Evans Notch ridge above a snowy summit
Photograph · October 11, 2022
Photograph by lennycarl08 · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Evans Notch, Maine
Original source photograph ↗

Yellow beeches and birches and a red maple arch over a quiet paved road strewn with fallen leaves. — Evans Notch side road under yellow birches
Photograph · October 11, 2022
Photograph by lennycarl08 · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Evans Notch, Maine
Original source photograph ↗

Below a grey cliff the slope is a dense mass of orange, gold and red maples and birches, with dark spruce above the rock. — Evans Notch cliff above full colour
Photograph · October 11, 2022
Photograph by lennycarl08 · Flickr ↗ · All Rights Reserved
Evans Notch, Route 113, Maine
Original source photograph ↗

A ledged dome is covered from foot to crest in yellow, orange, red and green crowns, with dark evergreens along the top. — Evans Notch Overlook
Photograph · October 5, 2022
Photograph by Graeme Churchard · Wikimedia Commons ↗ · CC BY 2.0 ↗
Evans Notch Overlook
Original source photograph ↗

2018

Across clear water and round stones, a shore of red, orange and yellow trees lies below a green wooded peak and grey cliffs. — Basin Pond under the cliffs
Photograph · October 9, 2018
Photograph by alans1948 · Wikimedia Commons ↗ · CC BY 2.0 ↗
Basin Brook Reservoir, Evans Notch
Original source photograph ↗

2015

A wide slope of white-trunked birches and leafy trees in orange, red and gold falls away to forest and far blue mountains. — Speck Pond Trail view north
Photograph · October 11, 2015
Photograph by Will leavitt · Wikimedia Commons ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
Speck Pond Trail, on the Maine and New Hampshire line
Original source photograph ↗

2013

One tall crown has turned red, orange and yellow against a blue sky while the woods behind stay green. — Cold River valley tree turning early
Photograph · September 15, 2013
Photograph by Paul VanDerWerf from Brunswick, Maine, USA · Wikimedia Commons ↗ · CC BY 2.0 ↗
Cold River valley, below Evans Notch
Original source photograph ↗

Mountain ash with red berries and turning leaves frames a view over green forest to a long lake and blue ridges. — Caribou Mountain view
Photograph · September 14, 2013
Photograph by Paul VanDerWerf from Brunswick, Maine, USA · Wikimedia Commons ↗ · CC BY 2.0 ↗
Caribou Mountain, near Evans Notch
Original source photograph ↗

About these views

The trailhead starts the search; Crystal Cascade is farther along the trail. The local waterfall scene is shaded and differs from exposed slopes.