Where to See Fall Color in Everett

Here are our favorite spots within city limits, most of them within a few blocks of each other - you don't need to drive to the mountains.

Ethan Grant Executive Director
Photography Ethan Grant
Published · October 1, 2026
The view from Grand Ave Park

Fall color in Western Washington is a short season - one windy, wet night in November and most of it is on the ground. But for a short time, you can watch the leaf maples turn yellow, and the Japanese maples and ornamentals follow with red and orange. The good news for Everett is that the best of it is close.

Colby Avenue, 10th to 19th Street

The trees along this nine-block stretch of Colby turn the whole street into a yellow and orange canopy over the century-old houses. The trees here are big leaf maples and change go early, so this is the first place to visit. It's also the easiest fall walk in the city for those with limited mobility.

Grand Avenue Park

Grand Avenue Park runs along the top of the bluff above the waterfront. The trees along the park turn at about the same time as Colby, and the bluff views include you the Sound, the Port of Everett and the Olympics behind them. The bridge down to the waterfront is also open, and the elevator should be repaired soon.

Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens

The arboretum at the west end of Legion Park is your best bet for red colors, and it's free to visit. Themed gardens include a Japanese maple grove, other maple species, native plants, and ornamentals across its three and a half acres. The paths are paved and accessible, and the whole loop takes about twenty minutes at a slow pace.

Legion Park

Legion Park itself sits on the bluff above Port Gardner Bay, with Whidbey and Camano islands on the horizon. The park's big deciduous trees stand between the ballfields and the water, and from the lookout at the northwest corner you can see fall trees against the bay. Visit late in the day - the sun sets behind the islands and casts warm light on the leaves.

Forest Park

At Forest Park, the maples around the playground and along the park road turn yellow in October, and the park fills with the winged seeds that kids call whirlybirds. The forested trails below the main park stay mostly green, so the color here is in the open areas near the parking lots and the picnic shelters.

Lowell Riverfront Trail

The paved trail along the Snohomish River at the edge of the Lowell neighborhood is lined almost entirely with deciduous trees, cottonwoods, and alders, with maples mixed in. Cottonwoods turn a bright yellow, and because the trail is flat and the trees are close to the path, the leaves pile up underfoot. Park at the Lowell Riverfront trailhead on Lowell River Road and walk either direction.