Archive All Issues October 2026

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES

Autumn is easy in Woodstock, Vermont, and Duluth, Minnesota. All you have to do is look out the kitchen window to see fall color. In Arizona, you have to work a little harder, but the colors, especially the yellows and golds, are out there — in every direction.

Featured in the October 2026 Issue of Arizona Highways

BY: Lisa Altomare and Jeff Kida (Portfolio Editors)

A waterfall spills into Fossil Creek, flanked by fall foliage.
THERESA ROSE DITSON
NIKON D810, 1/10 SEC, F/13, ISO 160, 24-70 MM LENS

In Oak Creek Canyon, the leaves of an ash tree reveal autumn’s hues.
SUZANNE MATHIA
CANON EOS-1DS MARK III, 1/125 SEC, F/4, ISO 100, 70-200 MM LENS

Sunset and a stand of autumnal aspens battle for attention along Hart Prairie Road in Flagstaff.
BYRON NESLEN
CANON EOS 5DS R, 1/5 SEC, F/11, ISO 100, 24-70 MM LENS

The season’s change is marked by aspens’ transition from green to gold on the Kaibab National Forest.
LARRY LINDAHL
CANON EOS 5D MARK III, 1/4 SEC, F/22, ISO 100, 24-105 MM LENS

A grove of young aspen trees, which sprouted after the 2011 Wallow Fire, flaunt their autumn leaves in afternoon light in the Blue Range Primitive Area of Eastern Arizona.
JOEL HAZELTON
CANON EOS 5DS R, 0.6 SEC, F/16, ISO 100, 16-35 MM LENS

Autumn leaves flow through a reflecting pool in Oak Creek, near Sedona, producing a fascinating abstract of color and lines.
JOEL HAZELTON
CANON EOS 5DS R, 5 SEC, F/32, ISO 100, 70-200 MM LENS

The placid waters of Prescott’s Lynx Lake reflect the changing colors of surrounding trees.
THERESA ROSE DITSON
NIKON D810, 1/40 SEC, F/14, ISO 100, 70-200 MM LENS

Sunset amplifies the gilded trees of Sycamore Canyon near Parsons Spring.
THERESA ROSE DITSON
NIKON D810, 1/20 SEC, F/13, ISO 64, 24-70 MM LENS

Fog lingers over a stand of golden aspens in Lockett Meadow, in the San Francisco Peaks.
CLAIRE CURRAN
CANON EOS 5DS R, 1/80 SEC, F/11, ISO 100, 100-400 MM LENS