Capitol Christmas Tree 2026 Tour: All 21 Stops From Idaho to Maryland, With Dates

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree is on the road: the official tour began Oct. 29, 2026, in Grangeville, Idaho, stops in Moscow, Idaho, today (Saturday, Oct. 31) and in Orofino and Kamiah, Idaho, on Sunday, Nov. 1, and ends at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Thursday, Nov. 19, according to the project’s route announcement of Oct. 1, 2026. Below is the full stop list by date, with weekdays and a count of days from Oct. 31, plus a one-page printable tracker.

Capitol Christmas Tree 2026 tour stops by date

The route announcement lists 21 stops in 10 states: Idaho (nine stops), Montana (two), South Dakota (two), Maryland (two), and Wyoming, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia and Pennsylvania (one each). The page gives towns and dates only, with no times or venues. The weekdays and the “days from today” column are ours, counted from Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026.

Date	Town and state	Days from Oct. 31
Thu., Oct. 29	Grangeville, Idaho	Past (2 days ago)
Fri., Oct. 30	Lewiston, Idaho	Past (yesterday)
Sat., Oct. 31	Moscow, Idaho	Today
Sun., Nov. 1	Orofino, Idaho	In 1 day
Sun., Nov. 1	Kamiah, Idaho	In 1 day
Tue., Nov. 3	Lolo, Montana	In 3 days
Wed., Nov. 4	Salmon, Idaho	In 4 days
Thu., Nov. 5	Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho	In 5 days
Thu., Nov. 5	Twin Falls, Idaho	In 5 days
Fri., Nov. 6	Idaho Falls, Idaho	In 6 days
Sat., Nov. 7	Gardiner, Montana	In 7 days
Mon., Nov. 9	Sheridan, Wyoming	In 9 days
Tue., Nov. 10	Custer, South Dakota	In 10 days
Thu., Nov. 12	Mitchell, South Dakota	In 12 days
Thu., Nov. 12	Albert Lea, Minnesota	In 12 days
Fri., Nov. 13	Peoria, Illinois	In 13 days
Sat., Nov. 14	Richmond, Indiana	In 14 days
Mon., Nov. 16	Morgantown, West Virginia	In 16 days
Tue., Nov. 17	Hagerstown, Maryland	In 17 days
Tue., Nov. 17	Littlestown, Pennsylvania	In 17 days
Thu., Nov. 19	Joint Base Andrews, Maryland (military ID access only)	In 19 days

Two stops are already behind the tree and 18 remain after today’s. The route lists no stop on Mon., Nov. 2, Sun., Nov. 8, Wed., Nov. 11, Sun., Nov. 15 or Wed., Nov. 18. Put the dates you plan to attend on the November 2026 printable calendar.

What time does the tree reach my town?

Not yet announced. The project says “Partners and communities will finalize event details over the next several weeks.” It also says “Festivities are free and open to the public.” Because the route page lists no times or venues, check the host town’s own page or the project’s website before you go. The Joint Base Andrews stop on Nov. 19 is limited to people with military ID.

Where did the 2026 Capitol Christmas Tree come from?

The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) lists the 2026 tree as an Engelmann spruce, 76 feet tall, from the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests in Idaho. The project homepage says it was harvested from the Lochsa-Powell Ranger District and that companion trees and handmade ornaments will make the journey too. The number of ornaments is not announced. In an Aug. 13, 2026 release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service said the tree would be harvested in late October, ahead of a lighting “in early December.”

When will the Capitol tree arrive and be lit?

The 2026 arrival date and the lighting date and time are not yet announced. The AOC says specific 2026 ceremony dates “will be announced in the fall.” The route page says the tree is traveling to the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building “this holiday season.”

For comparison only, the 2025 tree arrived at the Capitol on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, at 10 a.m., and the 2025 lighting began at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, on the West Front Lawn, the AOC reported. Those are last year’s details, not 2026 dates. When a date is set, mark it on the December 2026 printable calendar; the day it falls near is also on our When is Christmas? page.

How is the Capitol tree different from the National Christmas Tree?

They are two separate trees and two separate events. The Capitol tree travels from a national forest to the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. The National Christmas Tree is lit on the Ellipse near the White House, and its free ticket lottery is run by the National Park Service. Our story on the National Christmas Tree lighting, ticket lottery and Dec. 3 ceremony has those dates. For other trees and lights, see the New York holiday calendar with the Rockefeller tree and U.S. Christmas market opening dates.

What is on the tour tracker printable?

The one-page tracker lists all 21 stops in date order, with the weekday, the town and state, and a Done box for each stop. It carries only what the route announcement states, so it has no times; write them in as towns announce them.

Not confirmed in this story: stop times and venues, the 2026 Capitol arrival date, the 2026 lighting date and time, a livestream and the ornament count.