Land surface models (LSMs) simulate surface processes and land–atmosphere exchanges of energy, water, and carbon. However, many LSMs still rely on simplified parameterizations of surface-layer radiative transfer, canopy turbulence, and vadose-zone hydrology. This paper describes Noah-MP-ML², a multilayer canopy extension of the community Noah-MP LSM developed to address these limitations. Noah-MP-ML² implements a roughness-sublayer scheme and the Medlyn stomatal-conductance parameterization to represent canopy turbulence and photosynthetic processes. The implementation of the Speedy Algorithm for Radiative Transfer through Cloud Sides (SPARTACUS)-Surface scheme enables consistent N-stream shortwave and longwave radiative transfer across multiple spectral bands while accounting for lateral radiative exchange within heterogeneous vegetation canopies. A multilayer implicit solution is used to calculate canopy scalar concentrations and the temperatures of sunlit and shaded foliage. Soil-water movement is represented using a mass-conserving, mixed-form, one-dimensional Richards-equation solver with van Genuchten water-retention relationships. Noah-MP-ML² was evaluated against observations from five forest flux-tower sites spanning different vegetation types and climatic regimes. The results demonstrate improved representation of surface energy partitioning, turbulence through friction velocity, and soil-water dynamics relative to the community Noah-MP LSM.