COME TO LIFE / Fall Color WAYS TO EXPERIENCE FALL COLOR September is the ideal time to bear witness, but you have to time it right. When one area’s color fades, another is just changing. The best strategy: Select travel dates in advance, but not destinations. Then go wherever the color is best. Our quintessential tree is the aspen. In the summer, it provides shade for our state flower, the columbine; in the fall, we rejoice when its quaking leaves turn vibrant hues of red and gold. Range make for a radiant contrast with the golden aspens below. INDEPENDENCE PASS: A winding road with groves upon groves of aspen trees that runs between Aspen and Twin Lakes. The pass is ringed by 13,000-foot peaks. There are plenty of Instagram-worthy pull-offs, nearby hikes and even an old ghost town to visit along the way. GRAND JUNCTION TO GRAND MESA: Head east on I-70 along the Colorado River, where cotton woods phase into yellow. At CO 65, go east and then south to the Grand Mesa, where glowing aspens stretch forever. COTTONWOOD PASS: Head down Cottonwood Pass Road west of Buena FALL FESTIVALS We have no choice but to join the gold rush and celebrate every autumn weekend. Here’s a sampling of events; visit COLORADO. com/Events and page 19 for more. Estes Park’s Autumn Gold and Elk festivals Crested Butte’s Chili & Beer Festival Fruita Fall Festival FROM TOP: SAN JUAN MOUNTAIN NEAR REDCLIFF, GLENN RANDALL; BIKING ON KENOSHA PASS NEAR FAIRPLAY, CELIN SERBO; MOUNT WILSON NEAR THE DALLAS DIVIDE, ALLEN THORNTON. SCENIC DRIVES These leafy routes get you so close to gorgeous fall foliage that you can smell the trees changing. DALLAS DIVIDE: Head west from Ridgway on CO 62 over the Dallas Divide to Telluride. Lining the route are unimpeded views of the Sneffels Range, an apron of aspens at its feet. KEBLER PASS: Head west out of Crested Butte on County Road 12. The ruddy colors of the Ruby Vista. You’ll enter an aspen-laden valley and see the fickleness of fall — one slope all gold, another patch still a shade of summer green. CO 17: From Antonito, drive up the serene Conejos River Valley, where pinyon give way to aspen. Some of the oldest and tallest aspens in the state can be seen, pho-tographed and enjoyed near La Manga Pass. GUANELLA PASS: Take this route south out of Georgetown. Turn right on US 285 to the top of Kenosha Pass, where the aspen thrive on the rim of gentle slopes that encircle South Park. POUDRE CANYON: Take CO 14 west of Fort Collins to the top of Cameron Pass, a low forested saddle between the Rawah Wilderness and Rocky Mountain National Park. Views stretch down into the North Park basin near Walden. FRONTIER PATHWAYS: Head west out of Pueblo on CO 96. The route climbs into the Wet Mountain Valley, passing aspens blazing with color along the way. HIGHWAY OF LEGENDS: The route from La Veta to Trinidad on CO 12 begs to be photographed as it wraps around the Spanish Peaks amid tracts of pine, scrub oak and aspen. Salida Bike Fest Trinidad’s Artocade Morrison’s Ciderfest Oktoberfest in Breckenridge, Longmont, La Veta, Durango, Denver Boulder’s Fall Fest Pueblo’s Chili & Frijoles Festival Paonia’s Mountain Harvest Festival Cedaredge’s Applefest Aurora’s Punkin Chunkin TAKE A RIDE Get out of the car and right into the wilderness to see our oranges, yellows and reds up close: BALLOONING: When you find yourself in a thatched basket, hundreds of feet up in the crisp Colorado air, the colors unfold below in a seemingly unending canvas of yellow and gold. The landscape becomes increasingly intriguing and inspiring while drifting from this high-altitude angle. Continued on page 40. 38 / 1-800-COLORADO
Colorado Official State Vacation Guide 2020: Page 38
