As a Colorado newbie/outdoor enthusiast/photographer I wanted to experience the iconic Colorado Rocky Mountain high aspen fall color extravaganza.
I Googled Colorado fall color, leaf-peeping, etc., and got a vague idea that fall colors peak at different times at different latitudes and at different elevations. The more northern latitudes peak earlier higher elevations generally peak earlier. I have recently discovered a tool that would have been very helpful for predicting peak times for fall colors. That resource is the Fall Foliage Map at: https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/
Having looked into things, I planned a trip to the Ridgeway, CO area for the first few days in October. I had read that the Last Dollar Road between Ridgeway and Telluride was absolutely amazing when the aspen leaves are at their peak.
As we traveled from Denver to Ridgeway we noticed many areas that were peaking with fall color and many areas that were nowhere near peak fall color. There did not seem to be an obvious pattern regarding elevation. The trees near Last Dollar Road were not peaking yet at the beginning of October to our disappointment.
We also traveled to the higher elevations of the Cimarron Ridge in the San Juan Mountains. Not much luck there either.
It wasn’t until we drove from Ridgeway through Ouray and over to Silverton that we started to see what we were looking for – amazing fall color.
The drive up and over (south) Red Mountain Pass on highway US-550 was all we had hoped for, making the trip a success. The views were spectacular as this gold rush of color enveloped us.
Rocky Mountain National Park
On October 10th we took a trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park in the vicinity of Estes Park, CO. We found the aspen leaves to have already peaked in the majority of aspen groves but there were still plenty of beautiful aspen leaves to enjoy.
MAP
