Fall Colors in the Mountains 2018

For two to three weeks in September and October, the Colorado mountains become marbled tapestries with the bright yellow aspens woven among the dark evergreen trees. Along with thousands of our fellow Coloradans, we set aside a whole day to drive through the mountains and witness the splendor first hand, like we have done for several years in a row.

The peak autumn color of the aspens starts at the highest elevations first and works its way down the mountains as the days go by. From our web research and a Facebook page called "Colorado Fall Color Reports and Updates", we chose a route from Georgetown, over Guenella Pass to Grant, over Kenosha Pass to Fairplay, over Hosier Pass to Breckenridge, around Dillon Reservoir then over Loveland Pass to get back to I-70.

We had never been over Guenella Pass before and that was our favorite part of the drive. However, everyone else must have received the same memo because we had a hard time finding a place to park at the pass. That also meant that the driver had to pay closer attention to the traffic and less attention to the scenery going by. Driving in the mountains during peak fall color season requires patience.

As we entered Grant, a side of the road eatery called Al’s Pits looked interesting, so we stopped for lunch to have some BBQ. It seemed to be a popular spot for bikers to stop, the kind of bikers that ride motorcycles, not bicycles (in Colorado, the word “biker” can mean either one). The BBQ was pretty tasty and hit the spot.

Kenosha Pass is always beautiful, but the aspen were past their peak there, with some of the trees already bare. The color over Hosier Pass were in just a few patches and far between.

As we drove along Swan Mountain road, we noticed all the piles of dead trees from the pine beetle kill, all prepared to be burned. Due to the warmer winters not keeping the pine beetle numbers in check, about 70% of the lodge pole pines in Colorado have been damaged (Beetle Kill in Colorado)

Route 6 over Loveland Pass took us past Arapaho Basin Ski Area. Although we had been to Arapaho Basin many times, it looks quite different with no snow. There are not many aspen trees on Loveland Pass, but the low-growing vegetation had taken on a golden hue which still provided great scenic views.

Despite the crowds of cars, motorcycles and bicycles on the mountain roads, it was still a great way to spend a Saturday. The crowds did not detract much from us enjoying the colors of the season and encouraged us to slow our pace down.

(RB)