where to go for fall colors? (Denver: for sale, living, bus)

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

I agree. It's not full fall colors without maples.

Gamble oak can compensate. It flaunts red, orange, yellow, AND green together, for a beautiful display even though it is not a tree. Go where hillsides are covered in it and the colors are surprisingly like those in New England’s hills.

I once biked deserted dirt backroads near Rangely surrounded by gorgeous hills that resembled giant multihued gumdrops, with roller coaster ups and downs on the road.

We had loads of Gambel oak in the foothills area where we used to live, and we have them here, too.

You do not need to go to “the high peaks” to see it. In fact, the really high peaks lack trees and shrubs anyway.

Aspen likes middle-ish elevation, not the really high stuff. About 8k to 10k feet altitude is where they tend to grow most. In some years many of them turn RED, though not the same intense red as maples do. I don’t know of any way to tell when it is going to be one of those unusual years.

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by pikabike

Aspen likes middle-ish elevation, not the really high stuff. About 8k to 10k feet altitude is where they tend to grow most.

Depends on the latitude. I saw Aspens at about 2500 ft in Norway, and the tree line was at about 4000 ft.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

Depends on the latitude. I saw Aspens at about 2500 ft in Norway, and the tree line was at about 4000 ft.

Of course it does. The assumption was where in CO, a mid-latitude state.

Throwing Norway into the comparison is like comparing winter conditions atop Mt. Washington in NH (6000-something feet elevation) to winter on Lakewood’s Green Mountain (also 6000-something).

[mkwensky]

Just a follow up. I went to St Mary's last weekend and saw some colors near Georgetown. It is definitely a little early, but judging by the traffic there's already a lot of people going up for this. The view would probably be much nicer in two weeks.
It was not as monochromatic as I was led to believe here. Sure, there's a lot of golden yellow, but some of the orange and maroon leaves are starting to come in. There's also a shrubby plant that has a pretty yellow/orange color, and that provides a nice contrast with the leaves on the trees. Is it as good as Acadia National Park? Probably not, but it was definitely worth the drive.

[bluescreen73]

FWIW - there's a tiny aspen grove in Castlewood Canyon between the dam and the waterfalls. Definitely not higher up. It's at maybe 6,000'.

[LHS79]

Just got back from a week in Taos NM, the colors over La Veta Pass were spectacular.

Sad seeing so many dead trees from the fire a few years ago.

BUT- gas is only $3/gallon in NM. Why is CO. .75/gallon more?

[StealthRabbit]

Peak to Peak + RMNP + a loop over Trail Ridge, and back through Grand Lake / Frazer / Winter Park is a nice day trip (non-weekend is preferred). We used to ride it on a long afternoon on motorcycle.

Weekend to Steamboat, Glenwood, Maroon Bells, Independence Pass can be a nice fall color trip.

Northern NM / southern CO, combined with ABQ Balloon Fiesta is a common fall color trip in Rocky Mtns.

[Mike from back east]

Stealth, thanks for the reminder about the Peak to Peak Highway, a scenic route close enough to the Front Range to be easily accessible. I remembered it from an old AAA Magazine article but couldn't remember its name.

COLO DOT link on the P2PH

List of other links on the P2PH.

[suzco]

Lost Creek Wilderness (south of Bailey) is another beautiful, nicely leafed for fall, not crowded area, not very far away.

[waltcolorado]

San Juan mountains Colorado today (about 3 hours ago)