Planning fall foliage trip to Colorado... Suggestions?

[paolo80]

Hi all,
I'm patiently waiting for the 5DSR and in the meantime planning several trips to do some landscape photography.
One of the trip is 8days in Colorado, 1st week of October.
Are there any places that I should not miss? I don't mind traveling each day to a different location, so I'm considering nearby states as well.
Thanks in advance

 

[mkihne]

San Juans in SW Colorado to include Dallas Divide with various offshoot county roads as well as several passes in the area and photogenic loops on the east side. With luck, prime color and weather you might have a slim chance to cover it in a week. If leaving out of Denver a return to include the dunes in south central CO and a stop by Garden of the Gods in Colo Springs would be great. Lots of other spots, but I think for fall color that would be hard to top.

Mike

 

[paolo80]

Thank you Mike, much appreciated

 

[Arkarch]

mkihne's notes are fairly spot on.

Areas around Aspen will usually be past peak by October; although Kebler Pass / Crested Butte area was late and workable into October.

Most of the crowd ends up in Ridgway by the 3rd - doing the north side of the San Juans and east to Owl Creek and Silver Jack. Further south, the 550 corridor over Red Mountain usually peaks early and should be sticks by then. Returning east, as suggested, will get you toward Pagosa Springs and the Great Dunes.

For more detailed investigation and reports, the 14ers and NPN/RMNP websites carry very active fall report threads for Colorado. Go back to previous years. You can set your calendar to an Aspen Grove - they repeat every year almost to the day - and usually what we might call early or late is just the amount of color. And as experience shows, once the weather goes, they'll dump to brown.

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi Arkarch.
Do you have to go from Wiggins via Wolf Creek Pass? : ;D

Cheers, Graham.

Returning east, as suggested, will get you toward Pagosa Springs and the Great Dunes.