Colorado Is Spectacular In The Fall Colorado in the fall is a wonderful and beautiful time to visit or roam Colorado's high country. The native aspen makes the fall colors  different than most other areas when it comes to fall. Fall colors all over the U.S. are beautiful but almost every area is a different beauty, which makes living in our country super spectacular.

Colorado is the home of the high country aspen  at elevations as high as two miles above sea level with the most beautiful areas between 8000 and 9500. At that altitude fall is as crisp and clean as it gets. Photo by the author. Elk Rive northwest of Steamboat Springs.

 Most residents and visitors alike see the aspens by car. There is color almost everywhere in the state and I will describe some of the best areas in my experiences driving the state for many years. 

Starting in the north is the Laramie River Valley. This valley is located north of  Cameron Pass at the foot of the Medicine Bow Mountains and ------- wilderness.  The Laramie River Valley is a long high mountain valley reachable from Laramie Wyoming or by driving up the Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins to Chambers Lake and turning north. The road is a good all dirt and gravel road but when the aspens are at their peak it is well worth a little dust. This trip makes a good circle drive from Fort Collins up to the valley and down through Laramie Wyoming and back to Fort Collins.

The next area is the Steamboat Valley home of Ski Steamboat home of champagne powder.  The valley itself is a good viewing area as the aspens are spread out around the entire valley which is primarily giant hay meadows ringed by mountains. When the aspen are at their peak there are literally miles of aspens you can see all at once. Also there are many back roads so you can get closer looks as well.

Another great area for aspen viewing is along I-70 between Vail Colorado and Glenwood Springs. There are many places to get off the highway for close up viewing, eating or town roaming along the way.

From Vail south of  I-70 all the way to Colorado's southern border is prime full time aspen viewing. It is very difficult to drive south of I-70 and not see really good color. Some of the best areas are around Aspen Colorado especially Snowmass and the Independence Pass areas.

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