5 Romantic Fall Drives in Colorado

One of my absolute favorite things to do in the fall is to drive into the mountains to see the changing aspens.  Driving through Colorado is beautiful any time of year. However, there is something about seeing all the mountainsides dotted with yellow and orange. Fall in Colorado is sunny days and cool evenings, bright yellow aspens peppered through the evergreens.  It’s perfect hiking weather and perfect cuddling weather. So without further ado, here are some of my favorite fall drives in Colorado:

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1. HWY 67 from Florissant to Cripple Creek

This is another one of my favorite autumn drives in Colorado – Hwy 67 to Cripple Creek.  Lined with aspen groves and scenic vistas, it’s one of those perfectly winding mountain roads. It is one of the most popular drives and can get pretty crowded. If you have a 4WD vehicle, try to escape down onto some of the dirt roads that branch off of 67. When you are able to escape the crowds, it is amazingly quiet and peaceful down in the valley. A simple afternoon drive, a picnic of peanut butter sandwiches, a walk through a leaf pile. Fall is the perfect reminder that time is fleeting. You’re never going to have that moment back.  So soak it up!

2. HWY 9 to Breckenridge

You can get to highway 9 from highway 24 out of Colorado Springs, or I-70 from Denver. Then, drive through Hoosier Pass to Breckenridge.  There were a few wanderings off-course as we scoped the best groves of trees to explore, but that’s the general route. Scenic at any time of year, but during the aspen colors, it is at its peak. Road trips through the Colorado Rockies in any season are literally one of my favorite things. And nothing, nothing is better than those Rocky Mountains in the fall. If you plan your timing right, end your leaf-peeping drive at Breckenridge’s Oktoberfest celebration – one of the best in the area. Grab a classic Colorado beer from Breckenridge Brewing Company and a giant pretzel or apple strudel and find a spot to sit along the river walk. This is classic Colorado fall.

3. Guanella Pass

For the last two years in a row, my friends and I have made the trip over Guanella Pass during peak fall color. It’s definitely a great one. This drive takes you right by the trailhead for Mt. Beirdstat + through scenic Georgetown. Dispersed camping sites dot the road over Guanella. This would be a great place to camp + spend time hiking. But, you can easily manage this drive in an afternoon from Denver + back. We like to get Beau Joe’s pizza in Idaho Springs on our way home or stop to stretch our legs for a little bit in Georgetown. Get yourself a good playlist, some good company, and make your way into nature to enjoy this most colorful of seasons.

4. Lake Dillon/Keystone

Need even more Colorado leaf goodness? I took this drive with a couple of friends to Lake Dillon to hike through some aspens + eat bison burgers at the Dillon Dam Brewery. They have a decent Oktoberfest that is very autumn if you’re into that sort of thing (which you really should be). I’m excited about the chill in the air because I can go back to drinking brown ales which I fell in love with last year + just couldn’t manage during the warm summer months. Bring it on, Face Down Brown! On the road from Dillon to Keystone, we found this amazing grove of aspens just completely lit up in its seasonal best, right alongside a rocky creek. It’s kind of crazy that the ski resort at Keystone is just around the corner, which means this little spot looks much different in the winter + spring months.

5. Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway

I think one of the reasons the transitional seasons feel so special is their fleeting nature. You only have a few weeks before the grounds is covered with snow instead of a blanket of aspen leaves. Only a few weeks where you can be comfortable outside in a sweater alone, instead of that thick winter coat + hat + scarf + gloves + boots, etcetera, etcetera. This seems to happen especially quickly at the high elevations like Rocky Mountain National Park. The Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway runs south from the park to I-70. This drive is good in both ways. Either start in Estes Park with some warm drinks from Kind Coffee and head south back towards Denver or leave from Denver in the morning and end your day with a pint at Rock Cut Brewing Company.

Leaf-Peeping Fall Drives in Colorado

When I first moved to Colorado from the Midwest, I missed the variety of colors that you get in autumn. If I’m honest, I still do. I am drawn to those bright reds + oranges because they remind me of home. But up in the mountains, yellow is the color of the moment. And I’ve definitely grown to love the way golden swaths of forest coat the mountainsides.

If you’ve never hiked through an aspen grove, this is something that needs to go on your bucket list.  There is no sound quite like it, with the leaves crunching under your feet and the wind through the leaves like ocean waves sweeping the shore.  And when the leaves rustle and fall, they’re like gold dust fluttering to the ground. Nature has a way of ushering in the best kind of romance, don’t you think?

To help you plan your trip, the local news in Denver has a leaf tracker that announces the peak seasons for each of the regions of Colorado. But it’s usually a safe bet that the best colors are going to happen at elevation in mid-September through early October.

And if you’re looking to capture the magic of Colorado’s aspens on video, you can get my secrets for better iPhone video of your vacations in this free online email course.