15 Jaw-Dropping Destinations in Colorado to Visit This Year

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I’ll admit it, Colorado spoiled me for mountains a long time ago. Every trip starts with a sensible plan and ends with me pulling over every ten minutes because another view needs a photo. After years of road trips, these are the spots I’d call the most beautiful places in Colorado.

I’ve updated each one for 2027, with fresh details on permits and the best times to go. If you’re hoping to see a few in one trip, I’ve put together a three-week Colorado road trip itinerary that connects the highlights without much backtracking. Pack layers whatever the season, because temperatures drop fast once you climb above treeline!

• 💡 My #1 Tip: Flying into Denver without a car? I highly recommend this small-group Rocky Mountain National Park tour for an easy first taste of the Rockies, with park fees and a picnic lunch included.

Most Beautiful Places in Colorado at a Glance

I’ve road-tripped across Colorado again and again, and a handful of places keep pulling me back. These 15 are the spots I recommend to anyone who asks me where to find the state’s best scenery, from alpine lakes to sand dunes. If you only have time for a few, here are my five favorite beautiful places in Colorado!

1. Maroon Bells: Twin fourteeners reflected in Maroon Lake, best at sunrise with a parking reservation before 8 a.m.
2. Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve: North America’s tallest dunes, with sandboarding by day and Dark Sky stargazing at night
3. Telluride: A box-canyon mining town with a free gondola and Colorado’s tallest free-falling waterfall
4. Rocky Mountain National Park: Bugling elk every fall and the Trail Ridge Road drive, just 90 minutes from Denver
5. Mesa Verde National Park: Ranger-led tours inside 800-year-old cliff dwellings, including the 150-room Cliff Palace

I’ve pinned every spot in this guide on the map below, so you can see where each one sits across the state. Save it to your phone before you go, since several of these places pair nicely on one trip, like Telluride and Ouray in the San Juans. It makes planning a route (and skipping hours of backtracking over mountain passes) a lot easier!

1. Rocky Mountain National Park

• 📍 Location: Northern Colorado, 90 minutes northwest of Denver via Estes Park
• 🎟️ Entry: $30 per car, plus a timed entry permit from late May to mid-October
• 🥾 Best First Hike: Bear Lake to Emerald Lake, 3.6 miles round trip past Dream Lake
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Mid-September to mid-October for bugling elk and golden aspens 🍂
• 🏨 Where to Stay: The Stanley Hotel – Historic Estes Park hotel minutes from the east entrances

Denver has an unfair advantage over every other big city in America, and the reason sits 90 minutes up the road. Rocky Mountain National Park has 77 peaks above 12,000 feet and about 355 miles of trails, all within a long-weekend trip from Denver’s airport. Drive Trail Ridge Road to its 12,183-foot high point and you’ll see why it ranks among the prettiest spots in the Rockies.

I recommend starting your first morning at Bear Lake, where short trails climb to Dream Lake and Emerald Lake. For waterfalls with smaller crowds, head south to Wild Basin and hike to Calypso Cascades. From mid-September to mid-October, bull elk bugle in Moraine Park at dawn and dusk, and you’ll need to watch from 75 feet away while the meadows close to foot traffic from 5 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Between late May and mid-October, you’ll need a timed entry reservation to drive in from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., plus a separate Bear Lake Road permit covering 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. The system returns in 2027 under the park’s long-term access plan, with permits released monthly on Recreation.gov at 8 a.m. Mountain Time and a smaller batch dropping at 7 p.m. the night before. Check the park’s timed entry page before you book anything, and give yourself two full days to cover both the tundra and the forest trails.

2. Maroon Bells

• 📍 Location: 10 miles southwest of Aspen via Maroon Creek Road
• 🚌 Getting There: $16 RFTA shuttle from Aspen Highlands, late May to mid-October
• 🥾 Best Hike: Crater Lake Trail, 3.6 miles round trip to the base of the peaks
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Mid to late September for golden aspens around Maroon Lake 🍂
• 🏨 Where to Stay: The Limelight Hotel – Downtown Aspen hotel, a free bus ride from the shuttle base

Ever wondered where every Colorado calendar gets its cover photo? The answer is the Maroon Bells, a pair of 14,000-foot peaks reflected in Maroon Lake about 10 miles outside Aspen. Their reddish rock and the aspen groves below make this a top leaf-peeping spot in the state from mid to late September!

Photographers should skip the shuttle for sunrise and reserve a parking spot instead, since cars can drive up before 8 a.m. Once the light softens, I’d hike the Crater Lake Trail, which climbs 3.6 miles round trip to a lake sitting right beneath the peaks. For something bigger, the 26-mile Four Pass Loop crosses four high passes and requires an overnight permit.

Between late May and mid-October, the road is shuttle-only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with RFTA buses leaving Aspen Highlands every 15 minutes for $16 per adult. Reserve seats or $10 parking passes through the Maroon Bells reservation site well ahead of summer and fall weekends. Pitkin County takes over daily operations in 2027 and plans to triple the parking fee to $30, though shuttle prices stay put.

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3. Ouray

• 📍 Location: San Juan Mountains, about 5.5 hours southwest of Denver on US 550
• ♨️ Hot Springs Pool: $30 for adults, open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with sulfur-free water up to 106°F
• 🚙 Best Drive: Million Dollar Highway, 25 miles over Red Mountain Pass to Silverton
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: July to September for jeep roads, January for the Ice Park and Ice Fest ❄️
• 🏨 Where to Stay: The Beaumont Hotel – Restored 1886 Victorian hotel right on Main Street

Ouray didn’t earn the nickname “Switzerland of America” by accident. This tiny Victorian mining town fills a box canyon in the San Juan Mountains, with sheer cliffs and 13,000-foot peaks on three sides. You can spend the morning on a jeep trail and end the day in a hot spring with a view of where you’ve been!

I’d make the Ouray Hot Springs Pool your first stop, with clear, sulfur-free water and an overlook section that stays between 102°F and 106°F. From there, the Million Dollar Highway heads south over Red Mountain Pass on 25 miles of hairpin turns and cliff-edge drop-offs. Jeep rentals in town open up Yankee Boy Basin, where July wildflowers fill the valley below Mount Sneffels.

In winter, the Ouray Ice Park turns the Uncompahgre Gorge into more than 200 free ice climbing routes. The Ouray Ice Festival takes over town each January, but warm winters can leave the ice thin, as the 2026 festival found out. I’d watch the forecast before locking in 2027 plans. For summer hikes, check the Forest Service closure map before heading east of town, where parts of the 2026 Gold Mountain Fire area stayed closed into winter.

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4. Garden of the Gods

• 📍 Location: West side of Colorado Springs, about 75 minutes south of Denver
• 💵 Entry: Free year-round, open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. from May to October
• 🥾 Best Walk: Perkins Central Garden Trail, a paved 1.5-mile loop under the tallest rocks
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Sunrise in spring or fall, before summer weekend lots fill up 🌅
• 🏨 Where to Stay: Garden of the Gods Resort and Club – Mesa-top resort with rooms overlooking the rocks and Pikes Peak

Colorado Springs could charge a fortune for this view, and it legally can’t charge a cent. When the Perkins family gave Garden of the Gods to the city in 1909, they made free public access a condition, and it’s stayed that way ever since. Today this National Natural Landmark on the west side of town is packed with red sandstone fins up to 300 feet tall, with snowy Pikes Peak rising behind them.

Start on the Perkins Central Garden Trail, a paved 1.5-mile loop that weaves between the tallest formations, including Kissing Camels. For a better photo, the 1-mile Siamese Twins Trail frames Pikes Peak through a natural rock window, and the Mesa Overlook off Mesa Road catches the whole park glowing at sunrise. Climbers can scale the spires with a free permit, though chalk isn’t allowed.

Parking lots inside the park fill quickly on summer weekends. The free shuttle fixes that from Memorial Day weekend through late August, operating daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It returns on the same schedule in 2027. Leave time for the free Visitor & Nature Center, home to the world’s only Theiophytalia kerri, a plant-eating dinosaur discovered right here in the park.

5. Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

• 📍 Location: San Luis Valley, about 4 hours south of Denver and 37 miles from Alamosa
• 💵 Entry: $25 per vehicle for seven days, open 24 hours a day year-round
• 🏂 Sandboard Rentals: Oasis Store, 4 miles from the visitor center (spring to early fall)
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Late May to early June for Medano Creek, September and October for cooler sand 🌊
• 🏨 Where to Stay: Great Sand Dunes Lodge – Closest lodging to the park, right by the entrance

Sledding in shorts sounds wrong until you try it here. Great Sand Dunes National Park is home to North America’s tallest sand dunes, with Star Dune rising 750 feet above the San Luis Valley floor in southern Colorado. Pair that with the 13,000-foot Sangre de Cristo peaks behind it, and you get a landscape that looks like a movie set!

Rent a sand sled or sandboard at the Oasis Store, 4 miles from the visitor center, because regular snow sleds and saucers won’t budge on dry sand. Then hike to High Dune on the first ridge, about 2.5 miles round trip with 699 feet of climbing, ideally before 10 a.m. On summer afternoons, the sand can reach 150°F, and lightning often strikes the dunefield during storms.

Spring brings Medano Creek, a wide, ankle-deep stream that usually peaks in late May or early June, though a dry winter held it to a tenth of its normal flow in 2026. Before a 2027 trip, check the park’s Medano Creek conditions page, which shows the spring flow forecast and exactly where the water stops. Stick around after dark too, because the park never closes, and one of the most beautiful places in Colorado somehow gets better once its Dark Sky stars come out.

6. Mesa Verde National Park

• 📍 Location: Southwest Colorado, about 35 miles west of Durango near Cortez
• 🎟️ Cliff Dwelling Tours: About $8 on Recreation.gov, released 14 days ahead at 8 a.m. MT
• 💵 Entry: $30 per vehicle for seven days in peak season, card only
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: September to mid-October, when tours still run and summer heat eases 🍂
• 🏨 Where to Stay: Far View Lodge – The only lodging inside the park, open mid-April to mid-October

Long before anyone built condos in Colorado, the Ancestral Puebloans were tucking homes into cliff alcoves. Mesa Verde National Park protects about 600 of those cliff dwellings, along with nearly 5,000 archaeological sites spread across a high mesa in southwest Colorado. Its headliner is Cliff Palace, a 150-room village that housed around 100 people in the 1200s.

Book a ranger-led tour on Recreation.gov exactly 14 days ahead at 8 a.m. Mountain Time, since it’s the only way inside Cliff Palace and Balcony House. Tickets cost about $8 per person and vanish fast, with Cliff Palace limited to 50 people per tour. If ladders and tight squeezes sound fun, Balcony House is my pick for the more exciting tour.

The tour season stretches from early May to late October, and Far View Lodge, the only place to stay inside the park, keeps similar dates. Give yourself a full day, since the tour sites sit up to 75 minutes from the entrance and cell service disappears once you arrive. The $30 vehicle fee is card-only, and unlike Rocky Mountain National Park, there’s no $100 surcharge for international visitors.

7. Vail

• 📍 Location: Off I-70, about 100 miles (2 hours) west of Denver
• ⛷️ Ski Season: Opening day planned for November 13, 2026, with seven Back Bowls to explore
• 🎟️ Lift Tickets: Buy an Epic Day Pass online before your trip to skip steep window prices
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: January to March for skiing, late June to July for summer activities and festivals 🏵️
• 🏨 Where to Stay: The Lodge at Vail – Ski-in, ski-out rooms steps from Gondola One

Vail started in 1962 with one gondola and two chairlifts, and it’s grown a bit since then. Today, Vail is Colorado’s largest ski resort, with 5,317 acres of terrain and seven famous Back Bowls. The town sits right off I-70, about two hours west of Denver.

I recommend spending the morning on the groomed front side, then head to the Back Bowls once the sun softens the snow. Confident skiers should save a day for Blue Sky Basin, where the runs wind through the trees and feel far from the crowds. The 2026/27 season is set to open November 13. Buying an Epic Day Pass online before your trip costs much less than a ticket at the window (anyone aged 13 to 30 gets 20% off).

Don’t skip summer, when the gondolas carry hikers and mountain bikers up to wildflower meadows. Back in town, Vail Village has car-free streets with European-inspired charm, and Gore Creek is a great spot for fly fishing. The Bravo! Vail Music Festival celebrates its 40th season from June 25 to July 28, 2027, with the New York Philharmonic playing at the open-air Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater.

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8. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

• 📍 Location: Western Colorado, 15 miles east of Montrose (South Rim entrance)
• 💵 Entry: $30 per vehicle for seven days, valid at both rims
• 🥾 Inner Canyon: Adventurous hikers need a Recreation.gov permit, and Warner Route is the one South Rim route open
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: May to October, when both rims and East Portal Road are open to cars
• 🏨 Where to Stay: North Rim Campground – First-come sites while the South Rim Campground stays closed

Some parts of this canyon get only 33 minutes of sunlight a day, which explains the name. Black Canyon of the Gunnison drops 2,722 feet at its deepest point, and the Gunnison River squeezes to about 40 feet wide at the bottom. Don’t miss the Painted Wall, a 2,250-foot cliff streaked with pink rock and the tallest in Colorado.

I recommend driving the South Rim Road, which has 12 overlooks, and saving Chasm View and Painted Wall View for late afternoon light. The North Rim sees far fewer visitors, but there’s no bridge between the rims, and the drive around takes two to three hours. Stay for sunset if you can, since the park is an International Dark Sky Park and the night sky here is excellent.

The 2025 South Rim Fire burned much of the South Rim’s forest, and its campground remains closed with no reopening date. The Gunnison and Tomichi routes into the inner canyon are closed too, which leaves the long, steep Warner Route as the one South Rim option, with permits on Recreation.gov. If you’re driving East Portal Road down to the river, check park alerts first, because the burned slopes above it can slide after heavy rain.

9. Pikes Peak

• 📍 Location: About 30 minutes west of Colorado Springs, with the highway gate in Cascade
• 🚗 Drive Up: $18 per adult or $65 per carload, plus a $2 timed-entry permit in summer
• 🚂 Cog Railway: Tickets from $67 online, and summer trains sell out about two weeks ahead
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Late September to mid-October for golden aspens on the way up 🍂
• 🏨 Where to Stay: The Mining Exchange – Historic hotel in downtown Colorado Springs, inside the city’s old mining exchanges

It’s hard to write about the most beautiful places in Colorado without including the mountain that inspired “America the Beautiful.” Pikes Peak rises to 14,115 feet just west of Colorado Springs, and Katharine Lee Bates wrote the famous lines after reaching the top in 1893. You can drive or ride a train to the summit, which makes it one of the easiest fourteeners in the state to reach.

If you’re driving the 19-mile Pikes Peak Highway, book a $2 timed-entry permit for summer visits, on top of the $18 adult admission or $65 carload rate. Take it slow and use a low gear on the way down to save your brakes on the steep switchbacks. At the top, the Summit Visitor Center has exhibits on the mountain’s unique alpine life, plus the famous high-altitude donuts.

The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway leaves from Manitou Springs, costs from $67 online and takes about three hours round trip. Book at least two weeks ahead in summer and fall, since trains sell out. If you’re driving in 2027, skip June 27, when the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb closes the highway for its 105th race to the summit.

10. Telluride

• 📍Location: Box canyon in the San Juan Mountains, 65 miles from Montrose airport
• ⛷️ Ski Season: November 26, 2026, to April 4, 2027, with seven Epic Pass days included
• 🚡 Free Gondola: 12-minute ride to Mountain Village, daily from 6:30 a.m. to midnight in season
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Late September for golden aspens, or June 17 to 20, 2027, for Telluride Bluegrass 🎶
• 🏨 Where to Stay: New Sheridan Hotel – Historic hotel on Colorado Avenue, a short walk from the gondola

Telluride is the mountain town I recommend to friends who think they’ve already seen the best of Colorado. The town sits at 8,750 feet at the end of a box canyon in the San Juan Mountains, with Victorian storefronts hemmed in by 13,000-foot peaks. The paved road simply stops at the canyon wall, which keeps the whole town feeling tucked away.

The best part, in my opinion, is how little you need a car once you’re here. The free gondola links town with Mountain Village in about 12 minutes, and I’d ride it at sunset for the view back over the canyon. For a hike, the Bridal Veil Trail leads to the base of Bridal Veil Falls, which drops 365 feet and is the tallest free-falling waterfall in Colorado.

Winter brings 2,000 acres of skiing, with the 2026/27 season planned from November 26 to April 4, and Epic Pass holders get seven days here. In summer, the town fills up for festivals, from the 54th Telluride Bluegrass Festival on June 17 to 20, 2027, to the Telluride Film Festival over Labor Day weekend. I’d aim for late September, though, when the aspens turn gold and the crowds thin out before the gondola closes for its fall break.

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11. Trail Ridge Road (Estes Park to Grand Lake)

• 📍 Location: Northern Colorado, 48 miles on US 34 from Estes Park to Grand Lake
• 🎟️ Entry: Park pass plus a timed entry permit from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., late May to mid-October
• 🏔️ High Point: 12,183 feet, with 11 miles of road above treeline
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: July for tundra wildflowers, September for elk and golden aspens 🌄
• 🏨 Where to Stay: The Stanley Hotel – Historic (and haunted) hotel in Estes Park, at the eastern start of the drive

Within an hour of leaving Estes Park, you can swap T-shirt weather for wind-blown tundra that feels closer to Alaska than Colorado. Trail Ridge Road makes that climb over 48 miles of US 34, reaching 12,183 feet, and it holds the title of the highest continuous paved road in the country. It links Estes Park with Grand Lake across Rocky Mountain National Park, and 11 miles of the drive sit above treeline.

I think the drive is best early in the morning, when the light is soft and elk are still out in the meadows before afternoon storms roll in. My must-stop is Rock Cut, where the 1-mile Tundra Communities Trail puts you right on the tundra with views across the peaks. Don’t turn around at the top either, since the Grand Lake side has the Kawuneeche Valley, where moose graze along the young Colorado River.

Plan on at least half a day, and remember the road is seasonal, usually opening in late May and closing to through traffic between mid-October and November. You’ll need a timed entry permit to enter the park between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. from late May to mid-October. From early July to early October, I’d drive up the one-way Old Fall River Road and return on Trail Ridge for a loop with a very different feel.

• 💡My #1 Tip: No car? No problem. I recommend this small-group tour of Rocky Mountain National Park, which picks you up at Denver’s Union Station and heads straight for the tundra on Trail Ridge Road. Your park fees are covered, and lunch is a picnic with a good chance of elk for neighbors!

12. Crystal Mill

• 📍 Location: About 6 miles east of Marble in the Crystal River Valley
• 🚙 Access: Rough one-lane 4WD road from Marble, or a guided jeep tour (June to November)
• 📸 Photo Tip: The classic view is from the ledge right of the mill, which fits only three or four people
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Late September to early October for golden aspens around the mill 🍂
• 🏨 Where to Stay: Redstone Inn – Historic Tudor-style inn in Redstone, about 20 minutes from Marble

If you’ve scrolled through Colorado photos online, you’ve probably seen this old mill already. The Crystal Mill sits on a rock outcrop above the Crystal River, about 6 miles east of the tiny town of Marble, with a waterfall rushing underneath. Built in the early 1890s to power nearby silver mines, it’s among the last structures left from the old mining camp of Crystal.

Fair warning, the road in is rough. East of Marble it turns into a narrow shelf road with rocky climbs that need a high-clearance 4WD and some off-road experience. I’d leave it to the pros and book a guided jeep tour in Marble, which frees you up to enjoy the aspens and Lizard Lake along the way.

For me, the mill deserves a spot on any list of Colorado’s most beautiful places, especially in late September when the aspens turn gold. Back in town, don’t skip Marble itself, where the local quarry supplied stone for the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Just remember the mill stands on private land, and the ropes around the best viewpoints are there to keep it standing!

13. Aspen

• 📍 Location: Roaring Fork Valley in Central Colorado, about 160 miles southwest of Denver
• ⛷️ Ski Season: Four mountains open from November 26, 2026, with seven days on the Ikon Pass
• 🎵 Free Music: Bring a blanket to the free lawn outside the Benedict Music Tent in summer
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Late June to August for festivals, late September for golden aspens 🍂
• 🏨 Where to Stay: Hotel Jerome – Iconic 1889 hotel in the heart of downtown Aspen

Aspen has a reputation for private jets and designer boutiques, but a lot of what I recommend here is free. It began as a silver mining town in the 1880s, and its red-brick Victorian buildings now hold galleries and some of Colorado’s best restaurants. Four ski mountains sit within a short drive of downtown, which gives Aspen a year-round buzz few mountain towns can match.

In summer, grab a blanket and a picnic for the free lawn outside the Benedict Music Tent, where the Aspen Music Festival plays for about eight weeks from late June. For a drive, Independence Pass climbs to 12,095 feet about 19 miles east of town, making it the highest paved state highway in Colorado. Despite the glamorous image, Aspen offers adventures for every budget if you know where to look.

Winter belongs to the skiers, and the 2026/27 season is set to open November 26, with the Ikon Pass covering seven days across all four mountains. Independence Pass closes for winter, usually in late October or early November, and reopens the week before Memorial Day. My pick for a first visit is late September, when the aspen trees that gave this town its name turn gold on the hillsides!

14. Durango

• 📍 Location: Southwest Colorado on the Animas River, less than an hour from Mesa Verde
• 🚂 Train to Silverton: Early May to early November, from about $118 for a full-day round trip
• ⛷️ Purgatory Resort: Opens November 20, 2026, with lift tickets from $9 on select dates
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Late September to mid-October for golden aspens along the train route 🍂
• 🏨 Where to Stay: The Strater Hotel – 1887 Victorian hotel near the depot, with live ragtime in the saloon

Few train rides in America are as famous as the one that leaves Durango’s Main Avenue each morning. Durango grew up as a railroad and mining town in the 1880s, and its Victorian storefronts still line the street leading to the depot. Today it’s a laid-back base for exploring the San Juan Mountains, with Mesa Verde National Park less than an hour away.

Book the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad well ahead, since summer and fall weekends sell out, especially the open-air gondola cars. Standard coach tickets start around $118 round trip. The full journey to Silverton is a long day of about nine hours, with roughly two hours to explore the old mining town. If that sounds like a lot, the train-and-bus Skyway option gets you back sooner, and the winter Cascade Canyon trip is a shorter five-hour ride.

Durango is just as fun off the rails. Summer brings rafting on the Animas River right through town, and winter means skiing at Purgatory Resort, which opens November 20, 2026, with kids 12 and under skiing free all season. For a place to stay, the Strater Hotel has been hosting guests since 1887, and author Louis L’Amour liked it enough to book Room 222 every time!

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15. Crested Butte

• 📍 Location: Top of the Gunnison Valley, about 30 miles north of Gunnison on Highway 135
• ⛷️ Ski Season: Opens late November, with unlimited days on the Epic Local Pass
• 🌸 Wildflowers: Peak in July, when the 10-day Wildflower Festival hosts 150+ events
• 📅 Best Time to Visit: Late September to early October for the aspen groves on Kebler Pass 🍂
• 🏨 Where to Stay: The Elk Mountain Lodge – Historic bed and breakfast in the heart of town

Crested Butte calls itself the last great Colorado ski town, and it’s hard to argue with that. It’s a former coal mining town at the top of the Gunnison Valley, with pastel Victorian storefronts along Elk Avenue and Mt. Crested Butte towering above. The paved road ends just past town, which keeps it feeling far removed from the I-70 crowds.

Summer is when I’d visit, because July fills the meadows with lupine and mule’s ear sunflowers. Colorado named Crested Butte its Wildflower Capital in 1990, and the 10-day Crested Butte Wildflower Festival each July offers more than 150 events, from guided hikes to photography workshops. Afterward, I’d grab dinner at one of the locally owned restaurants on Elk Avenue, which is still refreshingly free of chains.

If I had to pick one of the most beautiful places in Colorado for fall color, it’d be the drive over Kebler Pass. It’s a 30-mile dirt road through one of the largest aspen groves in the country. The gold usually peaks from late September into early October, around the same time locals celebrate the quirky Vinotok harvest festival.

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