Will good Fall color extend into October in Telluride, CO
August 21, 2014 10:30 AM   Subscribe

My wife and I had to move our road trip to the Telluride area back a couple of weeks to the first week of October. I'm worried that we will be greeted with bare aspen trees! I know that the timing of peak color can change from year to year, so I realize that any advice is just a best guess. So, are we in luck? Thanks!
posted by Don_K to Travel & Transportation around Telluride, CO (7 answers total)
 
This seems to suggest that you'll be on the late side by a week or two.
posted by killdevil at 10:40 AM on August 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


You'll almost certainly be late, up high in Telluride. You may have luck up north in the Flat Tops (meeker-> yampa, or between Gunnison and Crested Butte on Ohio Pass.

When you say first week, do you mean the 6th, or the week that contains the 1st? If the latter you may be in luck.

I've gone out to that area for fall color at least a half dozen times, and by the third or fourth, it's usually done.
posted by notsnot at 10:48 AM on August 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Wow, I was afraid of that! Thanks so much for the advice.
posted by Don_K at 11:24 AM on August 21, 2014


When the aspen are done, cottonwoods are still shining along the rivers, especially in the southern part of Colorado and northern New Mexico. It can be really lovely.
posted by Sybil Stockwell Oop at 11:40 AM on August 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


What was your tentative itinerary?
posted by notsnot at 12:12 PM on August 21, 2014


Response by poster: @notsnot

We are heading out from Boulder on Oct. 3rd to Crested Butte, Lake City, Ouray, then Telluride. Even with the autumn colors waning, it should still be a great trip!
posted by Don_K at 8:19 AM on August 22, 2014


From Boulder, you should probably take the long way - drop down and take Independence Pass into Aspen, take some of the roads out of the Aspen area west, then head up around Carbondale to take McClure Pass - and then Kebler pass over to CB. And make sure to take Ohio Pass, not the Almont route (tho that's nice as well).

Can your vehicle handle Engineer Pass from LC to Ouray?

Once you're in Ouray, out of Ridgway you can take County Roads 5, 7, and 9 for some great shots. To get to Telluride, take the Last Dollar Road, not the state highway.

Enjoy!
posted by notsnot at 4:32 PM on August 23, 2014


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