We’ve got your guide to the best fall panoramas and creative ways to enjoy the spectacular colors, too.
Sawatch Range
This is high-elevation splendor, with eight of the 20 highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains calling this range home — including Mount Elbert, the tallest in Colorado.
Set up basecamp in: Leadville, Twin Lakes, Buena Vista or Salida
How to Take in the Colors:
Have your breath taken away twice on a rock-climbing adventure in the Independence Pass area. Once by the fall scenery and twice by the epic climb itself. If you’re an experienced do-it-yourselfer, head for Monitor Rock, which rises above pine and aspen forests and has some 60 routes to choose from.
Buena Vista’s Historic OHV Fall Color Tour (September) provides off-highway vehicle riders with self-guided access to San Isabel National Forest trails chosen for maximum leaf-peeping potential. You’ll also be able to explore old mining camps and ghost towns along high-mountain passes.
Sangre de Cristos
It’s said that southern Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo mountains get their name (Spanish for “blood of Christ”) from the red color they are drenched in at sunset every evening. In fall, they are tinged with crimson, ochre and gold foliage, too.
Set up basecamp in: Alamosa, La Veta or Cuchara
How to Take in the Colors:
Beer, music and fall foliage? Prost! They all converge during La Veta Oktoberfest (October) on this downtown street fair, which also features a car show, dancing and more than 60 arts and crafts vendors.
San Juan Mountains
Some of the most famous photographs of Colorado’s fall colors have been taken right here in the San Juans.
Set up basecamp in: Telluride, Ouray, Silverton, Durango or Pagosa Springs
How to Take in the Colors:
The San Juan Skyway scenic and historic byway is a 236-mile loop that guarantees you great leaf-peeping scenery during the fall gold rush. Approach the loop in sections over a couple of days, and stop at the summit of Molas Pass, downtown Telluride for the famous view of Bridal Veil Falls and maybe even Ridgway’s Orvis Hot Springs, where you can admire sights of iconic Mount Sneffels, framed by multi-hued foliage, while you soak.
If you’re equipped with a 4x4 vehicle, head to the Alpine Loop scenic and historic byway, connecting the mountain towns of Ouray, Silverton and Lake City. This rugged route has hiking and mountain-biking trails galore, mining history and unfettered views of shimmering aspens and 14,000-foot peaks. And when riding OHVs through the Alpine Loop, make sure you follow Colorado's off-roading motto of "Stay the Trail."
Medicine Bow Range
Towering summits, high-mountain lakes ringed by blazing aspens and roaming wildlife are among the sights that await in this high-alpine range that covers 100 miles across the state line into Wyoming.
Set up basecamp in: Walden
How to Take in the Colors:
State Forest State Park is considered the moose-viewing capital of Colorado, with some 600 of Bullwinkle’s buddies roaming free. Wilderness access is easy if you start at the Moose Visitor Center. Tip: Always use caution and never get close to a moose (as tempting as that selfie may be).
Make a stop at Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, where avid birders flock to spot Wilson’s snipe, American avocet and dowitchers among the refuge’s prairie wetlands, surrounded by reddening prairie grasses in the fall. In late September to early October, migration peaks to some 8,000 waterfowl.
Gore Range
These enchanting, jagged peaks are classic Colorado — visible right from hiking trails and the main streets of many ski-resort towns.
Set up basecamp in: Vail or Silverthorne
How to Take in the Colors:
Hardy backpackers will cherish the Gore Range Trail, a 45-mile trek from Copper Mountain to Green Mountain Reservoir. You’ll climb above treeline, traverse stunning Uneva Pass and camp beside crystalline lakes, with plenty of radiant aspen stands along the way.
A more moderate hike awaits in Eagles Nest Wilderness: Take the Upper Piney Trail through large aspen groves to Piney Lake, with cascading waterfalls and views into glacial-carved valleys along the way (4X4 vehicle recommended).