Colorado Mountain Town Mid September

You can go south to Salida and Monarch in about 3 hrs. Steamboat is about 3hrs as well. Grand Lake is on the west side of RMNP but it has a lot of burn scars from last year but there is a lot of land up there.

Anything within a 2 hrs drive of Denver will be packed. It’s worth the extra drive to get some breathing room.

Leadville.

Tennessee Pass. Shrine Pass off Redcliffe. Mt. Elbert Forebay. Independence Pass. All within an hour. Aspen groves everywhere.

Leadville is about two hours from the airport. Everyone will flock to Aspen, Eagle, Summit, RMNP ect. I can put you see some drives that definitely won't be overrun too.

If you do Salida or BV, you have the collegiate peaks there.

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Would like to do another 14er.

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Sherman and Elbert are the two easiest options. Sherman is pretty damn easy for a 14er and it's right outside of Leadville. Elbert is a 25 minute drive south to near Twin Lakes. Be prepared for the possibility of snow up there by mid-september (I'm looking at Mt. Oxford with snow above 14k from today right now). You can easily hit Harvard/Oxford/Massive/La Plata from Leadville, but those take a bit more effort.

BV is about 45 minutes from Leadville too, and Cottonwood Pass area down there would be awesome for the leaves too.

I normally don't just recommend the Leadville area (since it's really small) for people to stay up here, but the fall colors are an exception because of the proximity to so much. Hour from Vail. 90 minutes to Aspen. 45 minutes to most of Summit. Less than an hour to BV. US 24 up to Minturn is a hell of a drive when the Aspens are turning. Have an AWD vehicle? Hit Shrine Pass out of Redcliffe, go through miles of Aspen groves, see some 14ers and the divide, then you're to the top of Vail Pass.

Jumping in on this conversation since my wife and I are staying in Copper through July 30th, potentially a week more. Few questions...

Do y'all have any short day hike suggestions (3-5 miles) within 30 minutes of Copper that we can tackle during the week days? Disclosure, we're working remotely and can get out of work for the afternoon around 4pm, maybe sooner if we're lucky, so something that can be done in a couple hours.

We'd like to tackle at least one 14er while here. From reading this thread and other suggestions, I'm looking at Quandary, Gray & Torreys Peaks', Sherman, and Elbert. Reading about Sherman on Alltrails, it seems currently a PITA driving to, and Elbert is difficult for parking. Which of the Collegiate Peaks do you recommend? We're in-shape and relatively experienced hikers, if that helps.

Duke, I'm taking note of the scenic drives mentioned above. Do you have suggestions for great spots to grab lunch and beer after a hike, or for dinner options? Copper is kinda void of unique options, but it's a nice quiet resort.

On the subject of 14ers, I may have you a work around for the Elbert parking situation.

You can either hit the Blackcloud trailhead off CO 82. You'll need to plug it into the GPS because it is not marked from the road and extremely easy to miss.

or

Take the Forest Service Road right next to the South Elbert Trailhead. It goes back to a second trailhead for Elbert, cuts off a mile from the start/finish. You will need AWD and it's only wide enough for one car.

Another option would be to hit the north trailhead, but you'll have to hike from the Halfmoon Campground before even getting to the trailhead. The road past the campground is closed until further notice.

For the Collegiates, maybe Belfort and Oxford off the Missouri Gulch trailhead. It's down off the Clear Creek Road right before you get to Vicksburg. Wildflowers should be on point back there. I know they were trying to make the Mt. Columbia trail not suck over the past couple of years, so that too might be worth checking out. Plus, if you're feeling up to it and the weather cooperates, you can hit the summit of Mt. Harvard from the top (but it's not easy).

If I can catch enough time in the next week or so, I'll take the road up to Sherman and check it out.

You need to take the Hope Pass hike too. You hit it from the Willis Gulch trailhead on CO 82, like two miles west of the Twin Lakes Village. It's well signed and part of the Colorado Trail. With the rain we've gotten recently, it's got to be wildflower explosion up there. Hell of a view overlooking Twin Lakes too. You can walk it all the way down to Winfield along Clear Creek or just to the summit of the pass. A good 3000 foot gain on that one, over about 4.5 miles.

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Do you have suggestions for great spots to grab lunch and beer after a hike, or for dinner options?

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Go see AJ at Angry James Brewery in Silverthorne.

For restaurants, just take the first exit for Frisco/Breckenridge and go down main street. People who come there and stay for skiing might have some better ideas. I'm an hour away from the Summit stuff, so I'm not as much use for that.

Elbert isn't crazy steep anywhere. Lots of switchbacks. The distance gets you, and the fact you really need to be up before sunrise the way the weather acts up there.

If you do Hope Pass on Saturday, swing by the visitor's center after. I'll be there after 1ish, volunteering as a local guide. Payment can be made in beer or edibles.

Leadville. Do Elbert. T

I wish you were closer to Durango. I want someone to take me to Chaco Canyon.