October Trip to the Mountains - Short

Be sure to book a hotel that actually provides A/C. A number of hotels in that area do not.

Vail isn't for me personally, it's a bit pretentious imo. I'd choose Breck if you want a resort town. Salida and Buena Vista are great for hiking and scenic drives if you prefer a smaller mountain town.

Go to Estes park and stay at the Stanley Hotel or Black Canyon Inn.

Beautiful 1.5 hour drive from Denver Airport (once you get through Denver).

From Estes you can drive 20ish minutes to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Another beautiful drive is from Estes Park to Red Rocks in Morrison.

We did this trip a few weeks ago. When we landed in Denver it was 95F. By the time we reached Estes park it was 68F.

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Snowbird

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Headed there in a couple of weeks. Anything of particular interest? Hikes, restaurants, pretty much whatever.

First weekend in October. With a day or two on either end.

I live up here and like I said earlier, I will be in Frisco next weekend for the fall colors. We are going to bike up and down Vail Pass and then spend time in the town.

You are going to be right at the tail end of the Fall color season, but it should still be good. The highs in the areas you are looking at will be in the 60s, but they won't get there until 11-12 and the lows will likely be in the low 40s or into the 30s. Bring layers and we are getting a decent amount of spotty rain right now so plan for that.

It is realistically going to take 4 hours to drive to Aspen. Vail and Breck are about 2 hours. Frisco is just under 2 hours, but gives the option to drive to either place for dinner or events. Estes Park is probably about 1 and a half hours.

I do not like Vail as a place to stay. It is nice, but it is limited for the activities you mention.

Breck probably gives you the most walkable access to good restaurants, music, shopping. Plenty of hiking and nature available.

Frisco is a smaller, more laid-back Breck with less food and entertainment options right there, but you can drive easily to other locations. Lots of hiking and a reservoir.

Estes Park is amazing, but I haven't spent much time there so I will defer to others.

You are unlikely to go wrong with any of the options you are looking at or that have been recommended.

ETA: I thought you were the OP, but my recommendations stand for a close to Denver trip.

Stay in Frisco. Breck, Copper, Vail, Keystone are all right there. Would be plenty to do.

Keep in mind, that area is at about 9,000 feet. Some may experience issues.

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First weekend in October. With a day or two on either end.

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Leaves should still be pretty in the mountains, if not right at peak.

Little Cottonwood Canyon - White Pine trail has a lot of aspens. You don't need to walk super far to see them. Lisa Falls. Tram ride at snowbird. Cecret Lake.

Big Cottonwood Canyon - Brighton Lakes Loop. Donut Falls. One of the coolest hikes in Northern Utah is to Lake Blanche. It is pretty exhausting (about 3.5 miles one way uphill), but worth it for the views. Drive over Guardsman Pass to Heber/Park City. I like the scenery and drive in BC over LC, but both are great.

American Fork Canyon - Stewart Falls and Primrose Overlook are two great fall hikes that aren't super difficult. You can also drive over to Heber from this road (Alpine Loop), it's beautiful. Trumps both Cottonwoods IMO. Sundance resort is here, but it's more towards the Provo Canyon side of the road.

It's gonna be a busy time, so start early and expect traffic/dumbass drivers. The roads are narrow up top, so smaller vehicle would be better.

SLC surprisingly has a few good breweries. Red Rock is my favorite and they have good food as well. TF, Kiitos, and Bewilder are close by in the city. Bohemian makes a lot of German beer, and has delicious food to match. That would be closer to Snowbird.

If you want fancy dinners, Franck's, La Caille, Log Haven, Mur y Montana are a good mix spread around the area. High West has great food (and whiskey of course) as well.

My favorite restaurant in SLC was called Provisions. They closed in July sadly, but if you follow on instagram, the chef still does tasting menu dinners every few weeks. Not sure if they will have one while you're here, but it would be well worth it if so.

If National Parks appeal to you, then Estes Park is a great option. RMNP is absolutely amazing. It's also (as wth most national parks) amazingly crowded a lot of the time. I'm sure it will be a little less nuts in October, but oftentimes there's very little parking, and you need to take a shuttle in to trails. That being said... it is very, very pretty.

Frisco is a great option as others said. You can access a lot of different "ski towns" like Breckenridge and Copper Mountain from there. I think someone else suggested it in a different thread, but doing the Vail Pass paved trail on a bike is like 15 miles, mostly downhill, and they'll shuttle you up to vail Pass, then you just ride your bike all the way back down to Frisco. Very manageable for families.

Breck has a nice food scene. Radicato and Rootstalk both received Michelin recognition this week.