Head Out
This ain’t no private club.
Photo by Dan Bayer
From scenic drives and lazy river floats to grueling bike rides and four-day backpacking trips, we’re sure there’s something out there that will accommodate both your ability and ambitiousness. An adventure awaits you. Head out and find it.
Hike
Day Hike: Midway Trail
There are advantages to taking the less-traveled route, and the Midway Trail is one of them. Beginning at the popular Lost Man trailhead (fourteen miles outside Aspen, toward Independence Pass on Highway 82), the trail forks left after half a mile and ascends eighteen switchbacks through fragrant pine forest. Rewards for the steep climb include a tiny high-alpine lake ringed with wildflowers and 360-degree views toward Independence Pass, the Collegiate Peaks, and into the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness. Continue to 12,120-foot Midway Pass and into the Hunter Creek Valley for a total of nine miles, or turn around and call it good. For more details on this hike and scores of others, pick up Warren Ohlrich’s Aspen/Snowmass Trails: Hiking Trail Guide at Ute Mountaineer on South Galena Street.
2-DAY BACKPACK
Inspiration for plein-air painters and the raison d’être for many naturalists, wildflowers simply add color and joy to any high-country outing. But there’s an extra level of awareness—and satisfaction—when you can point out a monkeyflower, cinquefoil, showy milkweed, or bricklebush.
To understand the local wildflower scene, pick up Janis Huggins’s Wild at Heart, an indispensable, comprehensive natural history guide. And ask around for the best wildflower hikes, which may change by the week. Peak season with the most riotous blooms is typically in late July.
EAST SNOWMASS CREEK
TO WILLOW LAKE
Among the dozens of overnight out-and-back backpacking opportunities in the Aspen area, the East Snowmass Trail to Willow Lake is not terribly different from the others. It starts in aspen, spruce, and pine forest around 8,300 feet—half a mile from the trailhead of the much more popular Snowmass Creek trail, which it parallels for most of its eight-and-half miles. Like many local trails, it ascends a glacier-carved valley marked by a rushing creek, reaches treeline, and then spits you out into the vast pristine world of wildflower meadows, rolling tundra, and big blue sky. The last mile or so crosses the requisite pass (East Snowmass) and ends at a postcard-perfect lake (Willow, pictured above). But the difference is that this trail is often overlooked—perhaps the initial steep section puts hikers off—meaning the views of the Maroon Bells, Capitol, and Snowmass peaks will likely be enjoyed by just you and your tentmate. (Hint: Dump your pack at the lake and hike the extra mile and a half to Willow Pass.) Though this hike is doable without a guide, Aspen Expeditions (aspenexpeditions.com) offers full-service, all-equipment-included camp trips.
4-DAY BACKPACK
FOUR-PASS LOOP
There’s a reason Backpacker magazine recently named the Four-Pass Loop one of its twenty all-time favorite hikes. This Colorado classic includes four passes over 12,400 feet, plentiful idyllic camping spots, and all the usual ingredients of high-country hiking: dramatic views, challenging terrain, and an encyclopedia’s worth of flora and fauna. And though it can feel crowded at points—around Maroon and Crater Lakes near the trailhead, on West Maroon Pass, and near Snowmass Lake—one can still feel relatively alone on many stretches.
The Maroon Bells—often called the most photographed peaks in North America—are the undeniable attraction of this twenty-eight-mile circuit, but why else is it overwhelmingly the most popular choice for a multiday backpack in the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District? Because it’s one of the only ones.
The Four-Pass Loop is among a handful of long hikes in the Aspen area that begin and end in the same spot and create a loop. Others worth considering include what Forest Service ranger Brian Porter calls the “three-pass loop,” a circuit of Snowmass and East Snowmass Creeks and the three passes that link their headwaters areas. A little further downvalley, a loop can be created linking the Capitol and Avalanche Creek trails. Most other options, however, include a car shuttle, routefinding, or both.
But even with the hype, the Four-Pass Loop should be on any avid backpacker’s bucket list. Apen Alpine Guides (aspenalpine.com) takes clients on the trip several times a summer. If you’ve done it before, there are ways to do it differently next time: counterclockwise instead of clockwise, detouring over to Crested Butte, or climbing one of the peaks en route.
But there’s only one way to find out what the fuss is all about. And that’s to do it.
BIKE
ROAD BIKING
EMMA ROUBAIX
Crafted by a local cycling club as a tribute to a classic European road race, the Emma Roubaix is not quite as burly as its namesake. The Paris-Roubaix, one-third cobblestone and dirt, is known as the toughest single-day road race in the world and covers 150 miles. The roughly twenty-two-mile Emma Roubaix, sans cobblestone, also takes cyclists off-road—and off the beaten path—on a tour of the valley’s most charming countryside.
Starting twenty miles downvalley from Aspen in Emma (the hamlet marked by its historic whitewashed schoolhouse), the ride includes parts of West and East Sopris Creek Roads, Capitol Creek Road, and Snowmass Creek Road. Three main climbs and fast descents take cyclists through bucolic ranch and grazing lands and past the St. Benedict Monastery. With a variety of road surfaces and plenty of time to take in views of Snowmass Ski Area, Mount Sopris, and other stunning mountain scenery, this is an epic, and unique, valley ride. If you don’t want to go it alone, Sun Dog Athletics (sundogathletics.com) offers instructional tours.
DOWNHILL
SNOWMASS SKI AREA
With the opening of the Elk Camp Gondola and chairlift for summer operations last year, Snowmass is finally growing into a premier lift-served mountain biking destination. This summer sees a second intermediate downhill trail—the Vapor trail, off the Elk Camp summit—added to Snowmass’s forty-mile inventory. (Bike rentals are available.) The new ride features berms, bridges, and abundant natural features and is the site of a downhill race series on Fridays. Next season, an advanced freeride trail will debut. The original collection of downhill trails in the Sam’s Knob area are still open for riding, but are no longer directly lift accessible.
SWEET RIDE
For sundress and flip-flop cruising, Aspenites mount their town bikes, and a spin down to the Woody Creek Tavern on the Rio Grande Trail is a local tradition. And if you haven’t already, check out the Woody Creek Community Center this time. WC3, as it’s sometimes called, is quickly gaining a reputation for its delicious curries. Its sandwiches and salads, using mostly local ingredients, are splendidly fresh. (WC3 uses its house-roasted turkey in the delicious turkey pesto mozzarella sandwich.) Top it off with a decadent dessert, such as the Stranahan Whiskey chocolate truffles; then work it off on the seven-mile ride back upvalley.
MOUNTAIN BIKING
SUNNYSIDE TRAIL
For obvious reasons, it’s not easy to find long stretches of smooth singletrack in the Rocky Mountains. But they do exist—and the best place to find it locally is on the Sunnyside biking trail, which starts at Smuggler Mountain and ends just above the bottom of Cemetery Lane. About 65 percent singletrack, Sunnyside is bookended by a grueling climb or two and a hot and dusty, rock-littered final descent—so it does require investment.
But those willing to commit to the half-hour to an hour grunt up the sun-exposed rough dirt road to Four Corners, a trail junction on the crest between the Hunter and Woody Creek valleys, will be rewarded. There, cool, scented pine forest begins, and, aside from a couple of short climbs, the next few miles are winding, whooping, singletrack downhill through spectacular aspen forest, punctuated by in-your-face views of iconic Elk Range peaks framing the local ski mountains.
According to local mountain bike instructor Erik Skarvan of Sun Dog Athletics, a certain seven-time Tour de France winner was quite impressed on his first Sunnyside ride. So much so that he asked, “How much are houses here?” Not long after, Lance Armstrong became one of Aspen’s most well-known residents.
CAMP
CAR CAMPING
RUEDI RESERVOIR AND FRYING PAN VALLEY
The thirty or so drive-in camping facilities in the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District, nearly half are in the Frying Pan Valley above Basalt. So even though car camping is fairly popular here, you’re sure to find something to suit your recreational and personal space needs.
Camping options include three semiprivate areas with just one campsite each, three full-fledged campgrounds comprising more than forty sites, neatly manicured flat expanses with RV hookups, and various tucked-away-in-the-woods enclaves of solitude. Some, like the seven-site Elk Wallow campground, may be the best of both worlds—a relatively primitive camping experience with conveniences such as picnic tables and fire rings. Got a family reunion coming up? The Chapman group site, in a montane forest high above Ruedi Reservoir, can be reserved for groups as large as 100. (Call 877-444-6777 or visit recreation.gov).
Aside from sitting in camp and tending to the barbecue while sipping a cold one, recreation opportunities up the Fryingpan abound. From the upper reaches of the valley—including the three Chapman campgrounds—numerous backcountry trails snake up into the Hunter-Fryingpan and Holy Cross wilderness areas. An extensive network of Forest Service roads lends itself to off-road vehicles and mountain biking, and the gold medal waters of the Fryingpan attract fly-fishermen from all over the country.
The centerpiece of it all, of course, is Ruedi Reservoir (fifteen miles east of Basalt), with five offical campgrounds on its shores and several primitive camping areas accessible only by boat. Nearly a thousand miles from the ocean, this is where valley residents get their beach fix—and it’s a local Mecca for sailing, powerboating, waterskiing, sea kayaking, and canoeing.
SUP?
Combining elements of surfing, kayaking, and Nordic skiing, stand-up paddling (SUP), allows you to experience moving water standing up.
In the five years that the Aspen Kayak Academy (aspenkayakacademy.com) has been teaching the relatively new sport, demand for SUP instruction has doubled every year, says Academy founder Charlie MacArthur, a pioneer in the sport.
Like other board-sport spinoffs—surfing, kite boarding, wakeboarding—SUP, as it’s known, “has the appeal of a Hawaiian export,” says MacArthur.
“Your vision is enhanced,” he says. “It has a novel feel, a primal feel.”
Instruction on the “surfboards on steroids” naturally begins on flatwater, and as techniques are mastered moves up from there—all the way to Class V rapids, currently the domain of only a handful of SUPers.
PADDLE
FLATWATER
STILLWATER FLOAT
Some locals will probably be dismayed to see the Stillwater float immortalized in print, as it is arguably the best-kept recreation secret in the Roaring Fork Valley. But it would be irresponsible to omit this spectacular stretch of flatwater and its idyllic meander through the crown jewel of Aspen’s natural-resource palette.
This waterborne journey through the North Star Nature Preserve is like a great outdoors relaxation chamber, and can at times feel like floating through an open-air zoo. Wildlife, including great blue herons, deer, beaver, and a vast variety of birds and butterflies, is abundant. The river runs silent and calm over deep, dark pools the color of tea stains and comes to life in shallower sections as it riffles over smooth pebbles. Gooseneck bends offer constantly changing, awe-inspiring views up the narrowing Roaring Fork Valley and of Smuggler Mountain and the flanks of Aspen Mountain.
Kayaks, canoes, duckies, and even inner tubes are the most appropriate craft for this narrow and sometimes shallow stretch of river. Sun Dog Athletics (sundogathletics.com) offers a romantic “canoe and cruiser adventure,” incorporating a three-mile beach-cruiser bike ride on the East of Aspen Trail back to the launch instead of a boring old vehicle shuttle.
WHITE WATER
BOOZE CRUISE
Not every local sport has to involve great physical effort and a constant sweat, and sometimes recreation and leisure go together quite nicely, like a perfectly mixed cocktail.
Group river rafting on tamer sections of local rivers—a.k.a., booze cruising, though it can be teetotaled as well—is a popular and perfectly respectable way for many locals to enjoy their free time. The Cemetery run on the lower Roaring Fork River and the Grizzly section of the Colorado River are two popular choices.
Cemetery includes enough waves and Class II and III white water to require the captain to pay attention—and to provide passengers with an occasional thrill and splash (generally welcome on a hot summer’s day). Outside of user error, though, there’s little in the way of raft-flipping danger on this roughly eight-mile stretch, which starts just south of Glenwood Springs. The run typically ends after the confluence with the Colorado River at Glenwood’s Two Rivers Park—itself a nice spot for a celebratory picnic or barbecue. But if the beers are still cold and everyone’s on “river time”—well, as they say, just go with the flow.
Continuing on puts boaters on the lower portion of the Grizzly run, which starts on the Colorado River near the mouth of Glenwood Canyon and continues for nineteen miles to near New Castle. Rafting outfitter Blazing Adventures (blazingadventures.com) can organize trips (sans booze for insurance purposes) for as many as 100.
CLIMB
SCHOOL OF ROCK
If you’re going to dangle by a rope several dozen feet off the ground, proper instruction ought to be the first step—and don’t necessarily trust your weekend-warrior buddy.
Certified guides at Aspen Expeditions (aspenexpeditions.com) and Aspen Alpine Guides (aspenalpine.com) teach outdoor rock climbing, and a class is offered through Colorado Mountain College’s Spring Valley campus (coloradomtn.edu).
Climbing walls—found in the Aspen and Red Brick recreation centers and CMC’s Spring Valley Center—are also good training grounds, with or without instruction.
NEW FRONTIERS
RIFLE
Most people associate local rock climbing with Independence Pass. But, increasingly, many local climbers are traveling to Rifle to get their fix.
Considered the preeminent limestone sport-climbing area in the United States, Rifle Mountain Park features hundreds of routes in a two-and-a-half-mile canyon with walls up to 300 feet high. Bolts were first placed there in 1991, but climbs are still being added every season (dependent on approvals from the local government).
And Rifle isn’t just for Coloradoans: It draws climbers the world over, serving as a training ground for spider people seeking to conquer large rock faces on par with those in Yosemite. Which is to say: a lot of what the canyon has to offer is on the higher end of the climbing difficulty scale.
Rifle has another advantage over the Independence Pass area, too: All of its routes are bolted, which brings a higher level of convenience and safety than a traditional climbing area. And while routes on Independence Pass are all south-facing—and thus uncomfortably hot at times—climbers can stay cooler (ironic since Rifle is several thousand feet lower in elevation) chasing the shade in the east- and west-facing Rifle canyon. Apparently most of Boulder’s sport-climbers decamp to Rifle in the summer months.
Yet despite its strong draw, the sheer number of routes means Rifle never feels crowded—and there’s a level of respect among the climbers.
“Everyone’s really dedicated,” says avid Aspen climber Jason Brown. “It’s got its own community.”
DRIVE
SCENIC DRIVE
HIT THE ROAD
Cruising down the open road with the top down and the radio up is as American as Bruce Springsteen. And although you don’t get many convertibles on the scenic stretch of Highway 133 between Carbondale and Hotchkiss, the majestic mountain scenery and pit-stop highlights make it unimportant what kind of vehicle you’re in.
Highway 133 is part of the West Elk Scenic Byway, which creates a 200-mile loop encompassing Crested Butte, Gunnison, and Paonia. Starting in Carbondale, you drive back in time a few decades as you pass rich ranch and grazing lands watered by ditches coming off the Crystal River. The distinctive ridges and peaks of Mount Sopris fade from view as you move along the hulk of its side and rear.
Redstone, its entrance marked by historic coke ovens, is worth a stop for its quaint main drag and mellow, cell-phone-free atmosphere. The Crystal Valley narrows and the road twists at times—offering, among other sights, a spectacular waterfall, a natural hot springs, a turn-of-the-century castle, and glimpses of the rushing river that produces Class V whitewater during part of the year.
Then, just after the turnoff for Marble—itself another worthwhile detour for its natural and manmade charms and stunning marble quarry—the road winds a quick and steep couple of miles to 8,800-foot McClure Pass. Here begins miles of undulating aspen forest (the largest aspen grove in the world is on nearby Kebler Pass), some twists around Paonia Reservoir, and the orchards, gardens, and wineries of the North Fork Valley. Paonia, the next best place for Roaring Fork Valley refugees, is a worthy turnaround point, just about two hours from Aspen.
