Why Hiking in Colorado Should Be On Everyone's Bucket List

When everyone else is excited about summer, I’m impatiently waiting for Fall. I hate being too hot, sweaty, and feeling like my skin will peel off because of the heat. Don’t get me wrong, as a Coloradan, I escape the summer heat as often as possible by exploring different hiking trails in the Rocky Mountains all summer long. There’s nothing like the experience of walking through a massive wildflower field in July. But, hiking in Colorado during the Fall should be on everyone’s bucket list, and I’m excited to share why.

One of the most challenging aspects of living in Colorado is its popularity. Summer visitors can often overwhelm pristine outdoor spaces while hiking in questionable shoes (such as flip flops) and creating a negative experience for hiking aficionados. Fall hiking can be better from an overall experience perspective, but you do have to consider your timing. Rocky Mountain National Park is an incredible place to hike, but Trail Ridge Road (the highest paved road in the United States) closes for the winter in October due to snow. Estes Park, the town at the base of this stunning national park, also hosts some big events during the fall that bring large crowds into the park and some of the trails and may negatively impact your overall experience.

When hiking in Rocky Mountain Park, my favorite thing to do is to visit the Trail Ridge Visitors Center and make my way up Huffers Hill, a set of stairs that feel like they lead to the sky. Once you reach the top, the silence is overwhelming, the wind beats you around, and there’s always a slight chill in the air due to the extreme elevation. Once I’m done relaxing at what feels like the top of the world, I make my way down Huffers Hill, and I carefully cross the road for a high country hike. What I love about my highaltitude wanderings is how quiet and still everything is when you’re at an altitude of over 11,000 feet. Often I’ll see elk herds in the distance and the sound of bull elks bugling, which only happens during their Fall rut. Because I’m not a fool, I stay very far away from them, but it’s an incredible ritual to watch, listen to and, enjoy.

Every fall, I go to the mountains to watch the leaves change. While we don’t have maples and other trees with large leaves, we do have aspens. One of my favorite hikes last fall had a massive number of aspen trees growing in one segment. When the wind hit the leaves, they made a soft tinkling sound that I forever associate with aspen trees. That day the leaves were falling off the trees, creating a carpet of gold on the trail.

Colorado weather during the fall can be incredibly unpredictable. One day it’s 90 degrees; the next, it’s snowing. I particularly love it when it begins to snow, and little patches dot the sides of the

trails. My favorite fall hikes begin with fog that burns away by the end of our day. Or, hiking doing a high altitude hike where we end up breaking through the top of the clouds. There’s absolutely nothing like that experience. But, the best part about fall in Colorado is how the snow covers the mountain peaks almost as if they’re putting on a new change of clothing.

Unfortunately, for several years Colorado has been dealing with extreme drought conditions and climate change. These conditions impact outdoor recreation in a couple of ways. In 2020 we had a record-breaking fire season. Not only did those fires impact air quality, they really changed how Coloradans and other guests experience the outdoors. My friends and I would make our way into the mountains for a fun day hike and would have to navigate through air quality alerts and the drift of smoke on the trails that we were on, even if we were miles away from an active fire. My chest would tighten, and my nerves would be shot during those moments. Fall signals an end to the ever-present threat for the potential of an out-ofcontrol wildfire.

After Hike Fun

One of my favorite things to do after an epic hike is the Apres hike experience. I love wandering through the different towns that are close to the hikes that I go on.

Boulder

I grew up here, and I now love to visit for hiking and happy hours. Boulder has the Pearl Street Mall, an outdoor walking mall flanked by many local shops. I also love how Boulder has blocked off part of the western end of the mall for more pedestrian access as a way to provide more outdoor access during COVID. It’s such incredible innovation, and I hope that they continue to do this when COVID is over.

Breckenridge

One of my favorite mountain towns that has a wonderful vibe. I love to have coffee at the Starbucks inside a small yellow cabin or drinks and a meal at Gravity Haus, a new development that opened up a few years ago.

Crested Butte

My favorite mountain town! Just pick a place on Main Street to recover and enjoy some food. For a small town there is an incredible amount of diversity in the restaurants that you can enjoy in town.

Salida and Mount Princeton Hot Springs

I love Salida so much. It’s a fantastic spot to explore terrain that’s very different from the mountain ranges closer to Denver. The surrounding area is arid and dry, with vegetation that is more common to see in the desert. I love hiking in this part of Colorado because you can make your way to a hot spring afterward. Mount Princeton Hot Springs are pretty popular, so check their website on capacity levels and what to expect.

Estes Park

If you’re hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, you have to visit Estes. My favorite thing to do is walk along the river walk, which is right behind the shops on Main Street. Most visitors are unaware of this and only walk up and down Main Street, which remains pretty busy even during the fall season.

Michelle Jackson runs the website and podcast Square State, where she gets to unapologetically geek out about her state of Colorado. When she's not having random conversations with new people, she can be found hiking, biking, sitting on a patio, or exploring the mountains. Her ultimate goal is to normalize POC faces in outdoor spaces and stop surprising people when she says she's from Colorado.