October 5-6, 2023

By Tim Briese

I was eager to check out the Colorado fall colors and also to try out the new camera on my I-phone 15 pro so I headed to the mountains to some of my favorite spots where colors are usually stunning. I was not disappointed on either count.

I headed over Cottonwood Pass to Crested Butte and proceeded up the Gothic Road north of town. Colors were running a little late this year but nevertheless they were a bit past peak around Crested Butte so I headed west on the Kebler Pass Road to the Cliff Creek Trailhead area above Horse Ranch Park. Here I found the golden bonanza I was looking for! I have been to this glorious spot several times before.

golden aspens at the trailhead parking area

multi-colored aspens above horse ranch park below the mountain ridge known as the dyke

Fall is my favorite time of year and I had been longing to just quietly stroll through an aspen grove ablaze in color and here was my opportunity to do so. I walked slowly up through the towering trees near the parking area soaking in the essence of fall.

The sun was getting lower in the west and I hoped to see more places so I left after a while and headed back up over Kebler Pass and turned south onto the Ohio Creek Road. This graded road is lightly used but simply spectacular in the fall. The road goes over gentle Ohio Pass and a short distance south of the pass is a fantastic overlook of an immense sea of aspens with the distinctive rock formation called the Castles in the distance. I stopped here along with several other photographers to take photos as the sun sank low in the west.

from the overlook near ohio pass

the castles in the distance beyond a sea of aspens

Then I drove down the road as it wound through all the aspens and continued down the Ohio Creek Valley toward Gunnison, stopping for numerous photos along the way.

I stayed in Gunnison that night.

The next morning I headed back up the Ohio Creek Road to catch the sights in different lighting.

elk along the ohio creek road

The road is lined with exclusive scenic ranches before entering the national forest.

I parked in an endless grove of big aspens to hike the Beaver Ponds Trail. This wonderful trail is short and easy, about a mile and a half roundtrip with a few hundred feet of elevation gain, winding up through aspens all the way to the scenic ponds at the end.

on the trail to the beaver ponds

I was the first one up to the ponds this morning and enjoyed the pristine silence and beauty by myself for a while.

After returning to the trailhead I drove on up the road to the overlook near Ohio Pass where I had been the day before and spent nearly an hour there enjoying this spectacular spot in the vibrant morning light.

the  castles

Then I continued on to the Horse Ranch Park area I had been the day before and hiked up the Cliff Creek Trail a ways before leaving the trail and wandering off through the aspens and sitting a while in their midst before bushwhacking back to the parking area, in yellow aspens all the way.

Regrettably, it was then time to head for home.