September 25, 2025

By Tim Briese

4.8 miles, 400’ elevation gain

Many years had passed since Teresa and I visited the Maroon Bells in the fall. It is one of the most spectacular places in Colorado, especially when the aspens are ablaze in gold. Crowds, reservations, and shuttle buses had deterred us from visiting in recent years. Our daughter Nicole said that she and our granddaughter Ellie would like to go there with us this year and she managed to set up the required reservations. As good fortune would have it we went on a gorgeous sunny September day. We drove to Aspen and rode the shuttle bus up to Maroon Lake and strolled along the shore, in the company of a throng of other visitors.

the maroon bells

Then we hiked uphill from the main visitor area and found an obscure trail that heads east through a gorgeous forest of aspens. This trail is one of our favorite aspen hikes in the fall and few people seem to know about it. Nicole had heard us talk about it and wanted to check it out with us. The lovely hike through the towering yellow aspens was spectacular. There was not a single other soul on the trail today.

Teresa, Ellie, and Nicole

We followed the trail east for a half mile or so to the West Maroon Portal, crossed the road and hiked down to a bridge over Maroon Creek.  On the other side of the creek we got on the more popular West Maroon Creek Trail and followed it downhill for some distance, with gorgeous scenery all the way.

We connected with another trail and followed it all the way down to the East Maroon Creek Portal along the road where we caught the shuttle bus which took us back to Aspen. As an additional treat we saw a bear when we stayed in Basalt that evening.