Great hikes for fall colors close to Colorado’s big cities

By Seth Boster August 31, 2024 | updated 2 years ago

5. Mueller State Park A 45 minute drive from downtown Colorado Springs. Check out the park's 55 miles of trails and upwards of 5,000 acres of meadows and forests. For the best aspen views, hike the 5.4 mile Cheesman Ranch Loop. If you go: Daily admission is $7.00 per vehicle. Maps are available at the Visitor Center. The park closes at 5 p.m. (MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE)

Come fall, Colorado’s city dwellers are quick to swap the concrete for nature’s glow. Except that doesn’t always happen so quickly.

One often travels great distances, to great displays across the Continental Divide. But one doesn’t have to. Here are some great hikes within about an hour’s drive of the state’s two biggest cities.

Denver

Caribou Ranch: Near Nederland, this Boulder County open space offers elevation and fertile meadows suited for aspen stands. It also offers a glimpse at music history: a barn that was a recording studio for the likes of Elton John and Chicago. DeLonde and Blue Bird trails combine for a little more than three miles of scenery.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park: When colors are at their peak, we suggest going on a weekday. If it’s a weekend, parking lots are known to fill fast. Raccoon Trail offers a great show en route to Panorama Point. Aspens and the Continental Divide also can be admired along the steeper Beaver Trail and longer Mountain Lion Trail.

Meyer Ranch Park: U.S. 285 leads to Kenosha Pass, one of autumn’s most popular destinations for Front Range travelers. Near Conifer, drivers are wise to pull off for this Jefferson County-owned park. Covering about four miles, the trail network is family-friendly and includes the aptly named Sunny Aspen Trail.

Colorado Springs

Cheyenne Mountain State Park: A massive aspen grove awaits near the mountaintop, but you’ll have to earn it. Talon Trail meets Dixon Trail, which ascends to the forest. You’re looking at a round trip of 15-plus miles. One bonus: bragging rights for scaling the second most famous mountain in Colorado Springs.

Mueller State Park: On the other side of Pikes Peak, in Teller County, the park’s 5,000 acres are loaded with aspen and trails for every kind of visitor. We love Cheesman Ranch loop. Look to Elk Meadow for a shorter loop. You also can’t go wrong with Outlook Ridge, with several spurs to stunning overlooks.

Seven Bridges: The colors aren’t as dramatic as other displays across the region’s high country. But local leaf peepers get their fix close to town in North Cheyenne Canon Park, a wild expanse just 10 minutes from downtown. From the top of the canyon, Seven Bridges Trail crosses the creek in a quaint forest.

5. Mueller State Park A 45 minute drive from downtown Colorado Springs. Check out the park's 55 miles of trails and upwards of 5,000 acres of meadows and forests. For the best aspen views, hike the 5.4 mile Cheesman Ranch Loop. If you go: Daily admission is $7.00 per vehicle. Maps are available at the Visitor Center. The park closes at 5 p.m. (MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE) — 5. Mueller State Park A 45 minute drive from downtown Colorado Springs. Check out the park’s 55 miles of trails and upwards of 5,000 acres of meadows and forests. For the best aspen views, hike the 5.4 mile Cheesman Ranch Loop. If you go: Daily admission is $7.00 per vehicle. Maps are available at the Visitor Center. The park closes at 5 p.m. (MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE)

Aspen leaves begin to show their fall colors in Mueller State Park on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004. Photo by David Bitton (David Bitton/)

Aspen leaves begin to show their fall colors in Mueller State Park on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004. Colors should peak during the next few weeks in the high country. Mueller State Park is offering Aspen nature hikes on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and again on Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10 a.m. Interested hikers should meet at the Grouse Mountain trailhead and plan on a two hour hike. Photo by David Bitton (David Bitton)

Tags Boulder County caribou ranch Cheyenne Mountain State Park Colorado Springs Denver Golden Gate Canyon State Park Hiking Life meyer ranch park Mueller State Park North Cheyenne Canon Out There

Seth Boster

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