A Golden Ticket to Colorado's Candyland

Golden aspen trees for miles. Makes you feel as if you escaped reality and have been taken to Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Fall is upon us and as the leaves turn beautiful vibrant colors like tasty candy. Aspen, Colorado is a destination you want to put on your bucket list to view Fall at its finest.

            With some of the main attractions of sightseeing for the little ski town, there is plenty of breathtaking views. Maroon Bells being one of my most favorite sightseeing destinations when there. Although the sun is out, make sure to bring: a warm jacket, sunglasses, your camera, sunblock, and a face mask.

 On our first stop is Smuggler Mountain trail. The views are to die for. In certain parts of the trail you will get blasted with sunlight so be prepared to whip out those handy dandy sunglasses so you may see all that mother nature has to offer.

            The air is a little nippy but not too bad. You can hear the salty crunchiness of some of the fallen leaves that have fallen from the trees. I like to look for pretty leaves that I can spray with hairspray and keep them in the back of my phone case. Another fun activity is a little game that I like to play every year is called leaf fight. I like to gather friends and we pick up piles of leaves and throw them at each other. Kind of like a snowball fight but with leaves. We play the game all the way back to our car making sure to be mindful of the other hikers around us looking to enjoy the cinematic views that the trail has to offer.

It just feels like a picture out of a movie or like I’m dreaming. The imfamous Maroon Bells is a tourist hotspot whenever you’re in town. With its everchanging breathtaking views, it isn’t hard to snap a million-dollar photo from this location.

The atmosphere was sweet with the rich maple scent of Autumn. The view was a candyland of yellow aspen leaves and patches of red with a snow-covered mountain reflected in the clear brown lake. It was so serene like a scene out of the movie ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’.

My Friend Trish said, “Reminds me of the days I use to live in Maine. The views from the town I’m from were just amazing. And this makes me feel like I have a little piece of home here!”

If you ever are in Aspen and see a ’77 brown Volkswagen Bus with Paddington the bear painted on it, that is My friend Trish Sheppard. She hosts Pop Up Read with Moxie, (the name of the VW bus). Riding through town in that bus enhanced the experience all together while going to fun destinations around town. Just listening to some classic Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John, and with a hint of John Denver really gave me nostalgic groovy Autumn vibes.

 Speaking of John Denver, this leads us into our next destination to The John Denver Sanctuary on our way through town. Now if you thought Maroon Bells was a beautiful breath-taking site, wait till you get a load of the colorful John Denver Sanctuary. Now I know that I have said the word breathtaking quite a few times throughout this piece, but when I say breathtaking, I mean BREATHTAKING!

If you’ve never seen a true fall turning of the leaves in years, this is the place to be. With the mixture of reds and yellows, oranges and greens. You’ll able to see something that most people only get to see in pictures on the internet or from living Vicariously through friends. Try sitting on rocks near the stream or lay on the ground with a friend or two and looked at the sky with the colorful trees surrounding.

You won’t even have the urge to blink for a solid five minutes because you didn’t want to miss one second of what I was staring at. Rating the experience on a scale of 1 to 10 for all three locations, I would have to give it a 10/10. Five-star rating and would highly recommend to fellow Colorado natives seeking adventure during a pandemic.

Also, to tourist looking for that fall foliage that they don’t get to see on an everyday basis in the fall season. And to think it only takes 3.5 hours It’s a great escape from reality to just enjoy a day in Nature.

With all that walking and sightseeing you might develop an appetite and I highly recommend visiting Aspen Perk Café. Just picture yourself enjoying a grilled cheese panini with this Fall foliage view as dessert.