Planning Colorado trip mid September

[DennisD]

Eric, John and Raymond -thanks very much for your ideas. There's a lot to consider and, as Raymond suggests, I'll try to concentrate on specific areas. It's also more enjoyable that way.

Now to hit the "books" and maps - online of course !
My appreciation to all.

[Donald Miller]

Eagles Nest Wilderness north of Silverthorne, Independence Pass east of Aspen, Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass west of Lake City.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

You can almost throw a dart at a map and find a good spot in September.

The Aspen area has many wonderful spots including the Grottos, Independence Pass, the Maroon Bells, Castlecreek Canyon and McClure Pass. The town of Marble is also cool.

In the Montrose area, go to Black Canyon and then take Owl Creek Pass Road over to Ridgeway, from Ridgeway head to Last Dollar Road that takes you the back way to Telluride. Along the way you will pass the most famous, and photographed, stacked fence in Colorado. In Owl Creek, you can stop at Katies Meadow which is where John Wayne and Robert Duval shot it out in the famous gun fight scene in True Grit, it has great view of Chimney Rock.

In the South that time of year is great and the The Great Sand Dunes, the best light is very early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Be prepared for a tiring walk at altitude in deep sand but it is fun. Medano Creek should be low at that time so it will be easy to cross, but it is fun in it's own way and the kids and I love to play in it. Then travel down to Durango and photograph along the way.

I actually find Rocky Mountain National Park not all that interesting but Lumpy Ridge just outside of Estes Park is neat and there are some nice scenes in RMNP, just crowded!

There are a TON of places, the challenge will be taking the time to slow down and actually make some nice images. So, don't try and cram too much in.

[David Lobato]

I second the previous mention of Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction. It's a great place to go with a camera.

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

I was just at Sand Dunes 2 days ago. I would agree that it would be best to get there early in the morning. I didn't get there until about noon and the light was quite harsh. Nevertheless, the place is something to see for sure.

If you are looking for a lot of variety in your photography, take old Route 66 as far west as you care to drive and go slow through all of the small towns with your eyes wide open. If you look carefully you will find all kinds of neat stuff from yesteryear.

[Kodachrome25]

FYI, I live at 8,000 feet on the Western Slope, the leaves on both the aspens and scrub oak have started turning not less than three weeks early, by far the soonest I have ever seen it. Even locals who have been here 40+ years think we are right on the doorstep of a major climatic shift and judging by the nasty-a$$ dirt filled winds we have gotten in the past 5 years that seem to get worse by the year, I have to agree.....

Quite hazy today too, must be from all the wonderful fires we are having out West...

[John Schneider]

Monument valley UT is just to the west of the 4 corners and truly impressive.

As Monument Valley stretches more into Utah (the Navaho tribal park goes just over the border) it more properly becomes Valley of the Gods, and it worth a trip if you're going that way. If so, make a side trip up the shelf roar to Moki Dugway, which was built for mining trucks. It has made a list of the 10 most dangerous roads in America, which it isn't by any means (although it climbs steadily, it's wide and well-graded with gravel, although there is no guardrail of course). It's certainly not even as dangerous as the road up say Box Canyon above Ouray to Yankee Boy Basin (another must see).

[DennisD]

Thank you for all your replies.

It's truly helpful to have such a wealth of input, but now, plenty of tough decisions to make and more careful planning required.

Based on all the great suggestions I'd like to extend my trip - a month or two might work just fine !

[Joseph Dickerson]

Dennis,

Ann and I were in Gunnison for a couple of weeks last fall and the color on the Ohio Pass road was great. We were first there in mid September and found that we were too early. We headed down to Moab and came back to Gunnison in October, I can give you dates if you're interested. Got some great fall color shots the second time around.

Gunnison is close to Crested Butte and Slumgullion Pass, so there's some variety of subject matter as well.

JD

[DennisD]

Thanks, Joseph, for the information. I'm thinking I might be a little early for the best color, so if you can provide dates that were good for you that might be helpful. However, some have suggested that the fall color might arrive early due to the lack of rain - i'll have to keep checking !