We loved Colorado so much we visited a second time while working in South Dakota, except in the fall when all the fall colors were at there peak! We stayed in Carbondale, Colorado, a beautiful little town in a good central location of everything we wanted to visit. We stayed in a very cute dog friendly Airbnb in Carbondale that was a guest suite attached to the owner’s home. The day we arrived we had a couple hours of daylight left so we went and hiked red hill/mushroom rock trail recommended by our Airbnb host. It was a pretty steep 2 mile hike that was amongst red rocks and once you arrived at the top it overlooked the town and Mount Sopris.
Our first day we headed towards Marble, Colorado to do a beautiful hike to Crystal Mill. This hike was 9 miles round trip, but if you had a small four wheeled drive SUV or side by side you could easily drive all the way to the mill. The hike was absolutely gorgeous though it went along a river and had lots of overlooks of the yellow aspen trees and snow topped mountains. Once we arrived at the mill, we enjoyed the views while eating our sandwich lunch we had packed in. After we got back to the car we headed to Gunnison National Forest for Matt to do a little fly fishing on the North Fork Gunnison River. Another beautiful area to check out if you’re close by.
The next day we headed to Aspen to hike around Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness. If you ever go they usually only let you drive so far and you have to take a shuttle bus to the Maroon Lake where all the hikes are. The shuttles are dog friendly so Chaca got to go on her first shuttle bus ride. Once the shuttle dropped us off, we hiked the Crater Lake Trail which was about 4 miles round trip. On this trail you walked through aspen groves which were so beautiful and the hike came out at Crater Lake and gave you amazing views of Maroon peak. After taking the shuttle back we headed to Basalt and drove along the Frying Pan River for Matt to do a little fly fishing. By the way, this was our one year anniversary trip and Matt lost his wedding ring while fishing this river… pretty ironic that he lost it on our anniversary trip but it’s just a ring and easily replaceable! That night we ate out for dinner back in Carbondale at the Goat Kitchen, which was a fresh local foods only eatery. Our meals were amazing!
Our last day in this beautiful state we headed over to Crested Butte and drove the Kebler Pass. If you are ever here in the fall you have to do this scenic drive. It is the largest aspen grove in the world and the second largest ecosystem. The colors were like nothing I had ever seen. Gorgeous vibrant yellow aspen trees everywhere even a little orange popped amongst them. When we arrived to Crested Butte which by the way is another adorable little town we grabbed some pizza for a late lunch and roamed around the town for a little while. Afterwards, we headed back to Carbondale and stopped at a local brewery downtown called Carbondale Beer Works. We enjoyed a few cocktails before heading home for the evening.
The day we headed back to South Dakota we had breakfast at Village Smithy Restaurant in Carbondale and we highly recommend this place! It was a breakfast to remember!
