Reach back and recall your grade-school days and the simple science behind deciduous tree leaves changing color every fall. If you said it’s a result of shorter days and less sunlight, which allow tree leaves to take a winter break from all that work they do converting water and carbon dioxide into sugars and oxygen (known as photosynthesis), then you pass with flying colors — pun intended!

There are other processes going on as well. It all has to do with leaf pigments.

In order for the whole photosynthesis process to happen, leaves require help from chlorophyll, which is what gives leaves their green color. The natural substances that make up leaf cells (pigments) visibly become more noticeable each fall as chlorophyll production wanes from less sunlight.

Technically, the fall leaf pigment colors are wired into the green leaf color we see all summer. The dazzling fall colors are simply hidden because of the extensive dominant amount of green pigment (chlorophyll) generated during the summer.

Environmental and plant genetic factors can also affect the pigments in leaves, which play an important role in fall leaf color intensity and duration.

What’s weather got to do with it?

Many warm, sunny days and cool, not-freezing nights allow the anthocyanins (colored molecules produced by leaves) to shine through with all those brilliant shades of crimson, purple and red. Days like this allow more sugar to be produced in the leaf during the day while the cool nights result in a gradual closing of the sugar-producing leaf veins, preventing the sugars from completely moving out.

Yellow, gold and orange leaves are fairly consistent from year to year due to other pigments (specifically carotenoid) that hang around in leaves despite the weather.

Fall moisture helps leaves stay colorful for a longer period of time, conversely, drought conditions while leaves are losing their chlorophyll pigments lead to brown leaves and early drop.

Which trees drop their leaves the soonest in fall or earlier?

Easy answer: Look around where you live. Trees that are environmentally stressed or unhealthy from drought stress, lack of consistent watering, experiencing pest insect or disease issues often start losing their leaves the earliest, even in the summer months.

It’s easy to spot trees, shrubs and perennial plants dropping leaves that are stressed by leaf scorch. Dried, almost burned-looking outer leaf edges are often caused by the plant’s inability to take up enough water during tough dry summer conditions.

Parts or entire sections of the root system may not be able to meet its water demands. So in addition to scorched leaves, branches or whole sections of a tree can appear dead. Other causes of leaf scorch include heat stress, too much fertilizer, excess moisture and poor root growth as a result of the tree growing close to pavement, or damage from nearby construction and root disruption from tilling.

The remedy to leaf scorch, although not immediate, is proper year-round water management that meets the plant’s needs.

What’s the deal with trees that don’t drop their leaves in the fall?

Oak tree leaf loss — specifically with white, pin, English and red oaks — has its own fall leaf story to tell. In a nutshell, these oaks, along with beech and hornbeam trees, hold on to most or some of their leaves during the winter and then shed them in the spring. This process is called marcescence — pronounced “mar-CESS-enss”.

The reason for this phenomenon is all about the cells in leaves separating from the end of the leaf stem where it is attached to the twig (called the abscission zone). Most trees have the type of cells that drop their leaves in the fall while marcescent trees don’t utilize the abscission cells to drop their leaves until the spring when the new buds form.

Enjoy “Colorful Colorado” at its most colorful!

Resources

Aspen Fall Colors: csfs.colostate.edu/aspen-fall-colors/

Science of Fall Colors: fs.usda.gov/visit/fall-colors/science-of-fall-colors

When Oak Leaves Fail to Fall: internationaloaksociety.org/content/when-oak-leaves-fail-fall

Leaf Scorch: planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/insects-diseases/1400-12-leaf-scorch-trees-shrubs/

Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region. Visit her site at http://gardenpunchlist.blogspot.com/ for even more gardening tips.

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Saturday and Sunday starts fall off with near-normal highs of 78 degrees on both days. Both days will be slightly windy, with gusts of up to 21 mph.

Skies will be mostly clear and sunny all weekend, so you might want to pack sunscreen if you’ll be enjoying any of the pumpkin patches or the two Reba McEntire-themed corn mazes that opened this week.

If you’ll be out in the evenings this weekend, though, plan for brisk and slightly windy nights, with lows of 45 degrees Saturday and 47 degrees Sunday and wind gusts of up to 16 mph.

Past this weekend, Denver will heat up above normal to highs in the mid-80s. The warmest day next week is expected to be Thursday, when the high is 86 degrees.

It might just be a good time to escape the warmer weather to the mountains, where temperatures are expected to be in the 50s and 60s and prime leaf-peeping season could reach its peak. It could also be the perfect time to take that scenic road trip through the high country.

Campers and hikers, leaf peepers and anyone getting outdoors should also be mindful of fire danger, as the sunny days ahead will also have higher winds that will elevate fire weather conditions.

Dry and windy today with seasonal temperatures. Peak gusts 45-55 mph in/near the Front Range Mountains/Foothills this morning, 25-35 mph across the plains, strongest along the northern border. Stronger gusts will taper off this afternoon. #COwx pic.twitter.com/J1nvhtomHl

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) September 23, 2023

Todd Farrow, park manager for Golden Gate Canyon State Park, a prime location for experiencing the fall changing of the leaves, warned visitors to be mindful that even parking in the wrong spot could stir up fires.

“We don’t allow any parking along the roadway,” he said. “It destroys vegetation. And with all the moisture we’ve gotten this year, you can see how tall all these grasses are. An exhaust system or a catalytic converter parked over that could spark a wildfire.”

“We’ve had some chilly nights, a few 34s, 35s, some light frost on the deck,” said longtime Steamboat Springs resident Cathy Wiedemer. “That maybe has helped with it. It just seems in the last few days, we’ve kind of rounded the corner and the colors are on – but just starting. (Wednesday) I was noticing some reds in some scrub oak. It definitely feels like fall. Then you look at a row of trees in town, some are yellow and some are still green. There’s this nice melding of colors.”

About 25 miles north of Steamboat at the Vista Verde Guest Ranch near the town of Clark, mountainsides are mostly green but some gold is popping. The ranch’s sales and hospitality director, Roxy Kestner, said the change could be in full force next week.

“I think next week and the week after are going to be great, Kestner said.

Closer to Denver, the change is just beginning around Estes Park and in Rocky Mountain National Park, according to Thomas Pemberton, owner of Estes Park Tour Guides, an outfitter that guides trips in the area. Pemberton says it feels like the change is a little later than usual.

“We definitely have a couple of weeks to go,” Pemberton said. “From what I’ve been seeing, we have a good start, there’s some good foliage beginning, but we are behind by a couple of weeks for sure. If you were looking at the (predictions) for this area, we still have another week or so until it’s supposed to be ‘peak’ season, but I think we’re about a week and a half off. I’d say another week and a half, it will be perfect. We’re definitely more on track for the end of September.”

The annual fall color change typically starts in the northern mountains in the middle of September and runs through the third or fourth week of the month, according to Dan West, entomologist for the Colorado State Forest Service and a member of the faculty at Colorado State University.

In the central mountains — including Vail, Summit County, Aspen, Crested Butte and Gunnison — West expects fall colors to emerge at the end of the month and last into the first week of October. The southern mountains should see fall colors in the second and third week of October.

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“We literally get run over,” park manager Todd Farrow said recently on a tour of the 12,000-acre park, which is located 12 miles up Golden Gate Canyon and seems to have aspen stands every direction a visitor turns. Some of them frame gorgeous views of the Continental Divide.

Golden Gate consistently ranks as fourth-busiest among the 42 parks operated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, behind Lake Pueblo, Cherry Creek and Chatfield, and it’s No. 1 among CPW’s mountain parks, attracting 1.3 million visitors last year. Of that, 291,000 visited in a five-week period during prime leaf-peeping season, representing 22% of its total visitation for the year.

There are only 400 designated parking spots at the park’s 11 trailheads, which means lots of headaches for the five fulltime — and five seasonal — rangers when the aspen are turning.

“We have to put ‘No parking’  signs everywhere, because these parking lots fill up, and our visitors will park on the side of the road,” Farrow said. “We don’t allow any parking along the roadway. It destroys vegetation. And with all the moisture we’ve gotten this year, you can see how tall all these grasses are.  An exhaust system or a catalytic converter parked over that could spark a wildfire.”

In many places, there is little or no shoulder, which doesn’t stop folks from parking there anyway.

“Unfortunately we get that kind of behavior during leaf-peeping,” Farrow said. “People park on the side of the road, essentially turning this into a one-and-a-half-lane road. It may not be a big deal to a lot of people, if they’re just thinking about vehicular traffic. But think about a fire truck or an ambulance that needs to get here in an emergency situation and they can’t.”

Golden Gate has geographic complications, too. The three main roads into and through the park are public highways. Farrow says that means CPW wouldn’t be able to impose a timed-entry reservation system, like the one at Rocky Mountain National Park, even if it wanted to. There are no gates at the park entrances, just electronic kiosks — Farrow calls them “iron rangers” — where visitors can buy passes.

“You could manage (a reservation system) if you had one way in and one way out,” Farrow said. “With the county roads that go in and out of here, I can’t put staff at each of those areas. I just don’t have it.”

One notable trouble spot for illegal parking on the north side of the park is along Gap Road near Golden Gate’s most popular attraction, Panorama Point, which offers a stunning vista to the northwest that includes the Indian Peaks along the Continental Divide and Longs Peak farther north. During leaf-peeping season, you can photograph that view framed with flaming aspen.

Gap Road also is used by locals who live nearby, with park property flanking both sides of the road. Farrow says people will park cars along the road there “for miles” when the small parking areas at Panorama Point fill up.

“We have people out here walking with strollers and dogs and kids,” Farrow said. “The speed limit here is 25 mph, and locals will go 40.”

There is a similar situation on Colorado State Highway 46 near the south entrances to the park.

“In pull-out areas, we’ve put out ‘No parking’ signs and people don’t care,” Farrow said, “They’ll park right in front of them. Then they’re walking down this road, the speed limit is 35, and you’d be hard-pressed to find people that are going less than 45, 50.”

As with many public lands along the Front Range, population growth and the pandemic have driven a visitation surge at Golden Gate. From about a million in 2019, visitation shot up to 1.6 million in 2020 as pandemic shut-ins sought solace in nature. Earlier this year, the park completed a new 10-year plan to help manage that visitation.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to reach pre-pandemic levels,” Farrow said. “We’re the closest backcountry experience to Denver. You can get up here in an hour and be out in the backcountry. We have certainly been discovered.”

Prime leaf-peeping season this year is expected to begin around Sept. 23 and run through mid-October. Farrow recommends visiting during the week if possible. On weekends, you’d better get there before 8 a.m.

“If you come up early enough, you can get a parking spot,” Farrow said. “Know where you’re going, and have alternative plans. One of the challenges we face with our visitors is, they select a trail — normally it’s the Horseshoe Trail or the Raccoon Trail — and they’re just dead-set on doing that trail. They get up here, and there’s no parking for that trail because the parking’s already full.

“What we don’t want you to do is just pull off the road, ‘To heck with it, I don’t have the patience for this, I’m just going to park here and take my chances,’ and cause resource damage, possibly igniting a wildfire,” he added. “When one car parks there, everybody else thinks it’s OK.”

Park rangers are empowered to write parking citations.

“We are law enforcement officers, but we operate in the customer service world,” Farrow said. “The park belongs to the people and visitors of the state of Colorado, and our job is to take care of it.”

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Not only that, but Colorado boasts other fall delights, from pumpkin patches and roadside peach stands to seasonal flavors in coffee, beers and restaurant dishes.

Here are eight of our favorite fall itineraries.

Ouray

Ouray is called the Switzerland of America, due in no small part to the towering peaks that surround this quaint town on the Western Slope. And like the Alps, these mountains get pretty chilly in the winter, which is why fall is a great time to don a flannel shirt and enjoy.

Start your adventure with a beginner-friendly hike at Box Cañon Falls Park, where you can see the namesake waterfall up close, alongside wildlife like hummingbirds and chipmunks. (Entry is $5-$7 per person.) Hikers looking for more of a challenge should climb up to Cascade Falls Park and then hop on the Perimeter Trail, which circles the entire town over the course of about six miles. The hike traverses exposed rock faces, forested areas and the iron-laden river that runs through town, offering continued variety and awe – especially when the leaves are changing color.

The Ouray Via Ferrata also remains open until Oct. 31 (weather permitting), as do guiding companies such as San Juan Mountain Guides, Mountain Trip and Cirque Guides.

Now that you’ve worked up an appetite, splurge for a meal at the newly renovated hotel, The Western, at 210 7th Ave., which is serving shareable appetizers and a delectable steak dish with a cheese-and-squash fondue for dipping. (A larger portion of the fondue will be offered as a seasonal side this fall.) On Friday nights, a trumpeter plays pop music covers to compliment the chic atmosphere. (Reservations recommended.)

Craving something more casual? Pop into Ouray Brewery, 607 Main St., where the burgers and beers (try a Silvershield Stout on a cold day) are as good as the view. Well, almost. — Tiney Ricciardi 

Crested Butte

Kebler Pass west of Crested Butte is one of Colorado’s top driving destinations for autumn leaf-peeping since it famously passes through the state’s largest aspen grove, lauded as one of the largest living organisms — and possibly the very largest — in the world.

Plan to drive the pass — a windy dirt road that nevertheless should be passable for regular cars — early in the day, so you can avoid traffic jams and land in town for happy hour and dinner. Rum fans will find paradise by the glass at Montanya Distillers, 204 Elk Ave., which makes four variations of the spirit to serve in flights and cocktails, including hot beverages on cold days. (Did someone say Rum Chai?) The company also offers tours ($10-$25) of its production facility located 10 minutes from downtown by car.

Do yourself a favor and make a dinner reservation at The Breadery, 209 Elk Ave. The restaurant serves a variety of pizzas that start with sourdough crust. Truthfully, anything involving bread – whether a panzanella salad or “fancy toast” with cantaloupe and prosciutto – will be a winner.

And if you have room for dessert, visit Tin Cup Ice Cream & Desserts, 313 3rd St., for a sweet finish. If you crave a liquid nightcap, the Talk of the Town bar, 230 Elk Ave., has you covered.

Crested Butte is surrounded by forest with plenty of dispersed camping, so if you plan to stay overnight, head north of Mount Crested Butte up Road 317 toward Gothic or west up Road 811 to find a spot. After seeing the starry night sky, you’ll be glad you did. — Tiney Ricciardi 

Minturn to Buena Vista

Looks can be deceiving in the Vail Valley where a Tesla-packed stretch of I-70 cuts through a forest of million-dollar ski condos and glitzy hotels. Hidden, almost out of sight, is U.S. 24, which can take you through the rougher-edged town of Minturn and along the outskirts of the Holy Cross Wilderness before winding its way up to 10,158-foot Leadville. It’s in this corridor where you can find some of the most beautiful views and stellar leaf-peeping in Colorado.

Start your day with a breakfast burrito from Northside Kitchen, 20 Nottingham Road, in Avon, or Benderz Burgers, 105 Edwards Village Blvd. in Edwards, ($6 at Benderz gets you a fat chunk of an egg-and-chorizo handheld). Or, try the coffee at Yeti’s Grind (Vail and Edwards), which offers fall flavors like pumpkin spice and salted maple. Then get on I-70 and off at the Minturn exit for a slow drive through town along the Eagle River. Follow U.S. 24 for about three miles to Tigiwon Road and take it to the Cross Creek Trailhead, where parking is sparse.

Cross Creek Trail can take hikers for many miles deep into the wilderness, but the first two miles also serve as a lovely day hike that runs along a creek, through aspen groves, past a vast meadow that is filled with wildflowers and wild raspberries in the late summer, and along a stunning lookout where you can see Vail’s back bowls as well as the Mount of the Holy Cross. Eventually, there is a bridge crossing and some rock-scrambling to make things interesting, but all in all, the path here is blessedly flat. Moose are known to frequent the area, so keep your eyes out. There are also beavers around – though they are less likely to trample you.

Once you are back at your vehicle, continue up Tigiwon road – it’s dirt but should be passable for most cars – as it switchbacks upward, offering increasingly gorgeous golden aspen groves and vistas. There are pull-offs and dispersed camping sites along the way where you can take a break. Bring camping chairs and a cooler full of seasonal Marzen lagers (for your passengers) and enjoy the sound of the wind in the leaves.

Once you’ve had your fill, retrace your steps to U.S. 24 and continue along the 30 scenic miles up to Leadville. The Golden Burro Cafe will hit the spot for lunch, and you can do some antiquing along Harrison Avenue as well. Oh, and bring your flannel shirt, because the temperatures are likely to be low way up here.

From there, it’s another 40 minutes down the other side to Buena Vista, but keep your camera handy because the views of Collegiate Peaks will take your breath away. Once in town, order a seasonal Pumpkin Patch Ale at Eddyline Brewery, 102 Linderman Ave. Need a place to stay? Check out the stylish but retro Amigo Motor Lodge in neighboring Salida. And don’t forget to book a spot at a local hot spring, like Cottonwood Hot Springs Inn & Spa or Mount Princeton Hot Springs – so nice when the weather turns crisp and the leaves turn yellow. — Jonathan Shikes

Grand Lake

There’s nothing like being a tourist in your own state to help you realize why people come from all over the world to see Colorado in the fall. The Grand Lake area, which borders the eastern — and less used — entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park is the perfect place to do that.

A few years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a friend offered me a weekend getaway at their cabin on Shadow Mountain Lake, the deep blue reservoir that sits between Lake Granby and Grand Lake. These bodies of water are all enormously popular for people with sailboats, canoes, jet skis and other watercraft, but we were there to enjoy town and some nearby trails.

The 2 1/2 hour drive west from Denver along I-70 and then north on U.S. 40 past Winter Park and Fraser is always scenic, but no more so than when the aspen leaves are in the middle of turning yellow and gold. Like us, you’ll want to pull over a few times to snap photos.

If you’re staying at one of the many cabins that dot Grand County, then it makes sense to stop at the Safeway in Fraser to stock up on groceries and snacks. Once in town, most people walk along the Boardwalk on Grand Avenue, stopping into the cute shops to browse or grabbing a drink and a bite to eat. We enjoyed our dinner at Sagebrush BBQ & Grill.

For hiking, we enjoyed the Adams Falls Trail at the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park and the East Inlet Trail, but there are dozens of hikes available, in varying difficulties. And waterfalls and wildlife abound. Because evergreens dominate at that elevation, you won’t always see leaves changing colors, but when you do? Kapow. — Barbara Ellis

Grand Mesa National Forest

Located east of Grand Junction, the Grand Mesa National Forest is one of the Western Slope’s most accessible wilderness areas, with a paved road that traverses from the north to the south ends. And yet, it still seems like a hidden gem that’s rarely overflowing with crowds.

Start by filling up your gas tank and your tummy in Palisade. Head to Peach Street Distillers,144 Kluge Ave., for pub-grub-like pizzas and sandwiches or Fidel’s Cocina & Bar, 113 W. 3rd St., for modern Mexican fare. Then pop by The Ordinary Fellow or Sauvage Spectrum wineries to grab a bottle to toast to your adventure later in the day.

If you’d rather end the day in Palisade, consider making a reservation at Pêche, which has earned a reputation for its chef-driven menu and intimate atmosphere.

The Grand Mesa is a sprawling area home to dozens of lakes popular for fishing, hiking and leaf peeping in the fall. The Mesa Lakes picnic and day-use area is an excellent landing spot with a variety of hikes that cater to many skill levels. One of the best is a 2-mile climb through the pine and aspen forests to the stunning, turquoise-colored Lost Lake.

Trails abound near the Grand Mesa Visitors Center, as well. Advanced hikers might like the Crag Crest Recreation Trail, a 10.3-mile loop that climbs more than 1,000 feet in elevation and offers sweeping views of the mesa, its numerous lakes and surrounding mountain ranges.

Those who travel to the south side of the mesa should consider timing it with Ciderfest at Big B’s orchard in Paonia on Oct. 27-29. The weekend includes live music, house-made cider tastings, and a chance to camp among the apple, peach and apricot trees. — Tiney Ricciardi 

Nederland to Brainard Lake by bike

The 55-mile Peak to Peak Highway between Central City and Estes Park is Colorado’s oldest scenic byway, designated as such in 1918. Much of it is great for leaf-peeping by car, but there is a section on Colorado 72 between Nederland and the Brainard Lake turnoff that makes for a fabulous bike ride.

This ride offers views of the Indian Peaks along the Continental Divide, which are seven to eight miles west of the highway, with miles and miles of aspen in the foreground. About 12 miles north of Nederland, take a left turn off the highway onto the Brainard Lake Road. The lake is about 4.5 miles west of there, with plenty of aspen along the road. The ride’s distance from town to the lake to about 16.5 miles, with a 2,000-foot elevation gain.

The road from Nederland to the Brainard Lake turnoff rises about 1,000 feet, and the road from the turnoff to the lake adds another 1,000 feet of climbing. Motorists are required to have reservations to park in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area ($16), but cyclists don’t need them, and there is no cost for them to enter.

At an elevation of nearly 10,400 feet, Brainard Lake is set at the foot of 13,000-foot peaks and is one of the most picturesque spots in the Front Range. Once at the lake, cyclists can ride a one-mile loop in the park before heading back to Nederland.

Perhaps the best parking option in Nederland is an RTD Park & Ride, two blocks west of the town’s roundabout. Good places in Nederland for food and drink include Knotted Root Brewing Company for beer and the Crosscut Pizzeria and Taphouse for beer and great pizza. — John Meyer

Georgetown to Guanella Pass by bike

The Guanella Pass Road is well known as one of the best leaf-peeping drives on the Front Range. It’s also one of the best road rides for cyclists in the mountains. Admiring the aspen at the slower pace of cycling on one of Colorado’s official scenic byways allows time to savor every vista.

It’s not for everyone, of course. From the parking lot at Georgetown Lake to the summit of the pass, it’s a 12-mile ride with an altitude gain of 3,200 feet. It’s especially challenging on the switchbacks just south of town, which climb 500 feet in a little more than a mile. The rest of the ride climbs pretty gradually, though, and the ride from the pass back to town is all downhill.

In addition to gorgeous views of aspen and other colorful foliage, the rugged backside of Mount Evans rises to the east. South of Evans is a neighboring fourteener, Mount Bierstadt, which is just a couple of miles east of the top of the pass. Riders should be sure to bring plenty of fluids and a jacket, because it can get pretty chilly up there, especially at the high speed of the descent.

The Guanella Pass Brewery in Georgetown, near where the road starts to climb up the pass, is a great place for hydration recovery on a patio with aspen views. Another good option is Cooper’s on the Creek. If you want a table on the patio there, reservations are recommended. — John Meyer

Trinidad to Santa Fe, N.M.

The gorgeous drive south between Trinidad and Santa Fe along I-25 trades dense bouquets of high-country trees for earth-toned expanses and, at your destination, one of the southwest’s prettiest little towns. Believe it or not, Santa Fe has a leaf-peeping window too, although it’s even shorter than Colorado’s (about a week).

If you’re driving from Denver, stop in Trinidad for a wood-fired pie and people-watching at Bella Luna Pizzeria, or a drink at the triniDAD Lounge — a lovingly preserved bit of late 20th-century western decor that offers live music (punk, honkytonk, roots) and a hip atmosphere.

From there it’s a little less than 3 hours to Santa Fe. Situated about 7,200 feet above sea level, Santa Fe is reputed for its ritzy spas, Kokopelli-soaked galleries and well-heeled artists and collectors. It’s got a world-class collection of southwest U.S. art and a growing, thoughtful emphasis on Indigenous art and artists. Be sure to visit the acclaimed Georgia O’Keefe Museum, but also browse one of the 200-plus other galleries and dozen-plus museums. Indigenous craftspeople and artists sell items along the street, where you can get handmade jewelry, toys and other items for cheap.

Lesser-known are the area’s kid-friendly offerings, which my wife and I take advantage of when we visit each September with our two children. The walkable city’s central square is usually bustling with booths, vendors and/or live music, and is ringed by historic churches, handsome hotels (Inn of the Governors is our fave) and excellent food.

You can’t miss the Plaza Cafe Downtown, a quirky, retro-minded diner with phenomenal breakfast and some of the freshest and tastiest green chile anywhere, thanks to the fall harvest. For fire lovers, Horseman’s Haven (outside of town along Cerillos Road) offers insanely spicy green chile — along with savory carne adovada and meat enchiladas. (Don’t even attempt to try the Level 2 unless you are a veteran spice warrior. Trust me.).

There’s plenty of hiking and exploration available, as the city sits in the Rio Grande valley, right in the middle of 1.5 million acres of national forest. Peaking in late September, the hillsides between Hyde Memorial State Park and Ski Santa Fe feature an eye-popping array of fall colors, along the Santa Fe National Forest Scenic Byway.

But for a more modest, semi-outdoors experience, you can also rent a yurt on a llama farm, as we did once. For guests on Fridays, owners Bill and Robin Spencer offer free admission to their Roswell alien-themed roller rink, Rockin’ Rollers. It’s a trip. — John Wenzel

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With lower temperatures teasing the Front Range once again, the question becomes: “Is Denver in ‘false fall’ or is the weather here to stay?”

“False fall” isn’t a real meteorological term, but a local reference to a cold snap that comes near the end of summer and fools people into believing the fall weather will come early. It falls right between “fire season” and “second summer.”

Now, with a week of temperature highs in the mid-70s ahead, National Weather Service meteorologist Bernie Meier says the season is here to stay — for real this time.

And after several heat-driven weeks with above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation in Denver, the arrival of fall weather is more than welcome.

“We won’t see much more of those hot summer-time temperatures,” Meier said. “We could maybe see another 90-degree day or two toward the end of September, but that hot weather is likely done for the Denver area.”

It’s hard to tell for sure though, because Colorado has such weather extremes and things can change rapidly, he said.

Looking at the forecasted temperatures for the next week, Meier said that for the first time in weeks, none of the highs will break 80 degrees, with Sunday coming the closest at 79 degrees.

“Those mid to high 70-degree temperatures are characteristic of the transition into fall,” he said. “We’re pretty on track for this time of year.”

Beyond next week, the National Weather Service forecasted stable temperatures, with highs remaining in that mid- to high-70s range and overnight temperatures reaching the high 40s and low 50s.

“We’re not anticipating another strong warm-up, and we also don’t see a strong cool down on the horizon,” Meier said. “This is fall-like weather, and it should hang around until winter.”

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Dan West, entomologist for the Colorado State Forest Service and a member of the faculty at Colorado State University, spent most of the past two months flying over the state’s 24 million acres of forest. The main purpose of his annual aerial observation tour is to assess forest health, but it also gives him a unique perspective to forecast the quality of fall foliage colors.

“They look better than they’ve looked in a very long time,” West said. “Aspen look really well, even in places that over the last several years have kind of struggled.”

As a result, West also is predicting a return to normal timing for the color change.

He expects to see aspen in the northern mountains — generally north of Interstate 70 — to start turning in the middle of this month and run through the third or fourth week.

In the central mountains — including Vail, Summit County, Aspen, Crested Butte and Gunnison — he expects fall colors to emerge at the end of the month and last into the first week of October.

The southern mountains should see fall colors in the second and third week of October.

Last summer, West saw signs of recovery from years of drought stress in some forests. This year has seen drought disappear in most of the state, along with fewer days of abnormal heat.

“Going into the season, it was quite wet and I was bracing myself, thinking there was going to be quite a bit of leaf fungi that were going to be able to work their way through the aspen,” West said. “The pests that attack aspen leaves prefer wet and warm. What ended up happening, by and large, was really wet and cool. In a nutshell, the environmental conditions just weren’t conducive for some of these pathogens that attack the leaves.”

The general health of aspen and other trees that provide fall color, especially oaks and cottonwoods, is only one factor in the quality of leaf-peeping. September weather also plays a critical role.

“It’s been nice and warm and sunny, and that’s what we want during the middle of the day,” West said. “We want to burn off that chlorophyll, the green pigment, and that’s what the sun does. As the day length shortens — we’re losing about two and a half minutes every day right now — you really start to see the greens fade out. It looks like we’re shaping up beautifully right now.”

Events that could detract from great fall color include major fluctuations of temperature, early frost and heavy rain or wind events that could cause leaves to fall prematurely.

“We don’t want it to be cold,” West said. “Once it gets cold and those cells start to freeze, that pretty much ends the game, as far as the show.”

Aspen aren’t the only attraction in leaf peeping season. West says the oaks and cottonwoods appear healthy, too.

“The oaks are looking so good,” West said. “I’m already starting to see some of the oaks starting in the southern part of the state. They turn before the aspens do. We’re just starting to see some of that orange. Not quite the reds yet, but certainly the oranges are starting to come through. They look like they really might have a good year. Last year wasn’t so good, with some of the frost that happened, and they look like they’re rebounding quite well. I only mapped a couple of locations in the state that looked as though oaks were struggling a little bit. Cottonwoods also look like they’re doing really well.”

West conducts his aerial forest inspections in July, August and sometimes into the beginning of September in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.

“We’re looking predominantly for bark beetles that are affecting conifers,” West said. “We’re also looking at aspen stands across the state, and oaks and willows and cottonwoods, to get a feel for anything affecting these particular areas so we can have early detection and a rapid response, from a forestry perspective.”

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Pumpkin beers first got popular a couple of decades ago, when some breweries, both big and small — like Coors-owned Blue Moon and Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in Hayward, Calif. — released them as a way to celebrate the fleeting flavors of the fall.

One of the first (and most popular) pumpkin beers in Colorado was Venetucci Pumpkin Ale, which Bristol Brewing in Colorado Springs first made as a fundraiser in 2007 with real pumpkins from a local farm and released in October. People would line up around the block to get a few bottles back in the early and mid-2000s, and the beer is still highly sought after today.

These days, there are dozens and dozens (and dozens) of Colorado pumpkin beers available at craft breweries and liquor store shelves around the state every year, but you no longer need to wait in line to get them. And you definitely don’t need to wait until October.

No, like a ghoul rising from a cemetery on Halloween, pumpkin beers now begin showing up in early August, shocking people who are still drinking chilled white wine and sweltering in 90-degree heat.

The reason: liquor stores, bars and restaurants become inundated with pumpkin beers quickly and stop ordering them. So breweries that want to sell their creations need to get in early on the action. Furthermore, breweries have said, people stop buying and drinking pumpkin beers on Nov. 1 – the day after Halloween. So if beer makers wait until September or October, the selling season becomes really short, like the length of heavily-shadowed autumn days.

And for pumpkin lovers, that is perfectly fine.

A few Colorado pumpkin beers hit taps or store shelves last week, including Tommyknocker Brewing’s Small Patch Pumpkin Harvest Ale, Great Divide Brewing’s Pumpkin Ale, Eddyline Brewing’s Pumpkin Patch Pale and Spice Trade Brewing’s Pumpkin Spice Latte.

But many more are on the way, including one of the biggest and best pumpkin beer releases of the year: Arvada-based Odyssey Beerwerks’ Fluffy Pumpkin, “a toasted marshmallow pumpkin porter” that arrived last Friday. It’s a beer that mashes together all the pumpkin spices that go so well in beer, with roasty, toasty notes from the dark malts and sweetness to round it all out.

Odyssey has been brewing some version of this beer almost since it opened in 2013, and it has been a hit. But things really took off in 2020 when demand far exceeded supply. As a result, Odyssey now brews the beer off-site. Otherwise, said Deanna Hill, who owns Odyssey with her husband, Chris, the brewery wouldn’t have the space to make any of its other beers.

“It gets brewed in the beginning or middle of July and packaged at the beginning of August, and released for distribution and taproom sales in mid-August,” she added.

So which pumpkin brews should you seek out? It depends on what you like. Upslope Brewing in Boulder and 4 Noses Brewing in Broomfield have both won gold medals at the Great American Beer Festival for theirs. Station 26 Brewing makes a lighter pumpkin lager, while Strange Craft Brewing, Our Mutual Friend Brewing and Odyssey all make pumpkin porters or stouts.

Some other faves of mine: Great Divide Pumpkin Spice Yeti and Left Hand Brewing’s Pumpkin Spice Latte Nitro. I’m also looking forward to trying a 13% ABV, pumpkin-infused version of Dry Dock Brewing’s Bligh’s Barleywine Ale, aged for a year in whiskey barrels.

Here’s to fall in August.

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My new favorite bike tour is the Mestaa’Ėhehe Pass ride, about 30 miles west of Denver in Clear Creek County, but the only thing new about it is its official name.

For decades, this much-loved Colorado classic from Bergen Park to Echo Lake was known as the Squaw Pass ride. But in September, the U.S. Department of the Interior officially renamed both the pass and the neighboring mountain because the word “squaw” is considered to be a slur against Native American women. The newly-monikered Mestaa’Ėhehe (pronounced mess-taw-HAY) Pass and Mestaa’Ėhehe Mountain honor a Cheyenne woman who served as a translator between plains tribes and white traders in southern Colorado early in the 19th century.

They were part of a group of 28 Colorado sites (and 650 nationwide) that have been renamed; all of the Colorado names included the same Native American slur.

This is a magnificent ride, 36 miles roundtrip from Bergen Park to Echo Lake and back. It climbs 3,300 feet to the high point, 15 miles out, then descends about 450 feet in 3 miles to Echo Lake.

Yes, the outbound portion is challenging because of all that climbing — that’s why we like it, after all — but there is very little pedaling over the final 15 miles back to the starting point because gravity does the work. In fact, I use my brakes much of the way down because anything over 30 mph on a bike scares me.

The road parallels I-70, which is 4 to 5 miles to the north and hundreds of feet below. Along the way, it passes the Echo Mountain ski area and offers panoramic views to the north of the Continental Divide and the Indian Peaks. About 15 miles out, near the high point of 11,150 feet, the twin fourteeners, Grays and Torreys, come into view. Right after that, Mount Evans (which may also be renamed soon) appears to the south. It was especially beautiful up there this past Monday because the aspen trees were still clad in their fall colors.

I usually park at the Bergen Park RTD lot on Colorado 74, elevation 7,800 feet. From there, I ride south about a half mile and turn right onto the road which the signs still refer to by its old name. Just to the south is JeffCo Open Space’s Elk Meadow Park.

This is a very popular ride for Front Range cyclists, so an electronic message board at the start warns motorists that under Colorado law, they must maintain a minimum of 3 feet between them and cyclists when passing. A metal sign nearby reiterates that message.

The entirety of the ride from there to Echo Lake is on a winding two-lane asphalt road that climbs almost without respite. Most of the westbound ascent has a bike lane — or, at a minimum, a shoulder — for slow-moving cyclists to feel fairly safe. The descent back to Bergen Park has no shoulder, though. It’s quite common for descending cyclists to be moving as fast as vehicular traffic on the way down, and a sign informs drivers that cyclists are permitted to use the full lane.

If 36 miles is too much, riding to the Echo Mountain ski area and back is about 26 miles, and it still gives you an ascent of 3,000 feet or so.

I’ve described a couple of my other favorite rides before in Staff Favorites — Lookout Mountain and Guanella Pass. I also love Vail Pass, Hoosier Pass and Lefthand Canyon.

But with its new name, the Mestaa’Ėhehe Pass ride will always be at the top of the list for me.

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During a morning hike near Day Break Ridge Road, National Geographic photographer Jad Davenport took out his water bottle and splashed a couple of drops on a fallen aspen leaf, a trick of the trade that makes the foliage sparkle before he bent down to get a close-up shot with his iPhone.

Every autumn, Davenport partners with The Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulf to lead a fall photography weekend, taking amateur photographers trekking through the golden aspen alleys and into Beaver Creek Village where flower pots burst with color and the bubbling creek make for photogenic vignettes, too.

Peak foliage is here (or just about to be), and capturing Colorful Colorado in all of its autumnal splendor can feel like a monumental challenge as we collectively pull out our camera phones, eager to channel our inner John Fielder. One key, though, to not being overwhelmed and getting a phenomenal set of photos is to curate a theme, Davenport said.

If your storyline is, say, “off-season at a ski resort,” you can focus on stationary gondolas and ski trail signs in your leaf shots, Davenport said. For some movement, snap mountain bikers tearing down the dirt lanes with autumn colors blazing in the background.

“Make the story your own,” Davenport said.

Also, while you may have come to photograph leaves, look for other details to tell your story, he suggested. Maybe that’s a steaming cup of coffee or a trail of Subarus parked on a scenic mountain pass. And to break up your warm-toned color palette, try a close-up of the aspen tree’s white, ultra-textural bark.

The bark has peel marks etched in it from elk. But closer to the ground you’ll notice scarring from rodents, according to Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulf naturalist Tyler Reynolds, who joined Davenport and the cohort of amateur photographers on the hike.

“There are hundreds if not thousands of miles of tunnel network created by the rodents that stay active throughout the winter,” he said. “They tunnel to aspen trees to eat the aspen bark, which is one of their main food sources.” But they don’t scurry too far up the tree because they don’t want to be noticed by foxes or coyotes, Reynolds explained.

Wild, right?

Here are more fall foliage tricks from photography experts to help you get some frame-worthy shots in the high country in these coming weeks. But keep in mind this rule that’s as golden as the aspen leaves themselves and will ease the pressure: “Whatever attracts you, trust yourself,” Davenport said. “If you think it’s beautiful, it’s beautiful.”

Get up early or catch the golden hour

For a great fall foliage photo, start around sunrise. That’s when the wildlife is out, Davenport said, and the lighting is superb.

“The best equipment you can have is an alarm clock,” he said.

Also, when it comes to fall photos, you want colors to pop, and the harsh midday sun tends to wash out the colors and make them seem less vibrant, explained Juliana Broste, a Colorado-based travel filmmaker who runs the travel blog TravelingJules.com.

If you’re not an early bird, though, you won’t miss out.

“Golden hour, about an hour before the sun sets, is famous for adding a nice warm glow to the scene, which is very appropriate for the warm feeling of fall,” Broste said.

Play with slow motion mode on your camera

Want fodder for your Instagram reels? Try standing in an Aspen grove on a windy day, put your camera in the slow-motion video mode, and film as the trees shake their leaves loose. If you’re lucky, Davenport said, one will fall right in front of your lens. Sometimes, this takes several attempts, but the payoff is worth it.

You can also rub some chalky aspen bark on your hands and clap to create a cloud, which looks great in slow motion, Davenport said, or toss up some leaves in front of you and let them cascade down.

Keep the sun to your back

The fall colors are going to look best if you are not taking a photo directly into the sun, said real estate and architectural photographer Matthew Digati, a former Glenwood Springs resident who loves photographing the Rockies during the fall.

“When you point your phone into the sun, the colors get washed out and your photo ends up too bright and blurry,” he said. “Instead, find an angle where the sun is behind you. The leaves will look more colorful.”

Mix things up

It’s become second nature to take photos vertically since that’s the direction in which phones’ cameras shoot. But mix things up and get some horizontal shots, too, Digati said.

“When photographing landscapes, many of the best photos will actually need to be taken with your phone horizontal,” he said.

Take a selfie

On a solo hike and want a photo of you with the fall colors? The secret to getting great selfies is to activate the self-timer mode so you have time to strike a pose after you hit the shutter, Broste said. Most cameras have a couple of different options; iPhones have a 3s or 10s self-timer setting, for instance, she pointed out.

But you can take your selfies to the next level by using a remote control so that you can be further than an arm’s length away in your photo. For Canon cameras, the Camera Connect App allows you to preview your shot and control some camera settings from your phone, she said.

“You can adjust your exposure, touch to focus and trigger the shutter,” Broste said. “I also recommend using an intervalometer, which is typically used for time lapses, but you can also use this device to take selfies.”

Having multiple shots means more options to choose from, she pointed out, and some newer cameras have an interval timer setting built in.

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