2020 Colorado Fall Foliage Tour

As this crazy COVID quarantine summer came to an end, we decided to break out of the bubble and take a tour of the Colorado fall colors social-distant style. We chose two amazing Airbnb’s in remote locations near Telluride and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison from which to launch our touring.

We started off in Rico, Colorado a little more than 20 miles south of Telluride. Rico’s motto is a “slice of paradise” nestled next to the Dolores River and between hills and mountains with abundant hiking trails. Rico’s small downtown hosts several restaurants, one bar, a hotel, a library and a church. We stayed in the Red House in Rico which was an amazing, restful place to sit back and enjoy.

From Rico, we day tripped up to Telluride where masks and social distancing were as plentiful as the beautiful views of mountains shrouded by bright green and golden aspens. It had been nine years since we’d last been to Telluride together and we plan to return next time in a much shorter interval and when we can fully take advantage of West Colorado Avenue’s bars and restaurants.

From Rico, we drove north and east through beautiful Ridgway to Crawford, Colorado. This small town is surrounded by ranch land and buttes and hosts an amazing state park in addition to laying juxtaposed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National park. We did a short hike to the north rim of the canyon and checked out the north rim drive. Simply amazing what volcanic shifts, a little water and a few hundred thousand years can do.

Our Airbnb was a hayloft over a horse barn and we got to enjoy our sundowners overlooking horses as the sun receded behind.

We wound down our road trip heading over McClure Pass to Carbondale and found the hillsides to be alight with some of the best color we found all week. Stunning.

Now back to home and back to work while we anxiously await a vaccine and some kind of return to normalcy.