If you want peace and quiet. The aspen leaves have turned brown and dropped. A fresh dusting of snow coats the high peaks. Days are shortening, with sub-freezing temperatures frequent during the night, but the days are full of sunshine with cool breezes. And there’s still a chance to hear the faint bugle of a bull elk as he wrangles his harem of females.
Mid to late October just might be the best time to visit the Colorado Rocky Mountains if it’s peace and quite that you seek. It’s past the peak fall foliage, long past since schools are back in session, and almost at the end of the elk rut. But it’s still too early for snow to cover the ski slopes.
Many of the affluent towns of the Rocky Mountains are almost impossible for the common tourist to stay in. You know the places — Vail, Aspen, Telluride. Even Estes Park, gateway to Rocky Mountains runs a pretty penny for a stay at a lodge during the height of the tourist season. But if you don’t have kids, aren’t particular about seeing leaves at their peak, you might be able to stay at a hotel right in Vail Village without taking out a second mortgage.
It’s the one time when you can visit Rocky Mountain National Park and drive up to Bear Lake any time of the day and actually find a parking spot. It’s the one time you can drive Trail Ridge Road before it closes for the season and not be in bumper to bumper traffic of RVs and motorcycles. It’ the one time you can go to Brainard Lake and actually hike to Blue Lake or Lake Isabelle and have the trail all to yourself. It’s the one time you can attempt Mt. Audubon or Arapahoe Peak and not worry so much about a lighting strike in the afternoon.
If you don’t mind bundling up just a smidge, you can come to the Rocky Mountains and have the scenic byways, hiking trails, parking lots to yourself. It’s one of my favorite times of year because I too enjoy a respite from the craziness of rental and out of state cars turtling up Boulder Canyon and feeling as if after five months of tourists taking over our tiny town, I’m finally getting it back.
