You can see it coming: Warm days and cooler night temperatures mean the annual mountain leaf show is about to get started. You could make your annual high-country pilgrimage in the car, but a visit to the aspen cathedrals on horseback is so much more sublime.
As the hills turn gold, Coloradans hit the highways.
Up they climb, craning their necks beneath the SUV roof to glimpse the aspen around the window frame – unless they happen to be the unlucky driver, who sees whatever appears in the windshield while trying to keep to the right of the double yellow. Or the kids, who peek around the seats when Mom shouts, “Look!,” but are far more interested in the hot dog stand that looks like a hot dog than any bunch of leaves. Are we there yet?
There must be a better way.
Try saddling up, my friend.
Colorado outfitters offer horseback rides that will take you deep into the high country, without all that climbing. Your job is to hold on tight and soak up the view – 360 degrees of spectacular in so many places – while the horse does all the hard work for you.
From the Fantasy Ranch in Crested Butte, for example, you could ride all the way to Aspen through one of the largest stands of golden glitter on the planet. “And not those splindly things you all call aspen,” ranch owner Chuck Saunders said. “These aspen are a hundred feet tall and three feet in diameter,” and the stand goes on for miles.
Want a view that goes on for miles? Try a tour from the Rusty Spurr Ranch south of Kremmling. The ranch runs 10,000 acres of public and private land, all undeveloped terrain. “All wide-open country,” owner Ham Smith said. In addition to riding through fall foliage, the rides get onto some really nice high points. “You can see the whole landscape, five different ranges.”
Want to get in touch with some of your other senses too? Seeing the leaves on horseback “is a great way to really get out into the forest and into the trees and really be able to hear them. You’re not going into the forest on an ATV,” said Krista Burleigh, owner of the Laramie River Dude Ranch northwest of Fort Collins. “They call it the quaking aspen, and you can see and hear it all.”
Kids still clamoring for hot dogs? Arrange a hamburger and hot dog ride with the Mount Princeton and Spring Canyon riding stables in the Buena Vista area.
WHERE TO GO
Fantasy Ranch Horseback Adventures
Stables in Almont and Mount Crested Butte
Info: fantasyranchoutfitters.com or 970-349-5425
Open year round, Fantasy Ranch specializes in trailrides from Crested Butte to Aspen and through the West Elk, Raggeds, and Maroon Bells wilderness areas. Like all of these stables, you don’t need any experience to ride, but you’re better off with reservations. Rides start at $55 for an hour and a half.
Rusty Spurr Ranch
North of Silverthorne, near Kremmling
Info: rustyspurr.com or 866-724-9715
If you don’t like the idea of horses being tied and saddled all day waiting for riders, or corralled all night, you might like the Rusty Spurr. They insist you have reservations so they can ready only the horses they need. All of their horses are turned out into open pasture each night. The ranch offers a variety of daytime riding activities – including a Saddle & Paddle trip with a morning ride and a half-day float trip through the Gore Canyon – to folks who can’t afford a week at a dude ranch. Prices start at $53 per person for a two-hour ride.
Mount Princeton Riding Stables & Equestrian Center
About 8 miles south of Buena Vista, and Spring Canyon Riding Stables, about 8 miles west of Buena Vista
Info: coloradotrailrides.com, 719-395-6598 or 719-395-3390
Mount Princeton is open year-round, and Spring Canyon until the snow flies. They offer an hour ride for only 25 bucks, though you probably won’t see too many aspen trees or any wildlife on a short ride. However, they have two- and three-hour rides, as well as half-day and full-day offerings. They will take walk-ins but if you don’t want to wait, call a day ahead. Rather than scheduled rides, they’ll try to take you when you want to go.
Laramie River Dude Ranch
North-central Colorado, 6 miles from the Wyoming border
Info: lrranch.com or 800-551-5731
Laramie River’s an option if you have more than an afternoon to spare and a bit more than burger money, since they require a minimum three-night stay. But you could ride all day for a cookout among the trees, see antelope, elk and moose, and rather than fight the rubber-neckers returning from their leaf-peeping drives on the highway, kick back in front of a campfire and do it all again the next day. And all for one price, with specials in September.
Colorado Trails
12 miles northeast of Durango
Info: coloradotrails.com or 877-711-7843
Colorado Trails is another guest ranch that offers all-inclusive stays. It is dedicating the entire week beginning Sept. 17 to fall colors. The adult-only event includes drawing and painting clinics, as well as half-day and full-day rides to see the changing foliage.
TRAVEL TIPS
- Bring a camera.
- Wear long pants.
- Water bottles are a good idea, as is sunscreen and a hat with a brim.
- Most outfitters require you to wear hard-soled shoes or boots with a small heel so your foot doesn’t get stuck in a stirrup.
- Call around to find exactly what you’re looking for. All the outfitters offer something a little different, be it terrain or riding styles. Maybe you’re content to ride nose-to-tail along a trail, but if you’re not, you’d better ask. Some stables allow riding side-by-side, spreading out, and even trotting and cantering for those with the ability to do so. Some rides cross water, others climb into serious elevation, others wind through hay meadows or pine forests. Most might see some kind of wildlife. If you have your heart set on something, let the outfitter know. Most will try to accommodate.
- Because the leaves already are changing in many higher elevations, be sure to state your desire to see fall foliage when you make your reservations so you don’t wind up riding through empty branches.
– Rowena Alegria
