cmcfong

Time: Last week in September
Interests: Hiking, fall foliage, good food, casual atmosphere
Will have car.
Which would you choose?

dfr4848

Both would be fine for what you want, but I'd prefer Aspen. More of a town with more to do IMO.

fmpden

I think it is a toss up. Both will be pretty dead at that time. I don't agree that there would be more to do in Aspen because it is town. In many ways Aspen is more homogeneous than Vail. With a car you might opt for Vail because there would be more activities and areas that you could drive to within a couple of hours.

okoshi2002

It would be a toss up between Aspen and Telluride.

Ronda

We were in Vail around Sept. 13 last year. I had wanted to stay in Aspen but many of the more reasonably priced hotels were already booked by this time last year in August. If you can find some place to stay within your budget, I would stay in Aspen.

cmcfong

Thanks so much for the responses. There are two hotels with pretty good rates and ratings, Limelight in Aspen and Tivoli in Vail. Any opinions?

virginia

aspen: mining town from the 1800's. lots of victorian architecture. mtns are steep. is located at the back of a large canyon, which means you travel quite a distance down canyon to get to any other towns - you will pass a couple small towns then come to glenwood springs.
vail: in the 60's was still a cattle ranch. town was designed to look like a tyrollian village & does. mtns a bit less steep & dramatic. you can get a lot of places easily from vail like- leadville, copper mtn, frisco/dillon, edwards and glenwood springs.
i don't think either town is particularly formal. dining options are outstanding in both. aspen (the leaves) viewing is excellent from either town.
both hotels are in walking distance to most everything in either town.

both towns are just under 8000' elevation and offer great hiking opportunities. i will give the nod to vail for your trip even though i prefer aspen because (i assume) you are coming from sea level and you'll find lower elevation hikes near vail.
if you stay in vail a great drive is to copper mtn then south to leadville (hwy 91) then back to vail over battle mtn pass (hwy 24). stop in leadville at The Grill for the best mexican food in state.

the_scarecrow_in_oz

Aspen

happytrailstoyou

I agree with okoshi2002 who wrote: "It would be a toss up between Aspen and Telluride." I love both of these towns and even more if they are, as somebody said "dead" while OP will be there.

HTTY

cmcfong

It does seem like I would have a good time in either town. Thank you so much for the details, Virginia, I think that gives us a nice basis for choosing. We are coming from sea level and I learned the hard way that it does take a few days to really adapt.
HTTY, Telluride has always appealed to me, but I hadn't considered it for this trip because we have such a limited time. One of the considerations is I don't want a lot of travel time on the days we are flying.
Thanks for the helpful advice.

nancythenice

Since travel time on your day of arrival is important, consider that it takes much longer to get to Aspen than to Vail, if you are driving from Denver. Vail is located right on I-70, a straight shot from Denver on a fast road. To get to Aspen, you have to keep going west a long way past Vail, and then turn onto a small road that leads through the very suburbanized valley to the town. It will add significant travel time to your trip.

AnnMarie_C

Have been to both but I prefer Aspen, however, would enjoy my time at either location. If you don't want to make the drive from Denver, Aspen has a charming airport about 20 minutes from downtown. Flying in / out of there is a trip all its own.

If you decide on Vail one place I did not see mentioned is Piney River--we rented canoes there one afternoon. Very scenic and peaceful.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/mbpmkn

cmcfong

Thanks for the suggestion, AnnMarie. I am going out for a convention in Denver so it was the best airport choice for us this trip. Love the canoe idea!
Nancy, your information was most helpful. Thank you.
Virginia, thanks for the mention of Leadville, DH is quite interested in it.

fmpden

If you are think about Leadville, need to give a little clarity on Virginia's direction. There is no Battle Pass on Hwy 24. It is Tennessee Pass. Hwy 24 from Leadville will take you pass Camp Hale which was the training site for the 10th Mt Division in WWII. Hwy 24 will take you to Miniturn and I-70. Vail is about 7,8 miles east of that intersection on I-70. Check a map. Leadville has a great 12 mile, nearly flat, hiking/biking paved trail that loops into the old mining district. It is the Mineral Belt trail. Like an outdoor museum. It is a real hidden gem that few people know about. You cannot miss it. The trail cuts through the heart of Leadville on both the north and south end with good signage with several parking areas.

cmcfong

Is there a recommended bike rental shop near the paved trail? We won't have a rack but we would certainly enjoy the biking. It sounds like a lot of fun. Thank you!

fmpden

That I couldn't tell you since we always have our bikes with us. I am sure there would be a shop in town. It is a big mountain biking area and someone is in the business. The trail is paved and with the exception of one side (south of town) is pretty flat so a standard three speed would be adequate. Goggle Leadville and see what you can find.

cmcfong

Thanks so much.

nancythenice

Other items of interest. In the Camp Hale area, there is an outfitter that rents ATVs. They let us take them up to the top of the mountains behind Camp Hale, where we had a picnic and enjoyed the gorgeous view. You can also drive up there if you have an appropriate vehicle (high clearance, 4 wheel or all wheel drive). The Colorado trail also runs through the Camp Hale area. Its an easy place to say you "walked on the CT." The National Mining Museum is in Leadville. It is in a big old brick building that once, long ago, was the highschool. Great fun and appeals to the men. Good Colorado history books in the little museum store. Another little museum is in an old Victorian house. I can't remember the name, but it is furnished with items from the Leadville glory days, and worth a quick visit. We frequently take visitors who have never been to Colorado before to these museums. Finally, there are two roads up and over the mountains to Aspen from the Leadville area. One starts south of Leadville and goes over Independence Pass. It is paved all the way, but not for the faint of heart - and is closed in the winter. A spectacular drive - you will see snow at the top and approach Aspen from the pretty side. The other road isn't paved, and requires a high clearance, rugged vehicle. It leaves from the west side of Leadville, goes over the mountain and drops into a gorgeous valley that ends at Basalt - a town down-valley from Aspen. Either of these allow you to do a loop, taking the freeway to complete the trip. Wish I were there right now!

JJ5

Aspen

1mortrip

If you can afford it, do Aspen. There is a lot to see there..Maroon Bells, Snowmass and shopping around town. Drive toward Glenwood Springs and take trip from Carbondale back into Redstone. Redstone is very historic and will be beautiful that time of year. You can have a terrific outdoor breakfast at the Village Smithy in Carbondale. Glenwood is about 45 minutes away and has a huge hotsprings pool too.