Weekend in Aspen
 

Our family (us and our 4-year-old) just returned from a weekend in Aspen. We had a great time and saw a lot of beautiful scenery. We stayed at the Limslight Lodge, which we had very high expectations for based on reviews. While it was nice, it was crowded and very loud due to a hockey tournament in town. It did have a wonderful breakfast (included) and a pool area, which we enjoyed. We drove from Denver and stopped on our way to Aspen to do the Grottos hike, which was a nice break and very pretty with ice caves and waterfalls. Saturday we got up and did the Crater Lake hike at Maroon Bells. Loved it! The Maroon Bells area was beautiful and only about 12 miles from the hotel. We did some of the scenic loop trail on our way back from Crater Lake. After Maroon Bells, we headed to the Ashcroft Ghost Town, about 12 miles from town. It was interesting and right on the river, so we enjoyed walking and checking out the area. Sunday morning we walked around town, visited the local park, and did some of the Rio Grande Trail in town before heading back home.

For restaurants, we caught happy hour at the Cantina, which included tacos for $3 each, on Friday afternoon. Saturday, we got stuck as a lot of places closed early afternoon for a break before dinner. We wound up at Main Street Bakery and Cafe and had good turkey sandwiches (although expensive). For dinner, we split ribs at Little Annies. Service was terrible and I thought things were overpriced, but the meal was not bad. Breakfast was included at Limelight and was really good with tons of pastries, cereal, toast, bagels, eggs, waffles, juice, fruit, etc.

We enjoyed a lot of gorgeous scenery, weather in the mid-60s, and low crowds. It was a great weekend! Please let me know if you have questions.

Thanks for your report. I have never done the Grottos hike, where is the trailhead for that and how long is it?

Thanks for your reply. The trailhead is on the Independence Pass road on the way into Aspen, about 9 miles from town. It is right off the main road and there was a sign. It was only about a mile long, but you can easily venture off to the different waterfalls and ice caves. We had a picnic and were there about 2 hours. Well worth it!

Sounds like a great weekend! How long was the drive from Denver? I've only flown directly there. I love Aspen and need to get back--thanks for your report.

It's about a 4-hour drive from Denver to Aspen.

What a nice trip

Thanks everyone! We certainly picked the right weekend this late in the season as we had gorgeous weather in the mid-60s. This past week we had snow! We are south of Denver and take 470 to I70 and it took us about 3 hours and 15 minutes to get to Aspen. Again, though, we had great weather. It was a great long weekend!

Thanks for the trailhead information. Will try that hike next summer!