You are welcome.. fellow Nikon shooter.. FYI: you could spend a day just in Central City photographing the historic buildings doing just doorways and hardware.. just shoot details. And the area is rich with old gold mining equipment as well… and I forgot to mention the railroad switch yard (Silverplum) and narrow gauge loop in Georgetown.. you would be going right by there. And the old trains and cars are loaded with details for cool compositions.. like brass levers and steam gauges etc.. call if you need anything.. I am retired (970)6916325

If Gaudí knocked your sox off, then when you cut south from Grand Junction & Black Canyon and all that, then blow off Telluride altogether (unless you're into seeing/shooting multitudes of Tragically Cool people with more dollars than cents) and spend some serious time in Paonia. Absolutely nothing in that little town will look remotely Gaudi-esque, but that little ex-post-mine era burg is frikkin' real in a 'dropped-out-tuned-in-turned-on-left-corporate-madness-in-our-70's-dust (despite it now being, what? the 2000's or 3000's or whatever like that?) sort of way. Sort of like a cousin of mine who left Michigan and went to Colorado and got 'quilted,' and I do NOT mean that in a quilt-y sort of way. Don't recall the name of the place off the top of my head, but on the outskirts of town is a killer place to buy some apple juice. And there's a couple of decent Wineries around too. Only thing to avoid, however, would be the road that goes up to Hank's place, and/or Hank himself. That guy is further out there than anyone else on Earth. Then again, maybe you'd enjoy spending some time with him, or walking further up his road a little ways....

I loved Pagosa Springs, just 32 miles over the border from New Mexico border. The hot springs it is named for are just amazing! it is also in a huge valley among the mountain peaks. Just up from the ski resort is a place referred to as communication top, it was an amazing view, one 4th of July it was snowing around noon. Engineer's Pass was great, BUT, do NOT believe the idiot Park Rangers! Going over the pass, we actually came close to death! We were in a completely fitted out Tahoe. It had a 1/8 steel plate on the underside. Several times were grinding on rock with only one wheel on the ground.

Unless you have the vary best pullet proof tires do NOT drive into the National Forest, the roads have rock that will slice open tires. I'd love to show images but I did figure images (not allowed here) but the final upper meadow was so gorgeous, the last area for Aspen trees, then only pine trees. The National Forests are amazing places to visit with the right vehicle and people.

People are idiots, not once but three times we used heavy chain to pull people out of snow drifts not cleared on back roads. One time an elderly set of couples almost did not make it due to hypo thermia. It is fun but serious exploration!

I live in Colorado.. late Oct might be late for prime Fall colors. Starting in the northern part of state (Steamboat to Vail) and also high elevations like Leadville prime colors start about week 2 of Sept. the further south you go, the later the color arrive. My favorite is a loop up Poudre Canyon thru Walden to see the moose, over to Steamboat when the colors can be amazing, spit for lunch in old town steamboat at one of the patios. Then head south coming out near Vail and Beaver creek go east to Dillion and back toward Denver, to Georgetown and Gunella pass and then continue back East on I-70 turning off at the Central City and Blackhawk exit. If you drive up the hill in downtown Central city past the Opera house and the Thomas House you will end up on the mountain side over looking Central City and Blackhawk. You can see the old mines spotted with golden Aspen everywhere you look. Sometimes these color are a bit later depends of how wet the year has been and how cold it gets at night. If you continue north out of town the are several old cemeteries. It’s a rough gravel road but well worth it. Central City has an event called the cemetery crawl during the week of Halloween.. if you get bored with Central City, go back down to Central City and continue thru Blackhawk. Turn left at the stoplight as you are leaving town. You will be headed towards Ward and Estes Park. About 15?minutes out of town you’ll see a large grove of red colored Aspen on your left. A lot of people stop to look so you probably can miss the travel on both shoulders of the highway. From there the drive is nice all the way to Estes with view of Aspen groves up the slopes of the south side of Longs Peak area. And don’t forget to stop for the tiny historical stone Catholic Church that will be on your left before Longs Peak. There also some nice views of Aspen and split rail fence along the highway, East side after pass Longs Peak and heading toward Estes. As you drop down into Estes Park there are several views looking down into the valley with many colorful groves. Then there are many pull offs in the Park. Take the south entrance into Rock Mountain National and head for Bear lake. There are amazing views and groves along the way before the bear lake parking lot.. try the Sprague lake turn off and you can set up great shots from East side of lake looking toward the peaks. Do it in the early morning for best lighting, mid day is too flat and too late in the day and too much contrast if you want to see details in the west peaks. There is also some groves if you go back to the main roads heading west toward Fall River road.. just a couple of miles before the turn off to Fall River there is a parking lot and across the road looking west there is an old Aspen grove that is quite colorful. It’s fair flat and an easy walk to get set up.
As I mentioned in the beginning.. the Aspen are much later in southern Colorado.. so C. Spring, Manatou Springs, the Sand Dunes and southern route to Durango and Silverton prime viewing is usually mid to late October. Hope that gives you some options.. also check the most current fall color maps that are available to view on line for projected prime time for fall foliage. It’s accurate