Early fall in the Colorado high country brings some gorgeous scenes, particularly when the aspen trees begin to change and show off their gold. This past weekend I headed up into Pike National Forest for a look and spent quite a bit of time at this particular spot.

The road was lined with trees putting on their prettiest autumn display. The sun was just above the horizon, backlighting the yellow leaves and bursting through the gaps. Above, there were enough clouds to provide some interest and of course, those beautiful blue Colorado skies. The road was rough and muddy and the temperatures cold but, so worth it!

A bit of a taste of two seasons yesterday in Pike National Forest with beautiful, golden aspen trees and a fresh coat of snow at higher elevations.

I covered a lot of ground yesterday and while the moose I had hoped to find didn’t want to play, Mother Nature showed off her gold quite nicely. The night before, a bit of snow had fallen above timberline coating the bare peaks in white. At the 11,670 foot highest point of my drive it was below freezing and the roads were a bit icy.

Winter is coming! 😉

With the changing of the seasons bringing the arrival of autumn this week, I thought it was a good time to share an image of the scenes to come. The temperatures here in Colorado have begun to cool (finally!) and there have been some hints in some places of the foliage starting to change. It will be another week or two before the high country starts to glow in earnest and a couple weeks after that we will see autumn gold at lower elevations. Last year I didn’t do so well capturing the mountain scenes but down below, well, I did far better as this image shows.

A few weeks ago I shared a wider view of this spot captured at the height of the fall foliage. Here is a bit of a closer look. It was just an absolutely gorgeous scene, providing me with some of my favorite fall foliage pics that I have ever taken. The golden leaves, the bridge, the reflection – wow! No doubt one in the series will end up on the wall in my family room before long.

Well this was a nice spot to say the least and a good capture for #FallFoliageFriday!

I didn’t do so well documenting the fall foliage in the high country this year so I have been keeping an eye out for opportunities closer to home along the Colorado Front Range. This past Sunday, as I was heading to the south Denver metro area for a wildlife opportunity, I made an unplanned stop at this place, Hudson Gardens.

I had never been there and as I was driving south, I was taking note of the beautiful fall foliage along the South Platte River. Seeing the signage for someplace called “gardens”, I figured it was worth a shot and swung in the parking lot.

A short walk yielded some pretty darned amazing scenes. I shot a bunch of pics that really turned out nicely but I think this is my favorite of the series. The beautiful, blue Colorado sky above with the fall yellows, reds and greens and of course, the bridge. Awesome stuff!

This image is available for purchase here.

This is a road you have seen me share pictures of before. In just about every season it is really cool with those thick cottonwoods alongside providing a nice canopy.

In the fall is when it really shines and this year in particular, it looks absolutely resplendent. I think this is probably one of the best fall foliage seasons I have ever seen.

From the high country down to the Great Plains it really has been gorgeous. Since I didn’t do such a great job capturing the show in the mountains, I have been doing my best to ensure I get all I can at lower elevations.

A couple days ago I shared some drone pics, this one today and then in a couple days, I have another to show you that is really just over the top.