Colorado Fall Colors

The Rocky Mountains vie with New England as America’s most spectacular spot for autumn photography, and nowhere else in the Rockies can one find richer, brighter autumn colors than in southwestern Colorado. The San Juan Mountains, geologically the youngest subrange of the Rocky Mountain chain, boast not only immense virgin stands of quaking aspen—the most colorful trees in the West—but also a photogenic mountain topography of soaring, sawtoothed summits and deep, breathtaking valleys.

We explore this vibrant landscape at the very peak of the season and observe whole mountainsides ablaze with the vivid yellow, orange and red hues of the transformed aspen leaves. Often, at this time of the year, the mountain summits will be dusted with white from the first snowfall, imparting the seasonal drama of the coming cold winter to the panorama of warm autumn tones below. Imagine this scene under the crisp blue of high altitude skies and you will have an idea of the photographic treat in store for us during this weeklong shoot!

As we shift with the advancing color from valley to valley, the constantly changing vistas promise enough photographic variety to fill three or four weeks of shooting—not just one. We capture the scenic panoramas encompassing Ralph Lauren’s Double RL Ranch, shoot the imaginative zigzag patterns of classic western-style aspen bole fences, and pass through a number of well-preserved historic mining towns on our tour of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. Included in our shoot are visits to historic Silverton and the world-famous resort of Telluride. At every turn, we enjoy and photograph the finest displays of turning leaves in the West.

Learn the techniques to compose some of the best images in western landscape photography—join Todd Pierce to capture the exceptional splash of fall colors in the Colorado Rockies!