Breckenridge, Colorado is one of my favorite mountain towns, especially this time of year. The crisp air, changing leaves, gorgeous days, and sweater weather make fall my favorite season.

Golden aspen leaves glistening in the sunshine on a glorious fall day is hard to beat.  

My friend Melissa and I headed out on a trail neither of us had hiked before in the Wakefield Ranch area, just off Boreas Pass Road and not far from downtown Breck.  At the trailhead there is an array of mining relics including a historic sawmill and a restored cabin.

Wakefield Ranch is home to Aspen Alley, a very popular trail in fall. But the leaves there had already fallen so Melissa, two Bernese Mountain Dogs Nora and Sugar, and I headed out on another trail.

The small cabin looked spectacular surrounded by golden aspens.

Instead of going left to Aspen Alley, we went right and quickly found ourselves walking through a canopy of golden aspens.

The golden aspens against the bright blue sky were just stunning.  Of course I had to stop and take a little video to capture the beauty of golden aspens quaking in the breeze.

The trail was easy.  There were a few small climbs as we hiked a couple of miles farther into the pine forest.  There were a few other hikers and mountain bikers, but the trail traffic wasn’t bad at all.  As we were hiking I kept thinking it would be a great snowshoe hike in the winter.

It was was a perfect walk in the woods on a gorgeous fall day followed by a fabulous brunch at Park and Main in downtown Breck.  Read Breakfast Tacos In Breck to find out about that adventure.