The Best Places to See Fall Color on Guanella Pass in Colorado

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Yellow Aspens in Fall on Guanella Pass in Colorado — [How yellow can they get???]

It’s my first official leaf peeping season (I’m from the Bay Area in California, where the leaves don’t do anything exciting or remotely fall-like for the most part) here in Colorado, so I’ve been attempting to make the absolute most of it. Enter: Guanella Pass.

I pretty much got out of the car every 5 seconds to take photos because there are so many beautiful stops on Guanella Pass! Especially in autumn when the fall foliage starts to come out – the aspen leaves turn a brilliant yellow color. I saw some reddish-orange ones, too, but most were yellow.

View of Guanella Pass Road in Colorado in fall, with a car on the road surrounded by green pine trees and yellow aspen trees — [Guanella Pass from an overlook]

Guanella Pass in Colorado is full of yellow aspen trees and green pines — [LOOK AT THE COLORS]

2 cabins with Yellow Aspens in the background on Guanella Pass, Colorado — [I loved these little cabins that I saw]

I started my drive in Georgetown so I’ll begin there. Here were my favorite stops along the way!

GEORGETOWN

Guanella Pass either starts or ends in Georgetown depending on where you’re coming from. It’s a really cute little town and worth poking around in.

[Pretty old Western buildings in Georgetown]

I really enjoyed just walking around as the downtown area is really pretty, and has lots of shops to check out.

View of Georgetown, Colorado from Guanella Pass with houses, trees, and a mountain in the background — [The view of Georgetown after you start driving up the pass]

CLEAR LAKE RESERVOIR

This place was so pretty, and had bathrooms! Very important if you’re driving along and holding your bladder after drinking an entire water bottle on the way there…

GUANELLA PASS SUMMIT

You’ll start climbing higher and higher through the top of the pass, and see amazing views of the surrounding mountains, Mount Evans and Mount Bierstadt. Once you get to the summit, there’s a huge parking lot with a ton of walks surrounding it.

View of Square Top Lakes Trail from the Guanella Pass Summit, surrounded by yellow vegetation and a mountain — [The view of the Square Top Lakes Trail from the summit area]

At the summit, you can park, use the bathroom again (although there are only a few and lots of people that stop there, so be prepared to wait), and walk about 5 minutes to a lookout spot. You’ll get great views of Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Evans from the summit area.

About halfway to the summit viewpoint, you’ll come across a trail that continues up the mountain. Take this if you want to hike up to Square Top Lakes, which, in my opinion, you totally should!

SQUARE TOP LAKES HIKE

Square Top Lake in Guanella Pass in Colorado is a greenish blue lake surrounded by yellow plants, rocks, and a mountain. — [This is the first lake. It was so serene and I was one of the only people there – I couldn’t believe my luck!]

The hike to the Square Top Lakes is only about 4.5 miles round trip, although going up is pretty steep. I met a lot of people who’d turned around before reaching the first lake (I know this because I had no cell reception and didn’t do too much research on the hike beforehand, so I kept asking passerby, “About how much longer to the first lake?” lol).

The First Square Top Lake in Colorado surrounded by yellow plants, a mountain, and a blue sky — [The first lake as seen from the trail up to the second]

Square Top Lakes Hike in Colorado surrounded by yellow plants, mountains, and a pond — [As seen on the trail to the second lake]

The Second Square Top Lake in Colorado, surrounded by yellow plants and a mountain — [The second lake – I honestly thought the first lake was prettier. The water is also a pretty blue color, but it didn’t show up well in this photo.]

However, it’s totally worth it, and I’d suggest at least just hiking to the first one if you’re too tired to continue to the second. They were pretty similar, so if you’re feeling exhausted you can just stop there. However, it’s not very far from the first to the second.

BURNING BEAR TRAIL

The Burning Bear Trail is an easy hike through a huge aspen grove! You don’t even have to really do the hike to enjoy it – I snapped the above photo from the trailhead.

WHITESIDE GULCH

This area also has bathrooms, and is right next to the river. So pretty right??

INTERPRETIVE TRAILHEAD

[CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THESE COLORS??? You don’t have to walk anywhere to see this, you literally just park and get out of the car.]

I absolutely loved this area! The aspens here were turning a reddish-orange color and looked beautiful above the bright blue river. You can cross the river and access some different trails. I ended up just crossing the river, sitting on a rock, and taking in the scenery.