Every autumn, for a brief moment in time, nature's brush paints a brilliant Colorado canvas.
Mountainsides burst from pine-forest green to every shade of orange and yellow and gold imaginable.
Aspen leaves and scrub oaks glow intense colors that have only a short time to grab your attention. No road approaches perfection like Kebler Pass. The thousands of trees of an aspen grove are actually shoots from the root system of one giant living organism. For 30 miles on a well-maintained dirt road between the distinctive peak of Crested Butte and the North Fork of the Gunnison River, Kebler Pass traverses one of the largest contiguous aspen forests in the world. Travelers follow a well-worn route as the road rises from the mountain town of Crested Butte toward the ghost town of Irwin, where 5,000 people once mined silver.