West Elk Loop Scenic Byway and Kebler Pass

Towards the end of September, my husband and I celebrated an anniversary by taking a sightseeing drive to Crested Butte, Colorado -- click here and here to read those posts.   While we were in that area we also took a drive on part of the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway, passing over Kebler Pass.  Last October, we drove over the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway from another area, beginning in Carbondale, Colorado. and passing through Redstone, Marble and over McClure Pass.  You can read that post here.  That part of the byway had such spectacular views!  This part of the byway began in Gunnison, passing through Crested Butte, and over the very rustic gravel road of Kebler Pass. 

(All photos in this post will enlarge if clicked on)

Map Source/

Above is a map showing the entire West Loop Scenic Byway, seen in the green circular line. The entire byway is 205 miles long and the suggested time to drive it in its entirety is eight to ten hours. The section of the loop that is Kebler Pass is only open seasonally and is usually closed November to April or May. The West Elk Loop derives its name from the West Elk Mountains, which the loop circumnavigates, and it passes by four diverse wilderness areas.

Determining when peak color occurs in autumn in Colorado can be a guessing game.  As you can see by the photo above, in late September in Crested Butte one tree was in full color while the one standing next to it is just beginning to turn. Usually, northern parts of the state and higher elevations begin to show color in mid-September, and then the color moves down the state and down in elevation until late October. Variables, such as rain or snow or bitter frosts can change the timing. We felt we might be a little early to see full peak color in the Crested Butte area, but we were pleasantly surprised to see quite a bit of it.

In fact, we saw many aspens in shades of yellow and orange and there were hardly any clouds in the sky on our drive.

Even in areas without much autumn color, the views were spectacular!

The aspen tree is a unique organism that produces clones from common root systems and reproduces rapidly to cover vast areas. The forest is made up of many thousands of clone colonies.

At times we drove right through the tall aspen groves...

...on the twisting and climbing gravel road over the pass.

They were the tallest aspens I ever saw!

Thick, thick groves of aspens to walk through...

...with carpets of golden aspen leaves under my feet.

Such tall aspens that only their upper branches still had leaves!

Aspens that almost looked as tall as the mountain!

The vast areas of wilderness along the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway also amazed me...

...as well as National Forests thick with pines and aspens as far as the eye could see.

Beautiful vistas...

...of golden aspens...

...majestic mountains...

A short video of the wind making the aspen trees quake and some of the scenery. To view on my Mille Fiori Favoriti facebook page, click here.

So although we did not completely drive the entire West Loop Scenic Byway, between last year and this year we did the majority of it and enjoyed every mile! It is particularly beautiful in autumn, and I'm so happy to have seen this part of Colorado.  Hopefully, we will be able to return many more times.  We made one more drive while in this area, to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park--come back next post to see our visit to this very unique canyon.

You can also find me on 

Instagram Twitter Facebook Pinterest

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Amaze Me Monday, Mosaic Monday, All Seasons, Blue Monday,  Through My Lens Monday, Inspiration Monday, Blogging Grandmothers, Hearth and Soul Link Party, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Travel Photos, Photo Tunes, Happiness Is Homemade, Tuesday Treasures, Pictorial Tuesday, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesdays With A Twist, Party in Your PJ's, Wordless Wednesday, Nanahood WW, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Words On Wednesday, Whimsical Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Wednesday Around the World, Wonderful Wednesday,  Share Your Cup, Little Things Thursday, Thankful Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Thursday Traffic Jam Weekend Linky, Pretty Pintastic Party, Friendship Fridays, Friday Photo Journal, Skywatch Friday, Sweet Inspiration, Pink Saturday, Saturday Critters, Over the Moon, Happiness Is Homemade