Experience the best of Aspen

Aspen sits at about 2,400 metres in the Roaring Fork Valley, hemmed in by peaks. It began as a silver camp in the 1880s, and its brick Victorian centre survives, including the Wheeler Opera House of 1889. A modern town grew around the skiing that took hold in the mid-twentieth century, and four mountains, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk and Snowmass, surround it.

The Maroon Bells, twin peaks above 4,200 metres reflected in Maroon Lake, are among the most photographed mountains in the state. Independence Pass climbs east over the Continental Divide at more than 3,600 metres. The Aspen Institute and a long summer music festival date from 1949, and the writer Hunter S. Thompson lived down the valley at Woody Creek. Glenwood Springs lies farther down the valley.

The quaking aspens that gave the town its name turn gold on the hillsides in September, and summer brings hiking, cycling and a long season of music. The town is busiest in the ski season and again in the summer festival season, and quietest in the gaps between.