Winter Park, nestled beneath Berthoud Pass in the Fraser Valley, is more or less my home-away-from-home. I could write volumes on this area and know it well. One of my favorite times of year to spend in the Fraser Valley is in late September and early October. During this season, the fall colors are on full display. While the Winter Park and Fraser areas do not have sweeping mountainsides of aspen trees, pockets of these pristine trees do exist, and finding them is a lot of the fun.
Corona Pass Road (CR 8) is one bumpy 4WD road that is worth exploring and offers nice views of the town below as the road winds up to Rollins Pass.
The first 5 or so miles are pretty easy driving, but after that, you'll want to slow down as the road gets a wee bit rougher (and a lot more in some places). Several dirt roads also surround Winter Park and Fraser, and as the roads twist and wind through forest, they'll often take you through an Autumn aspen wonderland. Along these sometimes good and sometimes bumpy county roads, aspen often line the way.
In Autumn, driving these roads seems like driving through a golden tunnel. From Winter Park, a maze of county roads connect Winter Park to Fraser. Though the mileage between the two towns is only about 7 miles on these roads, I can spend hours exploring the side roads and trails that lead to beautiful aspen groves on a pretty fall day.
And what's even better is that I rarely see anyone else along these roads. That makes for a perfect way to spend a cool October morning.