Sensational Ways to Savor and Save on Colorado’s Brilliant Fall Foliage

Experience Colorado during one of the state’s best kept secrets - autumn - when the mountains shimmer with golden aspen tree leaves. There’s a variety of fun festivals, harvest celebrations and great vacation packages to be had. Below are a few ideas to inspire ‘leaf peepers’ looking for a picture perfect, affordable Colorado vacation. For a complete list of hot deals, visit www.hotdealscolorado.com

• Wine Away the Weekend. Celebrate Colorado wine and food at the annual Colorado Mountain Winefest. Enjoy wine maker’s dinners, wine pairingcourses, a variety of seminars and tastings and much more. One of the highlights of the weekend is sure to be the 16th Annual Tour deVineyards, a scenic bike ride through Colorado’s wine countrybeginning in Grand Junction, September 19th, 2009.www.coloradowinefest.com
• Your Way or the Byway. Hit the road on one of Colorado’s 25 Scenic and Historic Byways. Try the West Elk Loop, where you can soak in the brilliant foliage over Kebler Pass, enjoy farm fresh cherries and apples in Hotchkiss and explore the quaint Victorian-era mountain town of Crested Butte. Or, cruise along the Collegiate Peaks Byway and check out Colorado’s highest concentration of towering “fourteeners” (14,000-foot peaks). www.coloradobyways.org
• Zip the Day Away! Head to Durango in Southwest Colorado and delight in the fall colors while soaring through the forest canopy on a zip line with Soaring Treetop Adventures. Your guided adventure includes first-class train transportation in new private luxury cars aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a full day of Soaring , a four-course lunch served on an elevated platform overlooking the surrounding scenery. Price just $399. www.soaringtreetopadventures.com
• Flaunt Aspen’s Gold. The hip Sky Hotel in Aspen is offering the Aspen Gold foliage package, which includes a 15 percent discount on accommodations, complimentary valet parking, and a $25 gas card. This package is available from September 12 - October 31, 2009. www.theskyhotel.com
• Once Upon a Llama. Enjoy majestic Rocky Mountain National Park with llama pack trips with Kirk’s Fly Shop in Estes Park. Check out the foliage and cool Colorado wildlife while taking a guided llama ride. Day trips, including lunch, start at $175 for a party of two. http://www.kirksflyshop.com/llama-pack-trips-I-3.html
• Enjoy the Gold, Save Some Green in Breckenridge. Groups of four can stay in Breckenridge for four nights, enjoy a two-hour ATV tour to view the colors of the Ten Mile Range, ride through the fall foliage during a 1.5 hour horseback ride, or on a bike ride down Vail Pass. The price is only $79 per person per night. www.gobreck.com
• Haute Air Balloon Ride Over the Rockies. Treat yourself and someone special to a spectacular flight in a hot air balloon, a great way to enjoy the changing of the leaves. The Millennium Harvest House in Boulder’s Hot Air Balloon over the Rockies package includes overnight accommodations for two adults, breakfast for two adults at Thyme on the Creek Restaurant, transportation to and from the launch site and a 1-hour Sunrise Flight with champagne toast. Packages start at $539. www.millenniumhotels.com/boulder

Source: Colorado Tourism Office