A Weekend Guide to Camping in Aspen

Camping season is here and we are so excited!! We love camping for many reasons, but one of the best is that you can go to so many places and have a place to stay for pretty cheap. If you are one to reserve campsites, you can get one for around $20/night, and if you are one that likes to gamble on if they can find a first-come-first-serve spot, you can get one for pretty much free. You really cant’t beat free-$20/night going to Aspen for the weekend!

Here are our recommendations for a weekend camping in Aspen!

Day 1

Arrive into downtown Aspen in time for a late lunch. Pick a local cafe or restaurant to have a nice lunch after a long drive. We parked and walked around downtown and stumbled across this amazing deli called Butcher’s Block (see their website here!) which offers made to order sandwiches. The meat is fresh shaved and just absolutely delish!

After lunch, head out to your campsite and get set up. We booked a spot at Difficult Campground which is about 5 miles outside of Aspen! If you reserve a spot, you typically can arrive to the site at 2pm. Be sure to stop and check in with the site host and purchase a bundle of firewood for your fire pit.

Have dinner at the campsite and treat yourself to a s’more!

Stay up late and stargaze. The stars and moon are SO bright in this area of Colorado!

Day 2

Get up, make a hearty breakfast burrito filled with eggs, bacon, and potatoes. Pack your hiking bag - don’t forget your rain coat - and head to the Four Mountain Sports shop in Aspen Highlands to purchase your shuttle ticket to Maroon Bells. (Please check this site for updates on reservations due to COVID-19)..

Unless you are a super-duper early bird, or an avid bike rider, taking a shuttle from Aspen Highlands is required in order to get to Maroon Bells.

Spend the day hiking around the park. Take amazing photos. Get caught in the rain. Marvel at the scenery. Catch one of the last shuttles out of the park back to the parking lot you left your car in.

Head to downtown Aspen to Aspen Brewing Company (if you are over 21) for a local craft beer or to CP Burger for ice cream and a round of mini golf.

Eat dinner at the campsite. Have another s’more because you hiked all day and deserve it. Try to stay up to stargaze again.

Day 3

Get up early, eat eggs and bacon for breakfast, pack your hiking bag again, pack up camp making sure to leave no trace, and head into downtown Aspen to take the gondola up to the top of the mountain.

You can purchase tickets at the ticket window which is before you walk up the two flights of stairs to the gondola. Don’t miss the sign otherwise you will be walking back down only to have to walk back up those stairs once your ticket is purchased.

Wait for a red gondola - you can connect your phone and play music on your ride up!

Follow the trails at the top of the gondola for a hike with stunning views. Grab a beer at Sundeck and enjoy the live music that is almost always there before taking the gondola back to the bottom - unless you are the more adventurous kind and hike to the bottom.

Check out the cute local shops and pick up a souvenir from your weekend get away.

Head back to your car and head home - it’s been a great outdoors weekend!

Additional Resources You Might Enjoy:

Day Trip Hiking Pack List

Beginner's Guides: Introduction

With summer around the corner, we seriously cannot wait to hit the hiking trails. Every year, we plan some pretty fun hikes, and every year we see a ton of people that are on their first ever hike - which we absolutely LOVE to see.

But a lot of new adventurers are really out of their element - not really dressed for what they are doing, don’t have food or water with them, and haven’t even given the whole altitude thing - if they are in a higher elevation - a thought until it snuck up on them.

You definitely have to start somewhere, and we are so proud of these new adventurers for taking the chance and going for a hike and trying something totally new. We really wish we could give the new adventurers we come across an encouraging pep-talk, as well as some outdoor advice.

However, we hardly ever do - no one likes being told they look like a newbie and, to be honestly, not everyone wants a random person on a hiking trail saying hi, let alone giving them advice. As a side note, we will absolutely stop to check on people if they are visibly really struggling and the group they are with isn’t sure what to do.

Because of this, we’ve decided to put together some Beginners Guides on everything we wish someone had told us when we first started adventuring outdoors! These are from our own experiences and some from people we’ve come across.

As we write them, we will link them to our Beginner’s Guides Page, so be sure to check back often to see what’s new!

As an added bonus, check out our Free Pack List for day hiking! We have listed out everything we pack in our hiking pack and ranked them as either “must haves” or “nice to haves”.

Can’t wait to see you on the trails!

~Liz