Best Hiking in Central Colorado around Aspen, Marble, Leadville, Buena Vista and Crested Butte

The paperback edition (1st edition, 2017; updated 2021) of this hiking guide by Diane Greer contains photos of many of the destinations but (at least on the by-demand print sold by Amazon) they are all black-and-white. Maps of the hikes are also black-and-white with relatively good resolution. The Kindle version is in color, with photos and maps showing much better contrast than in the print edition. I don't mind the black-and-white photography because the guide is excellent in its descriptions of the hikes, and the book is light enough to take with you in your backpack. Color photos are readily availabe on the internet.The book starts with excellent descriptions of the five major towns in the area: Aspen, Marble, Leadville, Buena Vista, and Crested Butte. For those not too familiar with the area this information is very useful. It tells you about the town's history, attractions, lodging, and best places to eat and buy food, supplies, and services. The hikes are almost all to alpine lakes and mountain passes, so there are no descriptions to peaks except for four 14ers: Huron, Mt. Belford, Mt. Yale, and Mt. Harvard. Most are day hikes, in-and-out (very few loops). Except that you can turn around at any time, there are no short family hikes; look elsewhere for these. For each hike there is a general overwiew, good detailed trail description, and information on distance (round trip), elevation, elevation gain or loss, difficulty, area, and best season. But some of this information appears in several places, so it is unnecessarily repetitive. The route of the trail is overlayed on a map showing terrain and contour lines, but the detail is not great, so you will need a real map (USGS, National Geographic, and the like). There are general location maps for groups of hikes and detailed driving conditions to each trailhead, with condition of road (4 or 2WD, rough, etc.). So you won't have to guess whether you are in Pluto (see one of the reviews). There are no GPS locations, though; again you will have to rely on a good map. Overall, this appears to be a good guide to alpine destinations (no peaks) of moderate length and elevation gain. Plenty to choose here especially for those less familiar with the region.

We are avid hikers in Colorado and have a small library of hiking guides for Colorado. By comparison this one is not among the best. Mainly because I'm a map geek and the first, most important thing I need to know about a hike is....where is it. Can I drive up for a day hike, is it an overnight hike, what is the lay of the land in relation to smaller towns nearby or perhaps other hikes I've done in the area. There are some general "big picture" maps in the front and smaller maps with each hike but neither of them show sufficient detail in my opinion. I have to reference other maps outside the book to get a clear idea of where each hike is in the state.

Visiting a new area, the big question is which are the most interesting hikes. This book, the author calls it an "opinionated guide", tells you which hikes she likes and why. She also gives all the important facts - the length, elevation gain, driving directions to the trailhead. Each hike is described in detail. I'm going to use it next month, and I'll let you know how it performs in the field.

These books are great, with wonderful descriptions and specs.

I like this book because it gives you directions if your starting at the end or the beginning of the trail. One way is in black and the other is in red, good pics

I am planning a trip to Colorado later this year and I’ve found this guide book to be extremely helpful to choose the hikes.

All the hikes in this book are 5+ miles long; not great for kids. It's also very text heavy; some photos would add a lot to the book.

Great series - perfect for visitors with recommendations, elevation profiles, and great descriptions.

Fantastic! Easy to follow, maps and great tips.