ASPEN, COLORADO OPENS FOR VISITORS AS OF MAY 27

Physical Distancing Protocols in Place

Aspen, COLO (May 27, 2020) —Aspen Chamber Resort Association (ACRA) announces that Aspen lodging properties (including hotels and professionally managed condo properties) will be able to welcome visitors to Aspen beginning May 27.  Surrounded by stunning mountains with hundreds of miles of trails for walking, hiking, biking and mountain biking, rivers for kayaking, rafting, and fly fishing, Aspen is a perfect destination for the restorative power of nature that is so needed after the past weeks of shelter-at-home.

“After most of the country has been in shelter in place, Aspen is a perfect location to getaway experience the healing power of nature,” said ACRA President and CEO Debbie Braun.  “With so much open space, it will be easy to find yourself alone under Colorado blue sky.”

A maximum group/event size of 50 will be allowed in Aspen as of May 27, but gatherings of more than 10 people must be a county- or municipality-permitted event with a COVID-19 safety plan.

Aspen Lodging

As of June 26, lodging is allowed to open at 100% capacity with a COVID-19 safety plan to include sector-specific guidance.

• All lodging properties are required by Pitkin County Board of Health to have a social distancing plan and new sanitation procedures, in order to have a safe environment for employees and guests, and policies will be detailed on each properties website.

Aspen Activities

• Aspen outdoor activities include hiking and nature walks, road biking and mountain biking, small group rafting/kayaking, horseback riding and more. For additional information on outdoor recreation in Aspen, visit https://www.aspenchamber.org/explore/recreation

• Now Open: Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) reopened Hallam Lake nature preserve for limited hours on  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m..  While the nature preserve is open during these hours, public access to the Hallam Lake visitor center will remain closed. No bathrooms or indoor facilities will be available
• Opening June 8: Located 10 miles west of downtown Aspen, the Maroon Bells are a must see for any Aspen trip.  The series of distinctive bell-shaped peaks tower at 14,000 feet above the glacial Maroon Valley and anchor a blissful panorama exemplified by a symphony of color that changes with the seasons.
  • Dates for the Maroon Bells access:
    • May 27: The road to the Maroon Bells is currently open for bikes and remains open for bikes and e-bikes at anytime.
    • June 8: The road to the Maroon Bells will open for automobiles with reservations.
    • June 28: Maroon Bells bus service will begin; As of June 28, automobile access will be limited to before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m. with a reservation.
    • RFTA Shuttle Service to Maroon Bells: Due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements and the need to estimate and safely manage demand, reservations will be required to access the Maroon Bells Scenic Area this year by vehicle or by RFTA shuttle. Seats on the RFTA shuttle will be limited and fares are being increased to cover the added expense of making access to the Maroon Bells by bus possible this year. The fare will be $15.95 for all reservations. Parking at the Aspen Highlands Ski Area is free for the first 30 minutes, then costs: 0-3 Hours: $10, 3-8 Hours: $15, 8+ Hours: $30.
    • Reservations for Shuttle and Parking at Maroon Bells: Reservation requests for both the shuttle service and parking will be available to the public beginning June 2 online here. Reservations will initially be available in rolling two-week increments.
• Opening June 12: The Silver Queen Gondola will open for daily traffic up Aspen Mountain June 12 through Sept. 7. The Sundeck Restaurant will be under construction through Aug. 2020. Updates can be found here.
• Beginning June 16: Aspen Historical Society (AHS) plans to offer guided tours, as well as access to the Wheeler Stallard Museum and Holden Marolt Museum after June 16, dependent on the latest public health guidelines. AHS has created several new outdoor tours to offer guests including the Midland Railbed Tour and Red Butte Cemetery Tour. Additional tours include the Bauhaus architectural walking tour, historic downtown walking tour, Victorian West End walking tour, and Independence Ghost Town tour.  All tours will require advance reservations and will have a limited number of socially distanced participants based on current health orders.
• Beginning June 20: The Aspen Saturday Market will return to downtown Aspen June 13 with new social distancing guidelines. This year’s market will be limited to agricultural and fresh food vendors. The Aspen Saturday Market continues through fall every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
• Beginning August: Aspen Institute is offering in person art and walking tours throughout August and September including an earthworks and lard art of Hebert Bayer tour with landscape architect Ann Mullins and the legacy of Herbert Bayer art tout with Aspen Institute art curator Lissa Ballinger. All tours are limited to six people and require an RSVP. For more information and registration for tours click here.

Aspen Dining

Many of Aspen’s restaurants are currently offering dining-to-go and all restaurants will be allowed to open May 27 at 50 percent capacity indoors and for al fresco dining.

• Restaurants currently offering take out include: Aspen Over Easy Breakfast Club, Aspen Tap Room, Bamboo Bear, Bangkok Happy Bowl, Bear Den, Big Wrap, Bok Choy, Bosq, Butcher’s Block, CP Burger, Francesca’s Aspen, Grateful Deli, Highlands Alehouse, Hickory House, Hometeam BBQ, Jimmy’s, Jing, Jour De Fete, JUS, Kenichi, L’Hostaria, Local Coffee, Louis Swiss Pastry, Mawa’s Kitchen, Meat & Cheese, Mezzaluna, Mi Chola, New York Pizza, Red Mountain Grill, Silverpeak Grill, Tiki Mana Island Grill, Victoria’s Espresso Bar, White House Tavern, Woody Creek Tavern, and Zane’s Tavern.
• For a list of restaurants that are open for dine-in click here.

Arts & Culture

With the pandemic and social distancing standards, many events have been cancelled, but Aspen’s arts & culture organizations are working to create new and engaging events. For updated information on openings and events, visit https://aspenchamber.org/explore/arts-culture

Hire-a-Guide

Hiring a private professional guide from a naturalist to a mountaineer is a great way to quickly and safely gain new skills for outdoor adventures and explore the Aspen area from a new perspective – as well as a way to socially distance. Aspen has many professional guiding services including the following:

• Beginning June 13, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) naturalist guides are available to hire at a price of $60 per hour for guided, personalized adventures that can be tailored to the groups athletic ability and interests, including geology, fauna and flora and more. ACES can provide transportation as well as snacks and lunch.
• Professional guiding service Aspen Alpine Guides offers a full roster of year-round mountain guiding adventures as well as technical mountaineering instruction. Their most popular adventures include the guided 14’er (a peak higher than 14,000 feet) peak climbs, and backcountry overnight hut trips.
• Guided cycling can be enjoyed with a number of outfitters including Aspen Cycling Tours, Bike Butlers, Blazing Adventures, and Sun Dog Athletics.
• Aspen Expeditions offers private and group lessons and courses in mountaineering and rock climbing.
• Water lovers take to the rivers on a variety of equipment including whitewater rafts, kayaks and stand up paddleboard with Aspen Kayak and SUP Academy, Aspen Whitewater Rafting, Blazing Adventures and other local outfitters.
• Local fly fishing outfitters including Aspen Outfitting Company, Taylor Creek Fly Shop and Aspen Fly Fishing lead private guided fishing trips.

Adventure News

• Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley are the first destination in Colorado to receive the designation as an IMBA Gold Ride Center from the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA). The IMBA Gold-Level evaluation criteria is comprised of key aspects that make for an amazing mountain bike destination and include the following: variety of trail types, overall trail mileage, quality of trail experiences, destination best practices, and local services. The Roaring Fork Valley’s system of trails scored high marks in each of these categories, contributing to the IMBA Gold-Level designation.

New Sustainable Initiatives

• Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA), the local bus system, recently added eight battery powered electric buses to the RFTA fleet. The electric buses operate on City of Aspen routes.
• Passengers traveling to Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) can reduce the impact of their flight with carbon offsets through an online program called The Good Traveler. The online program uses allows travelers to calculate the distance of their trip and buy offsets to cover the distance, which then get invested into carbon reducing projects.
• To help promote responsible tourism, ACRA created the ‘Aspen Pledge,’ an initiative with positive messages on how to visit and play in Aspen. The Aspen Pledge was created to encourage visitors – and locals - to take ownership in maintaining Aspen’s natural beauty for all for generations to come. The Aspen Pledge can be found online at www.aspenchamber.org/pledge and is also available in print at all of the ACRA visitor’s centers.
• ACRA’s “Tag Responsibly” campaign encourages locals and visitors to “Tag Responsibly – Take the Aspen Pledge.” As Instagram and other social media channels have encouraged people to travel the world while snapping photos of the most beautiful places discovered, some places in the world are getting over-visited – or people are endangering themselves for that perfect Instagram shot. Instead of using a geotag on Instagram posts, which provides the exact location down to the latitude and longitude, ACRA encourages locals and visitors to use the geotag “Tag Responsibly – Take the Aspen Pledge” to protect Aspen’s most coveted areas in and around town.
• ACRA also joined with the Pledge for the Wild, an initiative with 11 other mountain towns, supporting responsible tourism in wild places. Pledge for the Wild is proactively sharing outdoor principles and responsible tourism tips while creating a direct channel to give back to local destinations.

How to Get to Aspen

• Aspen Airport (ASE)

Aspen Pitkin County Airport has remained open during the crisis. Delta Air Lines has daily nonstop flights from Salt Lake City (SLC) and United Airlines has daily nonstop service from Denver (DEN). Beginning June 4, there will be four nonstop flights from Dallas (DFW) and Phoenix (PHX) on American Airlines, Salt Lake City (SLC) on Delta, and Denver (DEN) on United Airlines. Beginning July 6 American airlines will add daily nonstop flights from Los Angeles (LAX) and Chicago (ORD) and United Airlines will add nonstop service from Chicago (ORD), Houston (IAH) San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX).  

• • To see what Aspen Airport is doing to keep travelers safe click here.
  • For flight information, visit Aspen Chamber’s airport page here.   Driving to Aspen:
• Aspen is located 220 miles (3 ½ hours) from Denver international Airport via I-70 through Glenwood Springs or 181 miles (3 hours) via Independence Pass, which is slated to open June 1. Independence Pass is currently open for cyclists.

For media information and images, contact Promo Communications at 970.948.3176 or

Maureen Poschman • [email protected]

Melissa Wisenbaker • [email protected]

For visitor information, visit www.aspenchamber.org, or call 1.888.290.1324 or 970.925.1940.

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About Aspen, Colorado – Aspen, Colorado is an authentic, historic mountain town that is renowned for its year-round outdoor lifestyle, cosmopolitan cultural calendar, and bustling downtown ambiance. With an endless array of arts, culture, dining, and nightlife, Aspen is defined by an urbane feel that belies its small-town charm. An Aspen vacation is an experience that energizes the mind, body, spirit, whether soaking in mountain beauty and 300 days of annual sunshine, learning a new skill, feeding a fascination, or simply absorbing the mountain spirit. Located 18 miles east of Independence Pass on the Western Slope of the Continental Divide, Aspen is nestled in the heart of the White River National Forest at the confluence of the Roaring Fork River, Hunter Creek, Maroon Creek, and Castle Creek, and encircled by the peaks of the Elk Mountain Range in the central Rocky Mountains. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is conveniently located only three miles from downtown Aspen. For visitor information, a complete calendar of events, or to book an Aspen vacation, visit www.aspenchamber.org, or call 1.888.290.1324 or 970.925.1940.