Looking Beyond the Fall Aspens in RMNP

by Marlene Borneman

​In the autumn months, Colorado is known for spectacular displays of golden quaking aspens (Populus tremuloides).  Mountainsides glow in deep golds, red and oranges mid-September through mid-October.  No doubt an aspen grove or even one lone aspen tree in the autumn months can take your breath away.
 
In Rocky Mountain National Park many native shrubs and flowering plants give brilliant fall colors on the forest floor, on hillsides, and along streams and creeks.

Here is a tour of Rocky’s Best autumn colors beyond the aspens to take in while hiking this fall.

Willows - Rocky Mountain National Park boasts many species of willows. Willows, (Salix), grow along creeks, streams, and rivers, in all elevations giving stunning deep yellows.

Squashberry - Viburnum edule, also known as highbush cranberry, decorates moist areas along streams and creeks with crimson red leaves and red berries making for a very pretty fall display. The berries contain a drupe which is a stony pit.

Chokecherry - Prunus virginiana, is in the Rose Family Chokecherry. It's a large shrub with white fragrant flowers flowers in the spring and dark purple berries in late summer. In autumn months chokecherry shrubs gives deep red, orange and yellow colors to the hillsides.

Ferns hugging the forest floor show off hues of deep bronze, shades of brown and gold.

Whortleberry - Vaccinium myrtillus, carpets the forest floor with amazing colors that hang on until late October or until the first snowfalls.

Golden hues of grasses in the high meadows shimmer in the sunlight.

Alpine avens give the tundra a striking scene with their fern-like leaves turning the tundra into a blaze of deep maroon.

Fireweed - Chamerion angustifolium, with deep pink flowers in late summer transforms in fall with showy seed capsules wrapped in long hairy magical strands and spirals appearing magical along their large deep red foliage.

The most common species of Geranium, Geranium caespitosum, adds to the understory with shades of red, yellow and orange leaves.

Oregon-Grape - Berberis repens, spreads in large masses in the understory of the forest. Oregon-grape produces large, deep blue, and purple berries with royal- red thick shiny leaves adding a striking scene to a hike.