On a warm sunny day in Breckenridge, Colorado, a trail close to town, aptly called "Aspen Alley," is bustling. Gaggles of chatty hikers climb the dirt switchbacks that pave through stands of yellowing, flittering leaves.
This is one of the most popular leaf-peeping destinations in the region. The high-elevation mountains mean the aspen leaves turn vibrant shades, among the earliest in the country.
"There's nothing quite like a turning aspen," said Jessica Moen from Parker, Colorado, who was walking with her husband and two small children. "My son calls them confetti trees, because when they shimmer, and it's kind of just fun."
The family came to hike here last year, too. But when they arrived, the small trailhead parking lot was completely full. They had to start walking from farther away and didn't make it as far into the aspens.
But this day was different because the town of Breckenridge is trying something new. It's shutting down the parking lot during peak fall season. Signs on the way from town tell drivers they won't find a spot there. Instead, the town started offering a free shuttle. It runs from mid-September to early October and brings visitors to and from a much bigger parking lot, just a half-mile away.
As the shuttle pulls in, hikers pile out of the doors and examine trailhead signs. Alex Stach, the town's open space and trails coordinator, helps some of them navigate. He's one of the architects of this new system.
Last year, volunteers counted an average of 174 hikers per hour on this trail during peak fall weekends, according to town data. Parking overflowed, forcing people to walk on the busy road. Stach said the goal of the shuttle is to increase safety, protect the surrounding environment, and avoid some of the drama over the few coveted parking spots.
"Literally, I could think of an example where it was heated," he said, "like these two dads just having a very passionate argument about this parking spot. And you're sitting here, on a beautiful day, looking at the leaves, and just like, why does this have to happen?"
This is one example of how communities are trying to manage the traffic from foliage tourism, which can concentrate visitors on a handful of trails or roads. On Guanella Pass, another leaf-viewing destination, sheriff's deputies are boosting enforcement of illegal parking, handing out 25 tickets one early September weekend.
Stach said the goal in Breckenridge is not to keep people away.
"We want the trails to be busy," he said. "It's great that people are here experiencing it, and this is a great trail to do so."
In fact, he hopes this micro-transit addition means visitors have a better experience. That's important, because after a winter lacking in snow, local business owners looked more intently to summer and now fall tourism.
But fall can be unpredictable. Drought conditions mean leaves in many places are turning early this year, said Dan West, an entomologist with the Colorado State Forest Service.
"Things are really progressing much, much sooner than maybe we would anticipate in years past," he said, "and most of that is because of the lack of water."
Without enough moisture, trees are in worse shape come fall, meaning their leaves are smaller and prone to browning and shutting down early to conserve water. Still, West is confident the trees will still put on a show.
"But this year, I think we're going to see a lot more of the kind of yellows and the browns, and a little bit more of the oranges, and less of the purples," he said.
Miranda Murphy watches the leaves closely. A co-owner of Wandering Daisy, a gift shop in downtown Breckenridge, she said their timing makes a big difference in how busy the town gets.
"If they change slowly, then we have weeks of people coming up the mountain," she said. "But if they change so fast, it's like a weekend."
She's hoping the leaves stick on the trees at least through the town's Oktoberfest celebration in late September.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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