Taking the Kids: Visiting Aspen this summer and fall
Another plus: Aspen takes health and safety very seriously. The Aspen City Council has now created a mandatory indoor and outdoor mask zone that includes downtown streets and parks, as well as Aspen Highlands Village, and the base of Aspen Mountain (except when you are in a car or seated for dining. Read the town’s COVID visitor resource guide).
Besides, “To escape, all you have to do is go up a mountain,” jokes Christopher Reyerson, 24, who was raised here and is spending the summer given tours for the Aspen Historical Society.
Are your kids clamoring to learn to mountain bike? Earlier this year, Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, which includes Aspen and Snowmass Village, was designated a Gold-Level Ride Center by the International Mountain Bicycling Association — the first in Colorado and only the fifth in the country,
Families love biking on the Rio Grande Trail that connects the entire valley – 42 miles, making a stop at the iconic Woody Creek Tavern for a Mexican lunch.
Another must: a visit to the Maroon Bells. The two bell-shaped peaks in the Elk Mountains are popular with backpackers, hikers and bikers and are, not incidentally, the most photographed mountains in North America. We opted for rental E Bikes from Four Mountain Sports in Aspen Highlands for the eight-mile uphill climb to 14,000 feet — still a workout, we decided.
After all that exercise, you’ll certainly be hungry and Aspen is known for its food scene but these days, at least 37 of the town’s 80 restaurants are offering takeout. We loved the freshly roasted chicken and chopped salad from Meat & Cheese Restaurant and Farm Shop and ice cream from locals’ favorite Paradise Bakery.
Aspen, suggests Rachel Weiss, is a place to “Relax and soak in the soothing quality of the natural world. It is so therapeutic.”
And we all certainly can use all the nature therapy we can get right now.
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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, will be out this spring.)
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