Maroon Bells
A reflective lake and two giant snow-striped mountaintops, named Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak, anchor a blissful panorama exemplified by a symphony of color that changes with the seasons.
Located just 10 miles west of Aspen or 16 from Snowmass up Maroon Creek Road off Hwy. 82 in a glacial valley, the 14,000-foot peaks (fourteeners) truly epitomize the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. Hiking trails provide access to plenty of photo-worthy scenes in the White River National Forest, including hypnotizing wildflower fields, fly-fishermen seeking catches in tranquil Maroon Lake and brilliant fall colors on aspen trees.
More than 300 million years of geologic activity, including sedimentation, uplift and erosion by wind, water and ice, are credited to the creation of Maroon Valley. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the mountains received their distinctive maroon coloring from the weathering of hematite, an iron-bearing mineral, while Maroon Lake occupies a basin that was sculpted by Ice-Age glaciers.
