Ashcroft

The site itself is not really exciting, but when you come at right time, the background of the site is very beautiful, the additional history and culture make it very interesting. I even saw people taking wedding pictures here. The nearby Castle Creek is also nice.

We had such a great time going up here. It was late June and we were in Aspen for an assessor's conference my husband went to. We took the afternoon off grabbed a picnic lunch from Clark's market in Snowmass and drove towards Aspen. Ashcroft is about 10 miles south but it takes a little longer because it's a windy road. The concierge at our hotel said there wasn't much up there, but we were so impressed with the buildings that have remained and been restored. It was so tranquil and quiet. There's a big parking lot and nicely marked trails and signs it makes a perfect afternoon outing for a family. Here's a link to the video we made. It was our first attempt using Premier Pro so it's a little disjointed and the music is a little creepy but it goes with the ghost town motif. https://youtu.be/92XyfU0uhcw

This is a lesser known attraction. I recommend renting electric bikes and biking from town and back. There is a restaurant close to the ghost town as well.

This is a really cool place to visit, its got a huge parking lot, only cost $3 to see it and has a nice picnic area by the river if you want to bring something with you to eat. As for the ghost town, there is a lot to see and its great that the forest service, or who ever the people are that have maintained it, have little plaques everywhere with photographs and historical information about the town prior to its decline. I took at 5 year old here and she thought it was really cool. You can also, go into many of the old structures so that makes it even more fun; one building even had old artifacts showing what the old inhabitants might have used at that time. its def worth going.

About 11 miles up Castle Creek Road is the Ashcroft Ghost Town. It was established in the 1880's and flourished for about 10 years before people apparently got tired of having to have their food brought in, not being able to farm much and probably freezing their asses off. About 10 buildings remain. Yes, life was rough, but the views were spectacular. There is a walking path that takes you among the buildings with a few interpretive explanations of what went on here back in the day. You are also free to enter and explore most of the buildings. We came on a beautiful Sunday morning and had the place to ourselves for the entire time - maybe an hour. There is no cost, although there was a place to pay a fee, there were no envelopes or indication of how much we should pay. I dropped a few dollars in, which hopefully someone will pick up someday. As I mentioned, this village sits in a spectacular valley. The view would be worth seeing even if the town wasn't there. One of the interpretive signs identifies all the surrounding peaks and their height. Very cool and probably breathtaking when the aspens still have their golden leaves. It's a pretty easy place to visit and worth a stop if you're visiting Aspen.

Really cool place. Not many structures left, but story is really cool. I can't believe the put their cabins on wheels and drug them out to aspen. But the remaining structures are really cools.