Frisco is one of those magically wonderful places in the mountains that I would pick up everything and move to tomorrow with no hesitation. I did a school visit there once right in the heart of September and made a promise to myself to go back every year when the colors changed.
While I’ve been to Frisco quite a bit, I hadn’t done a lot of hiking there so I was really excited to give this trail a try! It’s beautiful, very approachable and lined with gorgeous Aspen trees for the first half of the trail. They were absolutely stunning, showing off their gold and orange and catching the sunlight with each breeze!
This trail is one I would bring out of town visitors to because it’s relatively low on elevation gain, but still offers beautiful views and feels like a true escape into the mountains. It’s less than a mile to Rainbow Lake, which is crystal clear and a perfect excuse to stop and have a snack.
From there you can continue on to Miner’s Creek trail which is all along a creek and offers a ton of shade. There are more trails beyond for exploring, but if you turn around and head back down it’s an easy five-mile loop! We made it just on the tail end of the colors peaking, but still got plenty of gold!