GEORGETOWN, Colo. — When hikers head to places like Guanella Pass or Highway 103 during this time of the year, they expect to have serene views, seas of golden trees, and the overall beauty that comes with a changing season.
Though, every year, it seems the reality lies in a less pleasant spot. Many of those hikers are met at trailheads by trash, bags of pet waste piling up and even intense traffic backups.
"Here's my opinion piece on leaf-peeping Guanella Pass: It's beautiful, it's gorgeous, stunning. If you park on the side of the road where you're not supposed to park, I hope you stub your toe, really hard," said Laura Sunshine on TikTok after visiting the popular leaf-peeping site days ago.
@lauravonsonnenschein A buncha ding dongs on the road #guanellapass #leafpeeping #colorado #fall ♬ original sound - Laura Sunshine
It's the exact problem the Clear Creek Sheriff's Office is working to tackle through additional patrols of the popular site.
"We're telling our deputies that are on patrol that when they have some downtime to please head up to Guanella Pass or to Highway 103 and do some extra patrol enforcement in those areas," said Jenny Fulton, the public information officer with the Clear Creek Sheriff's Office. "For the next two weekends, we are offering Saturday and Sunday overtime shifts. It's actually extra duty, which even pays more than overtime."
Fulton told Denver7 the biggest infraction they're dealing with is illegal parking and idling.
"There's limited parking up here on Guanella Pass. We're asking people to please be respectful of the parking locations and use designated parking areas rather than just pull off the side of the road," she said.
On a Thursday afternoon, Guanella Pass isn't quite as busy as its been on weekends, which is why Kari Bowen and her dad decided it was the perfect day to take the trip.
- Not fighting the crowds to see the leaves? Take in the views from the skies at Guanella Pass courtesy Denver7 photojournalist Drew Smith in the video player below:
"I'm from Colorado, but my dad's from California, so I thought while he's visiting, we'd come up and see some fall colors," Bowen said. "We try to make it up every year during this time."
The date and time chosen were strategic ones, Bowen said.
"We first moved here about 12 years ago, we learned that, you know, all the weekends are convenient for obvious reasons, it can be really crowded and can be really challenging to get places," she said. "So we find that if we can snag some time during the week."
The Silver Dale trailhead, where Bowen and her dad started their hike, was clean Thursday. Though, every single spot in the parking lot full.
"It's really, really important, I think, to mind the speed limits in small towns and to be mindful of children and families that are out," Bowen said. "I just hope that everybody has those same philosophies when they come up here, because it is our town, it's our communities, and we need to treat it like we live there."
Which is the same hope officials in town have, too.
"It's beautiful up here. The leaves are changing. There's lots of color. It really is very attractive for people to come up and visit," Fulton said. "Lots of people are thinking along the same lines, so just please be patient."
- Hoping to head to the high country to see the leaves this weekend? Here's the updated fall foliage outlook from Denver7 meteorologist Stacey Donaldson: