Later Fall location help.

I have a buddy flyin out from Omaha Fri Oct 7th to go shoot that weekend. I usually go the weekend before for color (I will again too), but haven't gone the later weekend. Will there still be good color in the San Juans? Any other recommended locations for the later dates? I want to find him some good color as well. Thanks in advance, Josh.

I've been there about that late and there was still some good color. Plenty of barren trees too but lots of leaves carpeting the ground which can make for good shots. County Road 5 is especially good for the leaf-covered ground shots.

You could try the South San Juans. I found stellar colors on the 7th and 8th last year in the upper Chama basin, north of Chama, NM, just inside Colorado. All around the South San Juans could have potential: between Pagosa and Chama, the Conejos Valley, La Manga Pass. Or you could dip down into New Mexico and check out Hwy 64 between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras; that road can have great color. My feeling is that those areas go perhaps a week later than the Dallas Divide/West Elk standards.

As Jackson said, the southern San Juans are usually a week, or more later. You could start in Durango / La Platas and work your way north.

Another option is to look at the lower elevations in the front range canyons. Cheyenne Canyon in Colorado Springs is good around that time in my experience.