Sights in Aspen
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A
Wagner Park
A patch of green just off the Mill St mall, edged with cedars and a couple of shimmering aspens, and views of the Red and Aspen mountains. Football goals (both types) are set up, there's a playground area for little ones and plenty of space for a game of frisbee.
reviewed
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B
Aspen Art Museum
No permanent collection here, just edgy, innovative contemporary exhibitions featuring paintings, mixed media, sculpture, video installations and photography by artists such as Mamma Anderssen, Mark Manders and Susan Phiipszmark. Art lovers will not leave disappointed. Visit in August and you can experience its annual artCRUSH event, an art auction and wine-tasting extravaganza.
reviewed
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C
Aspen Volunteer Fire Department Museum
This gleaming new firehouse has a three-story wing devoted to shedding light on what is still largely a volunteer force, a force first organized in 1881. There's a timeline mural on the wall and a fantastic restored fire wagon from late 19th century. From the second and third floors you can peer down onto the current fleet. A 15-minute spin around the museum satisfies the little boy within and without.
reviewed
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D
212 Gallery
An amazing, forward-thinking art gallery. When we came through it had an exhibit featuring Daniel Beltra's aerial photos of the BP oil spill, which lent the event an ominous beauty, thanks to the polarized filter on his lens. Ten percent of proceeds of the limited-edition large-format photos went to help the clean up. The large-scale bronze sculptures were striking and the Aurora Robson sculptures were stunning and original.
reviewed
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E
Independence
- Aspen, USA
- Sights › Ghost town
Just 16 miles from Aspen at the foot of Independence Pass, this gold-mining boom town turned ghost town started as a tented camp in the summer of 1879, when one lucky miner struck gold on the Fourth of July. Operated and preserved by the Aspen Historical Society, you can see the remains of the old livery, the general store and a miners cabin or three.
After its population had peaked at 1500 residents, the town fell away during the harsh winter storm of 1899 after supply routes were severed due to severe snowfall.
reviewed
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F
Rio Grande Park
Aspen's biggest public park runs along the river, and is bisected by the Rio Grande Trail for 2.1 miles. The park is home to an enticing skate park, outdoor basketball courts, a huge athletic field perfect for football or frisbee, an art museum and sculpture garden, and the John Denver Sanctuary.
Set in a grassy riverside meadow and punctuated by boulders that form a natural amphitheater, the sanctuary is a popular sunbathing spot. Some of the stones are engraved with Denver's lyrics including 'Rocky Mountain High.' This peaceful place, with the mountains looming beyond, may even tempt your snarky, protopunk brain to reevaluate the late artist's musical impact. Or not.
reviewed
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G
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) is a 22-acre (10-hectare) wildlife sanctuary that hugs the Roaring Fork River. With a mission to advance 'the ethic that the earth must be respected and nurtured,' the Center's naturalists provide summertime guided walks, eagle demonstrations and special programs for youngsters at the top of Aspen Mountain and mid-mountain on Snowmass.
Guided walks on Snowmass depart daily at 10am. In the winter, snowshoe and ski tours are available in various locations, and its weekly slide shows may give you some respite from the frigid outdoors. You can take a self-guided tour of the preserve (with snowshoes in winter, if you prefer)…
reviewed
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H
Ashcroft
- Aspen, USA
- Sights › Ghost town
The best access point to the 20 miles of groomed trails in the stunning Castle Creek Valley is the ghost town of Ashcroft, a silver-mining town founded in 1880. What remains are mostly miners cottages (log cabins with tin roofs), a couple of broken-down wagons stranded in the waist-high grass, and a post office and saloon.
At its height 2500 people worked here, but in 1893 the silver market crashed and the town's population plummeted to 100 residents within two hours.
There's a fine picnic area down by the creek, and a series of displays profiling famous residents, and local transportation and communication of the day. Preserved by the Aspen Historical Society, it's well…
reviewed