Aspen · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Backpacking Aspen means camping in the national forest and using the free buses relentlessly.
St. Moritz Lodge
The one place in town with dorm beds and a shared kitchen, on Hyman a few blocks from the gondola. Everything else in Aspen starts at resort rates.
What a day costs
Realistically $80–160 a day even camping — food and drink are priced for second-home owners. Down-valley in Carbondale or Glenwood Springs, halve it.
Free RFTA buses
Roaring Fork Transportation Authority buses are free inside Aspen and Snowmass, and a few dollars down the valley to Glenwood Springs. Free shuttles also reach the Maroon Creek trailheads.
Camping in White River
Difficult Campground up Highway 82 and dispersed sites off Lincoln Creek Road sit close to town for little or nothing. Above 8,000 feet, so nights stay cold.
Free by day
The Aspen Art Museum charges nothing, the John Denver Sanctuary is a public garden, and the Rio Grande Trail runs forty paved miles down the valley.