Aspen, Colorado

Michael Fraser

Publisher/Contributor

Pints, Forks & Friends Field Notes

The last time I stood in Aspen, it was 1995. Thirty years is long enough for a mountain town to change its whole personality, and long enough for me to want to see if it still had the one I remembered. This time I brought Theresa. She’d never seen it, and I’d been carrying the idea of getting back out there for longer than I want to admit.

We flew into Denver first, met her aunt for dinner (a good one, though I never caught the name of the place, which is its own small crime for a guy who writes this stuff down for a living), and the next morning rented a Jeep and pointed it west into the mountains.

Twisted Root and the Road In

You don’t drive into the Rockies from Denver without a stop, and ours came early: a coffee bar and pizza pub called Twisted Root, tucked into the foothills before the real climbing starts. The pizza was good in the specific way that road food is good, which is to say we needed it and it delivered exactly what was required. Nothing fancy. Just right.

From there the road runs through Glenwood Canyon, and if you’ve never driven it, understand that it is one of the more absurd stretches of interstate in the country. Interstate 70 threads a narrow gap between canyon walls that look like someone took a smaller, meaner version of the Grand Canyon and dropped I-70 straight through the middle of it. Theresa clocked the falling rock signs and the steel nets bolted into the cliffside and got understandably nervous. I was too busy looking up. Both reactions are correct. The canyon is beautiful and it is also actively trying to remind you that mountains don’t care about your itinerary.

Glenwood Springs: Doc Holliday, Hot Springs, and a Very Good Wing

Most people pass through Glenwood Springs on their way to somewhere else. I wanted to stop this time.

We hiked up to Doc Holliday’s grave, which sits above town with a view worth every step of the climb. Here’s the thing nobody tells you until you get up there: it’s not actually his grave. Nobody knows exactly where Holliday is buried in that cemetery. What you’re looking at is a memorial marker, and people treat it like the real thing anyway, leaving playing cards, whiskey, and other offerings around the stone. I’m glad we made the climb regardless. There’s something honest about a monument to a myth that admits it might be a myth.

There’s an old line about Glenwood Springs: find your wings at Glenwood Springs. I took that as a professional obligation and recorded an episode of *I Can Do Another 12* at a spot called Grind while we were in town. Had to.

The next day we slowed down entirely at Iron Mountain Hot Springs, a series of soaking pools stacked at different temperatures with the mountains rising up around you the whole time. If you’ve spent the last two days driving and hiking, this is where you let the trip catch up with your body. Highly recommend it, and not just as a recovery stop. It’s worth building a day around on its own.

The Road Into Aspen

You know you’re close when the towns start stacking up fast: Basalt, then Woody Creek, then Snowmass Village, then Buttermilk and Aspen Highlands ski areas on either side of the road, and then you’re in Aspen proper.

We booked an Airbnb this time instead of a condo, which is a different way to see a town than the one I remembered from the nineties. You end up staying in someone’s actual neighborhood, parked among people who live there instead of just visiting. Our balcony looked straight at Aspen Mountain, the one locals call Ajax. Standing on that balcony, looking at that mountain again after thirty years, was the moment the whole trip clicked into place. We were back.

Walking the Town: What Changed, What Didn’t

Once we settled in we walked down to the Roaring Fork River and worked our way back through a few blocks of shops and restaurants that didn’t exist the last time I was here. O’Leary’s Pub is gone, which stung a little. I watched a few March Madness upsets happen in that bar in the eighties and nineties, and its absence is the kind of small loss that tells you a place has genuinely moved on without you.

City Market handled our grocery run, a solid local option for stocking an Airbnb kitchen. The Butcher’s Block has been supplying quality meat and deli provisions in Aspen since 1973, and it’s worth a stop even if you’re not cooking, just to see a shop that’s held its standard for over fifty years in a town where everything else seems to reinvent itself every few seasons.

A few things worth noting from our road to Aspen:

The Red Onion was a classic saloon at the base of Ajax Mountain. It’s still closed, and under renovation. Hopefully new ownership will re-open it in the future: Official Facebook Page also GBP: The Red Onion
Twisted Root: Coffee Bar and Pizza Pub is temporarily closed. Their website is offline, but Facebook page is active
Doc Holliday’s Saloon: Take a selfie under the famous neon gun sign. 1885 vintage bar with Western Memorabilia throughout. Who was Doc Holliday?
Butchers Block A must stop for all your premium meats and seafood. Make sure your AirBnb has a grill! Tell them PFF sent you!
Incline Ski Shop: We did not travel with our skis, we had a great experience renting with them. Convienient ski storage avoids having to carry them through town. Pick up and go!

Hickory House - I Can Do Another 12 Score

Watch the FULL EPISODE HERE!

Hickory House: The Best Wings on the Whole Trip

Somewhere in the middle of all this, business called. The Hickory House is a legendary Aspen BBQ joint, known first for its ribs, but I’d heard whispers about the wings and I don’t ignore whispers like that.

They earned the highest score I’ve given on *I Can Do Another 12*: a 9.95. I don’t hand those out. I went back a second time, partly for the wings again and partly to pick up their BBQ rub, and stayed for ribs that hit the same level. The room itself matters here too. Hickory House is family-oriented, unpretentious, the kind of place that doesn’t perform for you. Aspen has plenty of rooms that do perform, and there’s a real uppity current running through parts of this town now. I hope skiing doesn’t eventually price the families out of it entirely. This sport has given me decades of time with people I love, and that’s worth protecting.

Two Days on the Mountain

We only skied two days. Ajax humbled me. I’m not going to dress that up. It’s a serious mountain and I came in underprepared, which is a lesson I’m taking seriously for next time: train before you go, not during.

Buttermilk was the better day, mostly for the view from the top lodge, which looks straight out at Aspen Highlands and the Maroon Bells. One more thing worth saying plainly: there are a lot of fast, out-of-control skiers and boarders out there now, plenty of them running headphones and not paying attention to anyone around them. A helmet isn’t optional anymore. Wear one.

The Divide Cabin, Then and Now

Back in the eighties, there was a horse-drawn sleigh ride out of the Snowmass area that ended at a cabin called Divide Cabin, buried in snow, serving a full BBQ dinner while a local musician played outlaw country standards. I remember hearing “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother” that night and thinking it was about the best thing I’d ever heard in a snowbank.

I went looking for it this trip and couldn’t find anything close to what I remembered. Turns out that was the Christopher family’s Divide Cabin Sleigh Ride Dinner, run through the seventies and eighties with Belgian draft horses hauling guests up from near Snowmass Village to a cabin near the old sled dog kennels. The local legend Twirp Anderson provided the music. Snowmass has expanded a lot since then, and the original cabin isn’t there anymore. What’s replaced it, from what I could find, leans a lot fancier. I get why things change. I still miss the version I had.

Getting Out: Vail Pass and an Unexpected Find

The Divide Cabin, Then and Now

What You Need to Know Before You Go

Is Doc Holliday actually buried in Glenwood Springs, Colorado?

Not exactly. The marked grave in Linwood Cemetery above Glenwood Springs is a memorial, not a confirmed burial site. Holliday is believed to be buried somewhere in the cemetery, but his exact plot was never recorded. The hike to the memorial is still worth doing for the view alone.

What is the best road trip route from Denver to Aspen?

Most drivers take I-70 west through Glenwood Canyon, a dramatic stretch of interstate cut between canyon walls, then head south on Highway 82 through Glenwood Springs and Basalt into Aspen. Building in a stop in Glenwood Springs for the hot springs or a hike breaks up the drive well.

What are Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs like?

Iron Mountain Hot Springs offers a series of soaking pools at varying temperatures, set along the Colorado River with mountain views. It’s a popular stop for travelers heading between Denver and Aspen who want a recovery day mixed into a ski or hiking trip.

What happened to the Divide Cabin sleigh ride dinner near Snowmass?

The Divide Cabin Sleigh Ride Dinner was run by the Christopher family through the 1970s and 80s, using horse-drawn sleighs to bring guests to a snowbound cabin for a BBQ dinner and live outlaw country music. The original cabin no longer exists as Snowmass Village has expanded, though sleigh ride dinner experiences are still offered in the area in different forms.

Where can you get good BBQ and chicken wings in Aspen, Colorado?

Hickory House is Aspen’s long-running BBQ spot, best known for ribs but equally strong on chicken wings, along with a house-made BBQ rub worth taking home. It has a family-friendly, unpretentious atmosphere that stands out in a town known for its higher-end dining scene.

Is Aspen, Colorado expensive to visit?

Yes. Aspen carries a reputation as one of the pricier ski destinations in the country, and lodging, lift tickets, and dining reflect that. Booking an Airbnb instead of a resort condo, eating at local institutions like City Market and Hickory House, and skiing fewer, more deliberate days can bring the cost down without losing the experience.

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