Just 5 miles southwest of Aspen, the rugged peaks, broad valleys, and high passes of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness draw throngs of visitors each year. This guide covers the vast network of trails in the fourth largest wilderness in Colorado. With detailed trails descriptions, accurate maps, and elevation profiles, this guide will show you the popular spots as well as the less-frequented ones. Veteran author Erik Molvar discovered backpacking while working on a volunteer trails crew in the North Cascades of Washington. Erik is the author of trail guides for Glacier, the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Olympic National park, and other areas, as well as Alaska on Foot: Wilderness Techniques for the Far North.

Author Biography

Erik Molvar spends half of each year exploring the wildlands of the American West. After receiving a bachelor's degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana, he went on to attain a master's degree in wildlife management from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where he performed groundbreaking research on moose in Denali National Park. Erik has hiked over 10,000 miles of trails, from the Arctic Ocean to the Mexican border. This total includes more than 900 miles in the mountains surrounding Aspen, encompassing all of the trails in this book. He currently works as executive director for Western Watersheds Project, a West-wide nonprofit conservation group.