It's 25°F at the Bells right now. Gusting to 30. The forecast for Friday calls for a high of 24 and a low of 1, with an 82% chance of precipitation, which at that elevation means snow that will still be there in the morning.
So here is the honest Colorado answer, delivered by a guy who has hauled two Shih Tzus through more bad weather windows than he'd like to admit: Maroon Bells Crater Lake is not ready for you yet. It is scoring 50 out of 100, and the score is being generous.
Kelly and Mark are currently napping under a blanket on the couch, which is the correct April position for everyone involved.
Why the Bells Aren't Open to You
Two things, and they're both structural, not weather:
1. The shuttle doesn't run until late May. Maroon Creek Road closes to private vehicles during the operating season (roughly Memorial Day weekend through mid-October). In April, the road is technically open for a few of the lower miles, but the Maroon Lake parking area isn't accessible in the way the summer brochures advertise. Rangers will turn you around well before the lake if conditions don't support it.
2. Crater Lake is still frozen. The hike listed as 3.6 miles "Easy" with 500 feet of gain is absolutely that, in July. In April, you're post-holing through crusty snow that's been refrozen nine times, the trail is invisible under drifts, and the "lake" at the end is a white disc under another foot of snow. The Bells themselves will still look stunning — that's the good news — but the trail experience is not what you booked.
The Current Conditions, For Completeness
- Temp today: 27°F high, 19°F low. Wind chill in the single digits.
- Tomorrow: 21°F high, 8°F low, 51% precip.
- Friday: 24°F high, 1°F low, 82% precip.
- Wind: 21 mph sustained, gusts 30. At that elevation this is the difference between a hike and a survival exercise.
- AQI: 58 (moderate — mostly residual valley smoke settling).
- UV: 8. Snow reflection is real. Wear sunscreen even if it feels absurd.
Gear flags from the score system today: wind layer recommended, insulation layer required, mask for sensitive groups. When the system is telling you "insulation layer required" on an easy 3.6-mile trail, that is a useful signal that the trail has stopped being easy.
When It Actually Opens
The shuttle and parking system at Maroon Bells typically comes online around Memorial Day weekend, depending on snow at the Maroon Creek Road. Aspen Chamber Resort Association and the White River National Forest both post the opening date — usually confirmed about three weeks out.
For Crater Lake itself to be melted, walkable, and photographing like the calendar version of the Bells, you're looking at late June into early July. That's the reality. Any earlier and you're dealing with patchy snow, mud, and a high-water outlet stream that can complicate the short spur to the lake.
My honest recommendation: book your Bells trip for the last week of June or the first week of July. Apply that same logic to shuttle reservations once they open (they go fast — set a calendar alarm for the day they release).
What To Do Instead, Right Now
You live in Colorado or you flew here in April. You still want to hike. I respect that. Options in rough order of elevation:
- Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs). Year-round, 6,600 feet, 90-something right now. Kelly can do this one. Mark pretends he can.
- Roxborough State Park. Similar red-rock vibe without the crowds.
- South Boulder Creek / Marshall Mesa. Front Range foothills, typically snow-free by mid-April.
- Grand Junction / Colorado National Monument. Western Slope desert, low elevation, warm.
- Chautauqua Trailhead, Boulder. Gets you on the Flatirons. Poles help if you hit a patch of shaded snow on the Mesa Trail.
The through-line: stay below 7,500 feet if you want dry trail and reasonable temperatures this week. The 10,000-foot-plus stuff is not ready, and pretending it is is how people end up hiking out after dark in borrowed coats.
The Dog Question
Maroon Bells Crater Lake is dog-friendly on-leash, which is a rare treat in a national-forest destination this photogenic. Save it for July. Aspen in summer is a genuinely good trip with dogs — the town has water bowls at half the storefronts, and the shuttle drivers are used to small, confused, fluffy passengers.
Kelly and Mark have made the trip twice. Both times I rented a bear-proof cooler and regretted not renting a bigger one. Plan accordingly.
John's Take
The Bells will still be there in July. The photo you want — still water, Maroon Peak and North Maroon reflecting at golden hour, snow-rimmed but mostly melted, wildflowers coming up at the shore — is a late June through early August photo. Trying to force it in April is how you end up with a cold, frustrated version of a trip that could have been the best week of your year.
If you're in Colorado this week and you've got hiking energy, drop elevation. If you're planning Maroon Bells for the summer, spend this weekend doing the boring part — shuttle reservations, permits, dog-sitter arrangements if you're not bringing yours, hotel or camping in Aspen or down the valley in Basalt or Carbondale.
The patience pays. It always does up here.
📍 Live conditions for Maroon Bells Crater Lake →