Aspen Highlands
Overview
Aspen Highlands is the lesser-known of the two Aspen-area mountains in this batch, set apart from downtown rather than rising out of it, and its identity is built almost entirely around one piece of terrain: Highland Bowl. Whip Jones began developing the mountain in 1958; ownership later passed through Harvard University, which received it as a donation from Jones in 1993 and sold it to Houston developer Gerald D. Hines for $18.3 million before it settled into the Aspen Skiing Company’s four-mountain portfolio alongside Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, and Buttermilk.
The Bowl itself didn’t reach its current form until 2002, when the full hike-to terrain above treeline opened to skiers. It covers roughly 270 acres reached on foot from the Loge Peak summit — a snowcat shuttle can trim the hike by about a third — with pitches running up to 48 degrees on some of the steepest inbounds terrain in the Roaring Fork Valley. The official site brands the place with the tagline “wild but always welcoming,” and the numbers back the wild half: of 43.06km of mapped terrain across 76 runs, just 0.2km is rated easy, while 10.19km is expert and 7.3km advanced. In 1984, an avalanche in the terrain killed three ski patrollers; three memorial runs now carry their names.
Lift infrastructure is lean by design: 6 chairlifts and no gondola, moving skiers up a 1,061.0m vertical from a 2,466.3m base to a 3,527.3m summit — slightly more vertical, in fact, than Aspen Mountain’s 1,005.4m, despite Highlands’ smaller lift fleet. That combination of limited lift infrastructure and a large hike-to bowl is what separates Highlands from its in-town sibling: Aspen Mountain trades directly on downtown access, while Highlands trades on terrain that requires effort to reach. Above the trees, the summit area opens onto views of the Maroon Bells and Pyramid Peak, and the on-mountain Cloud Nine restaurant has built a reputation of its own around that outlook.
Access mirrors Aspen Mountain’s: Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (Sardy Field, ASE) is the closest option at about 6.6km, with Eagle County Regional (EGE) roughly 53.5km out and the far-flung Colorado Springs Municipal (COS) serving as the listed gateway at 190.9km. As with Aspen Mountain, lift tickets and passes here run through Aspen Snowmass’s own system, separate from the Epic Pass used at Vail, Breckenridge, and Keystone.
Key stats
Official website — Last checked 2026-09-13
Lifts by type
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| chair lift | 6 |
Runs by difficulty
| Difficulty | Distance |
|---|---|
| easy | 0.2 km |
| expert | 10.19 km |
| advanced | 7.3 km |
| intermediate | 25.37 km |
Maps
View official Aspen Highlands trail map (PDF) →
Run & lift overview
Aspen Highlands: 77 runs, 6 lifts. Generated from community-mapped OpenStreetMap data, not Aspen Highlands's official map artwork. © OpenStreetMap contributors, OpenSkiMap (ODbL).
Typical conditions by month
Monthly conditions data for Aspen Highlands is not yet available.
Lift tickets & passes
Aspen Highlands has no multi-resort pass affiliations on record.
Getting there
Nearest airports
- Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (Sardy Field) (ASE) — 6.6 km straight-line
- Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) — 53.5 km straight-line
- Gunnison Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) — 70.3 km straight-line
Nearest cities
- Lakewood, Colorado — 164.3 km straight-line
- Boulder, Colorado — 166 km straight-line
- Arvada, Colorado — 168 km straight-line
Also covered by
Where to stay
A dedicated lodging guide for Aspen Highlands is not yet available.
Nearby resorts
- Buttermilk — 3 km straight-line, 610.1 m vertical
- Aspen Mountain — 4 km straight-line, 1005.4 m vertical
- Aspen Snowmass — 9 km straight-line, 1341.2 m vertical
- Crested Butte Mountain Resort — 30 km straight-line, 705.7 m vertical
- Sunlight Mountain Resort — 48 km straight-line, 522.1 m vertical
FAQ
- How big is Aspen Highlands?
- Aspen Highlands climbs from a 2,466.3m base to a 3,527.3m summit, a vertical drop of 1,061.0m, across 76 runs and 43.06km of terrain. It's the smallest of the two Aspen-area mountains by lift count, with just 6 chairlifts and no gondola.
- Is Aspen Highlands good for beginners?
- Not really — only 0.2km of the mountain's 43.06km is rated easy, with the rest split across 25.37km intermediate, 7.3km advanced, and 10.19km expert. Like Aspen Mountain across town, Highlands is built for skiers who already have some mileage under them, not first-timers.
- What is Highland Bowl?
- Highland Bowl is Aspen Highlands' signature expert terrain, an above-treeline hike-to bowl that fully opened in 2002 and covers roughly 270 acres. It's reached by hiking from the Loge Peak summit — snowcat rides can cut the hike by about a third — with pitches up to 48 degrees, and it adds meaningfully to the mountain's skiable vertical beyond the lift-served terrain.
- How is Aspen Highlands different from Aspen Mountain?
- Both are part of the four-mountain Aspen Snowmass group but are separate peaks: Aspen Mountain rises directly from downtown Aspen with no beginner terrain and 5 lifts, while Aspen Highlands sits a short drive from town, has 6 chairlifts and no gondola, and is defined by the hike-to Highland Bowl rather than in-town access. Highlands also has slightly more vertical, 1,061.0m against Aspen Mountain's 1,005.4m.
- What's the nearest airport to Aspen Highlands?
- Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (Sardy Field, ASE) is about 6.6km away, marginally closer than to Aspen Mountain. Eagle County Regional (EGE) is roughly 53.5km out, and the listed gateway, Colorado Springs Municipal (COS), sits a distant 190.9km away.
- How old is Aspen Highlands?
- Aspen Highlands was developed starting in 1958 by Aspen local Whip Jones. Jones later donated it to Harvard University in 1993, which sold it on to Houston developer Gerald D. Hines for $18.3 million before it became part of the Aspen Skiing Company.
- Which pass covers Aspen Highlands?
- Aspen Highlands is sold through Aspen Snowmass's own pass and ticket system, not the Epic Pass network used by the Vail Resorts mountains in Summit County. Check Aspen Snowmass directly for current season pass options covering all four of its mountains.
Data sources
Last verified: 2026-09-15
- https://www.aspensnowmass.com/four-mountains/aspen-highlands
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Highlands
Base facts from OpenSkiMap (ODbL), OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata (CC0), OurAirports (public domain) and GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). See /data-sources/.