One Colorado city named a top 10 fall getaway in America by Airbnb
Aug 21, 2026, 4:14 PM
Airbnb just dropped its Fall Travel Trends Report, and Colorado made the cut. Glenwood Springs landed at No. 6 on the list of the top trending weekend trip destinations in the country for fall 2026, beating out spots in Wisconsin, Oregon, Maine and Vermont. The report found that about 60% of travelers are ditching long vacations in favor of quick 48-hour autumn escapes, and the five search terms driving the trend are exactly what you’d expect: fall getaway, fall foliage, leaf-peeping, apple picking and fall road trip. Gen Z, in particular, is gravitating toward under-the-radar small towns, which is Glenwood Springs in a nutshell.
Airbnb specifically highlighted the aspen groves that turn gold on the back roads above town, with hot springs just a short walk from downtown. And honestly, that’s the cheat code that separates Glenwood from the other nine spots on this list: Where else can you hike through a canyon of blazing yellow aspens, soak in geothermal hot springs and ride a gondola to a mountaintop adventure park all in the same weekend? The town sits at the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers, surrounded by some of the most iconic fall foliage drives in the state, including Independence Pass to the Continental Divide and the West Elk Loop through Redstone and over McClure Pass. Peak color typically runs September through mid-October, and with kids back in school, the crowds thin out dramatically from summer.
The full top 10 list: Tannersville, New York; Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania; Blue Ridge, Georgia; Blowing Rock, North Carolina; Fayetteville, West Virginia; Glenwood Springs; Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Bend, Oregon; Camden, Maine; and Hartford, Vermont. It’s worth noting that Colorado is the only state west of the Mississippi to crack the top six, and the only one where your leaf-peeping comes with a side of 3.5-million-gallon natural hot springs.
If you’ve been looking for an excuse to book a fall weekend in the mountains, Airbnb just gave you one.
