These are a handful of location recommendations for your session! Timing to keep in mind:

Sunset Time: 7:51 PM

Sunrise Time: 6:30 AM

A Sunday evening session would start around 6:20 PM depending on the location. A Monday morning session would start around 6:00 AM depending on the location.

Emerald Lake

A really stunning location but can be a bit difficult to get to. You do need a confident driver and a 4x4 vehicle. I’ve only ever gone at sunrise. There’s a good chance we won’t have the location to ourselves but it’s a large area so it shouldn’t be too bad even if others are there. Sunset is a little easier for driving purposes but as I said, less chance of having it to ourselves. Sunrise has been really lovely the few times I’ve been and I’ve only encountered one other person in all those times. I know, lots of qualifiers but it is a beautiful location!

Here’s an elopement I photographed here in early August one year at sunrise.

And here’s a photo from a sunrise engagement session in July of 2025:

Lupine Trail

This is a random place found along a hiking trail. It’s essentially a beautiful meadow and hilly area not too far from the road. It requires a little walking/hiking but nothing too strenuous. The first photo was taken at/just before sunrise in the beginning of July a handful of years ago. These flowers peak in late June so no guarantee we’d find any here but it’s still really pretty and green I'd imagine!

The second photo (of me!) was taken around sunset just a couple months ago.

*Notice the dirt road near the pond in the background. That’s essentially where you park, in a small dirt lot.*

*View from the opposite direction of the photo above this.*

Paradise Basin

Another spot that requires 4x4 driving (it’s relatively close to Emerald Lake; about 15 minutes up the road and definitely a bit rockier than the road to Emerald Lake) but it’s truly just such a beautiful landscape! Picture alpine meadow and views. There’s a little lake/pond too (no idea what it’s looking like now after the drought in all honesty!). It’s also a good addition to Emerald Lake if you wanted to combine the two locations. Photos below are from the engagement session in early July of last year, in the morning.

Washington Gulch Road

This is one of the most popular roads in Crested Butte. It leads away from town into the hills and then further into the mountains. It’s a dirt road, relatively easy to navigate but with a few dicey moments as you get further into the mountains. Again, would recommend a vehicle with 4x4 capabilities if you wanted to go further in, but relatively easy to get to the dispersed camping spots closer to town. This is essentially a stretch of locations where we could get out a couple times depending on what we like. But then there’s a specific area I liked when I drove through a few years ago. It’s close to the start of the 403 Trailhead, so there’s a dirt parking lot to stop at. We could walk this trail a little bit.

Here are some phone photos from Washington Gulch:

Snodgrass Trail/Teddy’s Trail

This is a favorite of mine (and many others) because it’s so beautiful and easy to get to! I photographed an elopement here last July at sunrise and this June at sunset. It’s about a 10 minute walk uphill to this meadow and then another 5 to 7 minutes to an aspen grove. Here is that sunrise elopement.

I can’t promise there will be any wildflower displays like below but it still has some lovely meadow and views and those aspens! Would likely be a bit busy at sunset but there’s plenty of places to go along the trail so not terribly worried about others being there.

Honorable Mentions

Lake Irwin (popular lake with campgrounds and group areas, good for the ceremony)
Kebler Pass (a mountain pass teeming with aspens, could have some good pull-offs and views)

I don’t know as much about these spots but they are popular destinations and I could do more research on them if you’re interested!

I think that’s a good place to start! Let me know what you think and if you have any questions about these locations!