Aspen's 2026 Offseason Ends Twice, Once at Thanksgiving and Again in December

Aspen's fall offseason doesn't start on a single day. Restaurants have been closing one by one since late September, and the transit, trail, and road calendars are changing on their own schedules around them. The reopening comes in two waves. A Thanksgiving group follows Aspen Mountain's Nov. 26 opening day. A December group waits for the weekend when Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and the Aspen Skiing Company's 80th-anniversary celebration all start together.

If you live here, that changes how you plan. The quietest weeks of the year fall roughly between Oct. 25 and Thanksgiving week. Several of the town's best-known dining rooms stay dark for another two weeks after that.

The Closures Come in Stages

The eatAspen Fall 2026 offseason directory is the closest thing the town has to a master schedule. It's a live listing, so dates can change. As currently posted, the closures fall into three groups. The first left early. Duemani on South Monarch closed Sept. 29, and Mawita in the Aspen Airport Business Center has been closed since Sept. 6. Cache Cache served its last summer-season night on Saturday, Oct. 3, and Bosq on South Mill closed the same day.

The second group closes this weekend and over the next two weeks:

The third group is smaller and closes later. Mawa's Kitchen ends dinner service Saturday, Oct. 31, serves a last brunch Nov. 1, and stays closed from Nov. 2 to Dec. 9. Aspen Brewing Co. on South Galena closes Nov. 9 through Nov. 17. Red Mountain Grill at the Aspen Golf Course lists a two-week closure in early November, with dates still to be set. Willow Creek Bistro at The Ritz-Carlton Club is closed until Thanksgiving week.

Taken together, the dates point to one week. From Nov. 9 to Nov. 17, Aspen Brewing Co. is closed, Mawa's is closed, Yuki is still closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and West End Social at Aspen Meadows has stopped serving breakfast and lunch. That's the quietest stretch of the season.

The Kitchens That Stay Open, on Shorter Hours

Most of the restaurants that stay open through the offseason trim their hours, and the changes are easy to miss if you're going by summer habits. These are the places the directory lists as open, with their adjusted schedules:

• Campo de Fiori, 205 S. Mill St., is open all offseason. Starting Oct. 11 it serves Tuesday through Saturday from 6 p.m. and closes Sundays and Mondays.
• CP Burger, 433 E. Durant Ave., runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
• Crepe Therapy Cafe, 401 E. Cooper Ave., is open daily, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
• Matsuhisa, 303 E. Main St., stays open, but the upstairs dining room is closed from Oct. 6 to Dec. 11 except on Mondays, when it hosts Monday Night Football specials. The restaurant is fully closed on Thanksgiving Day.
• Las Montanas, 205 S. Mill St., serves happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. every night. Lunch stopped after Oct. 5 and returns in mid-December.
• Yuki, 450 S. Galena St., is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays from Oct. 6 through Nov. 18 and also closed on Thanksgiving.
• Explore Books Cafe, 221 E. Main St., serves 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week. The bookstore stays open until 5.
• Catch Steak, 515 E. Hopkins Ave., serves 6 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 9 p.m. on weekends.

The directory also lists Steakhouse No. 316, New York Pizza, Little Ollie's, Roxy's Market & Cafe, the Limelight Lounge, Phatt Pho, and Woody Creek Tavern as open. West End Social's hours change several times. It's open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., drops to 2 to 9 p.m. from Nov. 9 to Nov. 23, and goes back to full hours Nov. 24.

The Rest of Town Slows Down Too

The offseason affects more than restaurants. Several other services change on their own dates, and most of those changes land near the restaurant closures.

1. Oct. 18. The Maroon Bells shuttles run their last day, which also ends private-vehicle restrictions for the 2026 season. According to the Maroon Bells reservation site, Maroon Creek Road stays open into early November, depending on conditions.
2. Oct. 25. The Aspen Times reports that RFTA's bike-loading hours shrink to 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. starting the last Sunday in October, which is Oct. 25 this year. RFTA says bike tires and spokes can block bus headlights in low light. Aosta and The Monarch Steak House close the same day.
3. Around Nov. 7. This is when CDOT says Independence Pass typically closes for the winter. CDOT treats that as a typical date, not a fixed one, and points travelers to COtrip for live status.
4. Nov. 23. RFTA switches from its fall schedule, which started Sept. 21, to winter service. The Woody Creek and Aspen Cross Town routes, paused all fall, come back on that date, and bikes are no longer allowed on buses for the winter.

At least one facility is moving in the other direction. The City of Aspen reopened the Aspen Recreation Center on Oct. 1. Its aquatics area had been closed since June 1, and the full building was closed for all of September. Regular programming has resumed. That leaves the ARC as one of the few places in town gaining hours this month.

The First Reopening: Thanksgiving Week

The first wave lines up with the ski calendar. Aspen Snowmass's season announcement sets Nov. 26, 2026, as opening day for Aspen Mountain and Snowmass. This year, Nov. 26 is also Thanksgiving.

The restaurant dates cluster around it. RFTA starts winter service Nov. 23. West End Social returns to full hours Nov. 24. French Alpine Bistro reopens Nov. 25. The closures at Betula, The Wild Fig, Aosta, and The Monarch Steak House are listed as running through Nov. 26. Within about four days, most of the second-group restaurants and the bus routes come back.

Thanksgiving Day itself is uneven. Matsuhisa and Yuki both list a full closure on Thanksgiving. If you're looking for a holiday reservation, check whether a restaurant's listed reopening date means that night or the next one.

The Second Reopening: Mid-December

A group of restaurants is waiting for a second date. Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk open Dec. 12. The Aspen Skiing Company's 80th-anniversary celebration falls on the same stretch. It includes a limited number of $80 lift tickets on Dec. 12 and 13, $3.75 tickets on Dec. 14, and $19.46 food-and-beverage specials at on-mountain outlets from Dec. 11 to Dec. 14.

The December reopenings are spread across roughly the same days:

• Duemani reopens Dec. 4.
• Mawa's Kitchen brings back breakfast and brunch Dec. 10 and dinner Tuesday, Dec. 15.
• Bosq's closure is listed through Dec. 10.
• Cache Cache reopens Friday, Dec. 11, the same day Matsuhisa reopens its upstairs room.
• Mawita's closure runs through Sunday, Dec. 13, and PARC Aspen's through Dec. 15.

A restaurant that closed Oct. 3 and reopens Dec. 11 misses Thanksgiving week completely. That's the clearest evidence the offseason has two ends. For dinner downtown during the first two weeks of the ski season, the open list will be longer than it was in November but shorter than it will be by mid-December.

There's also a change at 624 E. Cooper Ave. ZigZag is closed for the offseason, and the directory lists Le Cafe as coming in December 2026. An Oct. 2 eatAspen update says Le Cafe will replace ZigZag in the former Mezzaluna space. No operator, concept, or opening date has been announced yet.

The same reopening dates affect owners in other ways. They can shape when a seasonal rental starts, when a listing goes live, or when guests can expect a full town. If you'd like to plan your winter around them, Ashley Feddersen can walk you through it. Schedule a confidential consultation.