Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways - 2024/2025

Colorado’s 26 scenic and historic byways unite communities and the stories of their collective past. Along their varied course, these highways and backroads unveil myriad tales of Ute Indians, silver seekers, opportunistic settlers, ambitious entrepreneurs and crafty engineers. They also reveal the story of the Rocky Mountains and their remarkable creation, and how today, much of this wild landscape is still untrammeled by humankind.

More than just suggested road trips, these byways are a catalyst for the preservation of Colorado’s culture, history and natural wonder. Uniting communities under a common project, the byways continue to bring people together (both locals and travelers) and connect them with the land.

Thirteen of Colorado’s 26 byways are designated as America’s Byways, meaning they are nationally recognized for their outstanding scenic and historic attributes. In fact, no other state has as many nationally designated byways as Colorado. Here are just 26 of the can’t-miss experiences waiting for you on a Colorado byway.

1 Encounter the captivating tales of fortunes won and lost during Colorado’s silver and gold booms. 

FOUND ALONG: Alpine Loop, Gold Belt Tour, Guanella Pass, Mount Blue Sky, Peak to Peak, San Juan Skyway, Silver Thread, Top of the Rockies

2 Put in a raft or kayak and head down some of the nation’s most famous whitewater runs. 

FOUND ALONG: Cache la Poudre-North Park, Collegiate Peaks, Colorado River Headwaters, Dinosaur Diamond, Mount Blue Sky

3 Investigate the geologic wonders of Colorado, which include windswept sand dunes, granite and sandstone canyons, and volcanic walls hundreds of feet tall. 

FOUND ALONG: Flat Tops Trail, Highway of Legends, Los Caminos Antiguos, Pawnee Pioneer Trails, Unaweep Tabeguache, West Elk Loop

4 Enjoy full RV hookups, miles of shoreline and photogenic wildlife at a number of Colorado’s state parks. 

FOUND ALONG: Cache la Poudre-North Park, Collegiate Peaks, Dinosaur Diamond, Frontier Pathways, Highway of Legends, Los Caminos Antiguos, Peak to Peak, San Juan Skyway, Santa Fe Trail, Tracks Across Borders

5 Stand in wonder before the works of the Ancestral Puebloans, see insect species found nowhere else, gaze into an improbable chasm or see the birthplace of the Colorado River or Rio Grande at one of Colorado’s four national parks. 

FOUND ALONG: Colorado River Headwaters, Los Caminos Antiguos, San Juan Skyway, Tracks Across Borders, Trail of the Ancients, Trail Ridge Road, West Elk Loop

6 See the petrified remains of ancient forests, discover fossils as large as a dinosaur (or as small as a gnat) and visit a land wholly untouched by civilization for hundreds of years at some of Colorado’s nine national monuments. 

FOUND ALONG: Collegiate Peaks, Dinosaur Diamond, Gold Belt Tour, Lariat Loop, Tracks Across Borders, Trail of the Ancients, Top of the Rockies

7 Watch Colorado’s state mammal — the bighorn sheep — as they seek sanctuary among rocky cliffs. 

FOUND ALONG: Gold Belt Tour, Guanella Pass, Mount Blue Sky, Trail Ridge Road, Unaweep Tabeguache

8 Engage four-wheel drive and take a rugged road through the backcountry. 

FOUND ALONG: Alpine Loop, Gold Belt Tour

9 Feel the surge of steam or diesel power as you travel aboard a scenic and historic railroad. 

FOUND ALONG: Gold Belt Tour, Guanella Pass, Los Caminos Antiguos, San Juan Skyway, Tracks Across Borders, Top of the Rockies

10 Travel along routes originally forged by pioneers as they heeded the call to go west. 

FOUND ALONG: Pawnee Pioneer Trails, Santa Fe Trail, South Platte River Trail, Frontier Pathways

11 Soak your road-weary muscles in the therapeutic waters of a mineral hot spring. 

FOUND ALONG: Collegiate Peaks, Colorado River Headwaters, Los Caminos Antiguos, Mount Blue Sky, San Juan Skyway, West Elk Loop

12 Colorado may be landlocked, but its significant acreage of open water has anglers, motorboaters, sailers and waterskiers raving about the state’s lakes and reservoirs. 

FOUND ALONG: Cache la Poudre-North Park, Colorado River Headwaters, Frontier Pathways, Guanella Pass, Highway of Legends, Santa Fe Trail, Tracks Across Borders, Trail of the Ancients, West Elk Loop

13 Learn about the lives of Ancestral Puebloans and the Fremont, some of the first people to settle in Colorado. 

FOUND ALONG: Dinosaur Diamond, San Juan Skyway, Trail of the Ancients, Unaweep Tabeguache, Tracks Across Borders

14 Visit a historic fort where pioneers and American Indians traded, and regiments were posted. 

FOUND ALONG: Frontier Pathways, Los Caminos Antiguos, Santa Fe Trail, South Platte River Trail

15 Cross the Continental Divide, where water courses starting on the eastern side eventually reach the Gulf of Mexico, and water courses beginning on the western side flow toward the Pacific Ocean. 

FOUND ALONG: Silver Thread, Top of the Rockies, Tracks Across Borders, Trail Ridge Road

16 Travel over or near the sky-touching peaks of mountains measuring more than 14,000 feet — aptly named “fourteeners.” 

FOUND ALONG: Alpine Loop, Collegiate Peaks, Guanella Pass, Los Caminos Antiguos, Mount Blue Sky, Peak to Peak, San Juan Skyway, Top of the Rockies, Trail Ridge Road

17 See the fossils and footprints of dinosaurs. 

FOUND ALONG: Dinosaur Diamond, Gold Belt Tour, Lariat Loop, Santa Fe Trail, Unaweep Tabeguache

18 Hike sections of the nearly 500-mile Colorado Trail, a route that connects Denver to Durango through often-remote wilderness. 

FOUND ALONG: Collegiate Peaks, Silver Thread, San Juan Skyway, Top of the Rockies

19 Follow famous rivers, such as the Cache la Poudre, Colorado, Arkansas, South Platte and Rio Grande, that satiate the land. 

FOUND ALONG: Cache la Poudre-North Park, Collegiate Peaks, Colorado River Headwaters, Los Caminos Antiguos, Santa Fe Trail, Silver Thread, Top of the Rockies, Trail Ridge Road

20 Reconnect with why you love to ride by taking your bicycle or motorcycle for a spin under the wild Colorado sky. 

FOUND ALONG: Every byway

21 Experience the flora and fauna of multiple life zones, all within the course of only a few miles. 

FOUND ALONG: Colorado River Headwaters, Frontier Pathways, Highway of Legends, Mount Blue Sky, Los Caminos Antiguos, San Juan Skyway, Trail Ridge Road

22 Partake in succulent cantaloupe, peaches, apples and cherries picked straight from the source. 

FOUND ALONG: Dinosaur Diamond, Gold Belt Tour, Grand Mesa, Santa Fe Trail, West Elk Loop

23 Encounter land sacred to Ute, Arapaho and other American Indian tribes. 

FOUND ALONG: Flat Tops Trail, Frontier Pathways, Los Caminos Antiguos, Pawnee Pioneer Trails, San Juan Skyway, Santa Fe Trail, Tracks Across Borders, Trail of the Ancients, Trail Ridge Road

24 Bring your binoculars and see upwards of 400 bird species statewide, including sage grouse, lark bunting and great-horned owls. 

FOUND ALONG: Cache la Poudre-North Park, Los Caminos Antiguos, Mount Blue Sky, Pawnee Pioneer Trails, Santa Fe Trail, South Platte River Trail, Trail Ridge Road, West Elk Loop

25 Cut over corduroy, tread through an evergreen grove or zoom down a tubing hill to enjoy the winter-sports playground lining Colorado’s byways. 

FOUND ALONG: Colorado River Headwaters, Grand Mesa, Peak to Peak, San Juan Skyway, Top of the Rockies, West Elk Loop, Mount Blue Sky

26 Experience the night by stargazing and searching for the Milky Way in an International Dark Sky Community or Park, or taking a full-moon hike. 

FOUND ALONG: Dinosaur Diamond, Frontier Pathways, Highway of Legends, Los Caminos Antiguos, Pawnee Pioneer Trails, San Juan Skyway, Silver Thread, Tracks Across Borders, Trail of the Ancients, Unaweep Tabeguache, West Elk Loop