Colorado Official State Vacation Guide - 2026
10 Must-Have Moments in Colorado
2025-12-10 09:58:31
Across our pristine landscapes, vibrant cities and charming mountain towns, it feels like there are endless ways to enjoy the beauty and spirit of the Centennial State. From heart-racing adventure to moments of relaxation, add these 10 bucket-list ideas to your itinerary for a quintessential experience. Whether you fit them all in one trip or spread over many, we’re sure you’ll have a Colorado vacation to remember.
1 Soak Up Our Water
Each spring, our renowned winter snow transforms into fresh, cool water that fills our rivers and lakes. It happens just in time for you to set up your umbrella on a sandy beach at our more than 2,000 lakes, book a whitewater-rafting trip with an experienced guide, plot which inlets and currents you’ll drift into on your stand-up paddleboard, or choose a hike where the refreshing mist of a waterfall revives you with a mid-trek cool down.
Thirty steamy, mineral-rich hot springs bubble up to welcome you in any season. Options range from luxurious resorts where elegant cabins and holistically centered spas sit steps from the water to family-focused fun with slides and diving boards to backcountry hideaways that require hiking a few miles to reach.
And when things are frosty above ground, give our frozen water a whirl atop a pair of ice skates. From rinks with sun-soaked winter skies to city and resort locales surrounded by busy shops and restaurants, this pastime serves up back-to-basics winter joy.
Do Colorado Right: Rivers are powerful and always changing, so be sure to check water levels and put on a personal flotation device that’s the right size before getting wet. For smooth sailing, hire a guide.
2 Spend a Night Under the Stars
With high elevations that let you see farther into the galaxy — without even needing a telescope — and towering mountain ranges that shield skies from light pollution, Colorado offers a wide variety of ways to gaze at our spectacularly dark skies.
Glimpse the vast shimmering of the Milky Way and see rocky peaks illuminated by starlight. Take a guided trip through the solar system at an astronomer-led star party or cozy up for a private viewing from your sleeping bag in a backcountry campsite. With 18 certified International Dark Sky Parks and Communities, you won’t travel far to see constellations speckled across a clear Colorado sky.
Add a soundtrack to your night under the stars by grabbing tickets at one of our dozens of renowned outdoor concert venues, where notes dance off surrounding summits and the stars illuminate forest groves. From the incredible acoustics at some of the world’s most unique venues to music festivals that echo through surrounding mountain ranges, our open-air stages will ignite your soul.
3 Explore Our Parks & Monuments
Colorado’s natural assets awaken the imagination and stir the senses. Come to life walking a trail to the twinkling tune of aspen leaves, wrangling a feisty rainbow trout, crunching over pine needles while twisting along on a mountain bike, sitting beside a babbling creek for a picnic, or witnessing the wonder of bighorn sheep moving from one rocky ledge to another.
Our four national parks, nine national monuments and 43 state parks have preserved special moments like these — and millions of others — for visitors to carry with them for a lifetime.
Timed Entry: During peak seasons, some national parks and attractions let you guarantee your access with a timed-entry or day-use reservations. Check ahead to secure your spot.
4 Discover Your Favorite Mountain Town
Colorado’s small towns cultivate big memories with their charming Main Streets, dining and shopping, and easy access to outdoor encounters. Pick up a trail right in town to hear the crunch of your snowshoes upon freshly fallen snow. Snuggle up in a horse-drawn sleigh as it jingles along to a hotchocolate pit stop. Or sit back while a chairlift whisks you to North America’s best skiing and boarding.
As mild summer and fall weather dawns, those same snowshoe and ski trails open to birders, hikers and mountain bikers, and those same chairlifts ferry you over fields of candy-colored wildflowers and rock faces set aglow with fall’s reds, oranges and yellows.
For some Rocky Mountain nightlife, head to our towns with local casinos, where you can catch live music, try your luck at the tables and spin the reels on slot machines to see if you strike gold.
5 Live Our Western Heritage
In order to honor Colorado’s roots, we remember the land’s original inhabitants. Dozens of archaeological sites, museums, byways and roadside plaques dedicated to our Indigenous peoples will have your imagination floating back in time to the first and most fascinating human experiences in Colorado.
Mining towns and tours tell the stories of early explorers, fur trappers and prospectors who came in search of treasure after hearing tales of rivers overflowing with gold rocks free for the taking. The Colorado gold rush was on, with covered wagons crossing the Great Plains to cries of “Pikes Peak or Bust!” Today, you can visit many of these historical towns and ride our rails to see remnants of this gold- and silver-dusted past.
Nothing embodies the Wild West of our imagination like a dude ranch. There’s something special about their down-home hospitality — by the end of your stay, you’ll really feel like family. Whether you’re looking to live out your on-screen dreams of being a tough-skinned ranch hand or simply wanting a taste of life outside of the city, more than 30 dude ranches supply an incredible getaway. Plan your trip around one of our Western events or small-town rodeos to see cowpoke culture come alive in a spectacular performance.
6 Find Your Sense of Adventure
Adventure in Colorado doesn’t have to mean barreling down a dizzying singletrack trail on two wheels or dodging moguls on a black-diamond ski slope — though it certainly can mean those things! There’s adventure to be had atop an e-bike, where you can travel more miles and see more sites while the bike does most of the work. Cover even more ground by zip lining over a rushing river, hopping in a hot-air balloon at dawn to see the sunrise or buckling onto steel cables to traverse a mountainside from great heights on a via ferrata.
If you yearn to explore our outdoors but are hesitant to wander the wide blue yonder on your own, adventure guides can show you the way. These pros set you up with all the gear you need, share their expertise, and guide you safely and easily to the best spots for backpacking, fishing, climbing, hunting, OHVing, kayaking, hut tripping, backcountry skiing and more.
7 Eat & Drink Local
Rich in homegrown ingredients, diverse cuisines, an influx of internationally recognized chefs and a strong maker culture, it’s no wonder Colorado menus are bursting with creativity and fresh flavors — and there are so many ways to taste them.
Going beyond farm-to-table, many Colorado chefs bring the table to the farm with hyper-seasonal dinners crafted from ingredients grown just a few steps from where you sit. For the next-best thing, hit one or more of our roughly 100 farmers markets for only-in-Colorado produce varieties to fill your basket. Those markets are where you just may find chefs gathering ingredients for that day’s menu. Taste the exquisitely prepared bounty at restaurants across the state and keep an eye out for those praised by the Michelin Guide and James Beard Awards.
Our world-class craft-beer scene can trace its roots to the same wealth of local fruit, veggies and grains that brought these amazing chefs to our altitude. In fact, the Colorado Liquid Arts™ scene includes more than 400 breweries and 250-plus wineries, distilleries, cideries and meaderies. And a growing number of these makers partner with farmers to turn our native crops into liquid gold you can taste on site or at local restaurants.
8 Take a Scenic Ride
Our 26 scenic byways connect the dots between historic sites and acres of majestic scenery that span red-rock canyons, Rocky Mountain peaks and sun-kissed prairies. The byways are truly a collection of must-see vistas. Picking a couple — and coming back for more later — will ensure you understand the true meaning of Colorful Colorado.
Rent or bring your own electric vehicle and head out on one of our 20 certified Electric Byways, each with charging stations spaced out just right for seeing the sights.
Or consider our scenic and historical railroads, which have held travelers’ fascination since the 1800s. From multiday journeys to day trips with five-star dining experiences or seasonal encounters with Santa, you’ll carve through jagged gorges and find yourself hugging steep cliffs on narrow-gauge tracks or traversing the banks of crystal-blue rivers.
Come winter, the mountains open to snowmobilers gliding across trails and fields of powder in the crisp, dry air. Find yourself on a meandering, familyfriendly jaunt or opt for a high-speed odyssey over endless snowy hills.
9 Experience Our Unique Arts & Culture
Surrounded by natural beauty, it’s hard to imagine not being inspired to create something here. In fact, 37 communities brimming with galleries, artists in residence and special arts events have been designated Certified Colorado Creative Districts. You can find each locale’s distinct creative flair through art walks, sculpture tours, concerts, street art, cultural festivals and more.
Much of our artistic credibility can also be traced to acclaimed art collections, many of which are found in architectural marvels and amid scenery that are destinations in their own rights. Whether you browse artistic attractions in our big cities or stumble into a hidden gallery in a small town, you’ll be sure to find something crafted with a Colorado perspective.
That point of view can also be found in our collection of historical theaters and opera houses along the Colorado Historic Opera Houses Circuit. These venues have been serving up beautiful performances to Coloradans since the 1800s — and you can feel the history when you take in a show amid their gilded columns and chandeliers today. But there’s much more: Our state also boasts the largest performing-arts complex under one roof in the country and several world-class theater companies, so there’s always something spectacular on stage while you’re in town.
10 Enjoy Our Wildlife
Few places in North America offer the bounty of wildlife-watching opportunities available in Colorado. Our mountains, forests, plains, rivers and mesas harbor 960 different species, luring binocular-toting guests into our natural spaces.
Ensure at least a couple of them are part of your stay by following the birding trails — there are 54 of them! — known to harbor that elusive songbird or raptor you’ve been seeking. With nearly 400 different species of birds migrating through the state, there’s a winged creature to be spotted in every season. Another option is attending a wildlife festival with friends similarly in awe of an elk, moose or bighorn sheep to hear their bugles and see them prance and strut for their mates.
Or spend a day casting your line: Fly-fishers, ice-fishers and pure rod-and-reelers will find plenty of options along 90,000 miles of rivers and more than 2,000 lakes. Those seeking a bigger catch will find it in our quiet spaces: 23 million acres of pretty pines, plentiful pocket meadows and purewater ponds host excellent opportunities for hunting, fishing or simply viewing majestic animals in motion.
Do Colorado Right: Prevent unwanted animal encounters by properly disposing of trash, storing food in a bear-proof container or locked vehicle, and cleaning up any food scraps.
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