17 WAYS TO LOVE SUMMER Warm Days & Cool Nights Lure You Outside Colorado’s beauty stirs a thirst to get out and enjoy every moment. Come to life hiking in Colorado’s dense backcountry, paddling canyon-carving rivers, grinning next to a wildflower-lined waterfall or wrangling a feisty rainbow trout. 3 1 HIKING Let your legs move you through Colorado’s hidden gems, protected wilderness areas, red rocks and high-mountain desert landscapes. A Few Favorite Spots: Any Colorado State Park or National Park or Monument (page 46) Wildflowers: Judd Falls near Crested Butte, Horsetooth Falls near Fort Collins, Brown’s Loop near Eagle Waterfalls: Big Dominguez Canyon near Delta, Helen Hunt Falls in Colorado Springs, Fish Creek Falls in Steamboat Springs, Zapata Falls near Alamosa Ancient sites: Canyon Pintado near Rangely, Picketwire Canyon near La Junta, Ute Petroglyph Trail near Palisade Wildlife: Mount Evans Wilderness Area near Idaho Springs, State Forest State Park near Walden, Comanche National Grassland near Springfield More: COLORADO.com/ Hiking & Trails.Colorado. gov Lake Granby Lake San Cristobal in Lake City Vallecito Lake, Durango McPhee Lake in Cortez Blue Mesa Reservoir in, Montrose and Gunnison Grand Mesa Lakes (more than 300 of them) near Grand Junction, Paonia, Delta, Cedaredge and Hotchkiss Carter Lake in Loveland Many Colorado State Parks, including: Cherry Creek, Staunton, Barr Lake, Boyd Lake, St. Vrain, Elkhead, Harvey Gap, Highline, Pearl Lake, Rifle Gap, Stagecoach, Sylvan Lake, Vega, John Martin, Lake Pueblo, Lathrop, Trinidad Lake, Crawford, Mancos, Navajo, Paonia, Ridgway, Sweitzer Lake, Eleven Mile and Spinney Mountain See page 60 for the full whitewater rundown. More: COLORADO.com/ Boating 1 A Few Favorite Sites With: No amenities (backcoun-try): West Fork Camp-ground in the Weminuche Wilderness near Pagosa Springs, Trappers Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness near Meeker, Elk Wallow near Basalt Lakeside sites: Elk Creek Camp-ground in Grand Lake, Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora, Cobbett Lake near Cedaredge Epic views: Angel of Shavano Campground near Salida, Silver Bar Campground near Aspen, Mueller State Park in Divide More: COLORADO.com/ Camping 5 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: CAMPING NEAR STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, NOAH WETZEL; FISHING NEAR VAIL, JACK AFFLECK; HIKING NEAR FRISCO, TODD POWELL. 3 BACKPACKING & 2 RAFTING & BOATING Landlocked Colorado will surprise you with its rushing rivers, mountain basins and deep-blue reservoirs. A Few Favorite Lakes: Grand Lake Lake Dillon Boulder Reservoir CAMPING Colorado makes it easy to get lost (intentionally) in its voluptuous sand dunes, craggy peaks, rugged mining sites and forested resort-town outskirts. Grab a backpack, a tent and your favorite people and set up camp in one of 41 State Parks, 30-plus Wilderness Areas, 22 million acres of National Forests and expansive public lands. 5 FISHING River, lake, stocked pond or on ice, Colorado’s large-mouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish and famous rainbow trout await just below the surface. See the lakes above and page 50 for a lineup of cast-worthy locales. 4 WILDLIFE WATCHING & BIRDING Few other places in North America offer such a bounty of wildlife-watching oppor-tunities as Colorado. Who in your group will win the eagle-eye award by spot-ting some of Colorado’s most majestic residents? Continued on page 34. 32 / 1-800-COLORADO
Colorado Official State Vacation Guide 2020: Page 32
