Colorado

The snow covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains are at their finest in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. The park offers a wide range of experiences, from broad valleys teeming with elk and deer, to gorgeous lakes at the foot of towering mountains, to the stark tundra world above timberline which comprises fully one third of the park. More…

There are few hikes in the American West, or anywhere else, which allow you to observe two beautiful waterfalls, three alpine lakes, glaciers, colorful fall foliage, and the snowy 13,000 foot peaks of the Continental Divide. More…

For obvious reasons, the trail to Emerald Lake is the most popular in Rocky Mountain National Park. The trail originates at the convenient Bear Lake parking lot and climbs easily for roughly two miles to the lake and its spectacular vista. More…

The most famous and spectacular segment of the San Juan Skyway is known as the Million Dollar Highway, connecting Durango, Silverton, and Ouray. The name refers to the mineral riches extracted from these mountains in the late 19th century, most incredibly from the historic Red Mountain Mining District. Today, a roadside exhibit just north of Red Mountain Pass (elevation 11,018 feet) tells its story: men and machines battling a remote and rugged alpine wilderness and succeeding, a classic story of the historic American West. More…

The Trail Ridge Road bisects Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park while running 48 miles from Estes Park to Grand Lake. It reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet while crossing the Continental Divide and is America’s highest continuously paved road. The Trail Ridge Road (US-34) offers visitors thrilling views, wildlife sightings and spectacular alpine wildflower exhibits. More…

Southwest Colorado’s famed San Juan Skyway, one of America’s great scenic drives, covers the best of the San Juan Range, the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, teeming with 14,000 foot peaks. The region offers great scenic driving, hiking in wilderness areas, old west Victorian-style towns, great ski resorts, four wheel driving, relics of the mining era, and even a hot springs. More…

Silverton, Colorado known as “the mining town that never quit”, is nestled in a deep valley at 9,300 feet beneath 13,000 foot peaks in the spectacular San Juan Range, the western slope of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Aside from the history, the town is also the gateway to miles of four wheel drive roads and hiking trails in the awe inspiring high country. More…

One of the American West’s most scenic and historic tourist rides is on the famed Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Using refurbished early equipment including huge, coal-fired steam locomotives, the railroad ferries thousands of visitors every year from Durango, up the spectacular gorge of the Animas River to the “old west” town of Silverton, Colorado, “the mining town that never quit”… More…

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington, there has been much publicity and interest in so-called “420 tourism”. My own view is that visiting Colorado without enjoying its scenic beauty as well as indulging is hardly worthwhile. So we tried our own version of the 420 tour. More…

The Colorado Scenic Points of Interest Section of the Canyonlands & Four Corners Travel Guide features the famous Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Million Dollar Highway, part of the renowned San Juan Skyway. Also covered is the Grand Mesa Scenic and Historic Byway and the towns of Silverton, Ouray, and the popular ski resort of Telluride. More…

The Colorado Indian Artifacts Sites Section of the Canyonlands & Four Corners Travel Guide features the world famous Ancestral Puebloan – Anasazi – cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park, as well as the exciting guided tours at Ute Mountain Tribal Park. Off-the-beaten-path opportunities are showcased at Hovenweep National Monument and Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. More…

Hovenweep National Monument protects six groups of highly unusual Anasazi ruins scattered along the Colorado / Utah border north of the Four Corners. The remote and undeveloped nature of the area offers the visitor a unique experience and perhaps a perspective into the ancient world. More…

The Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwestern Colorado was created to preserve significant remnants of the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) people, including spectacular cliff dwellings and rock art. The full-day guided tour provided by the Ute Mountain Tribal Park is in two parts: in the morning, we cover several rock art and ruin sites in Mancos Canyon; in the afternoon, we hike an exciting trail to the famous cliff dwellings of Lion Canyon, a tributary of Mancos Canyon. More…

A guide to the major Anasazi-related sites in Colorado and Utah that are accessible to the public. Each site is unique both in the nature of the structures and the physical locale. All are extremely scenic. More…

Balcony House in Mesa Verde National Park may be visited only by a ranger-led tour. This adventuresome tour allows the visitor to experience a taste of what the orginal inhabitants experienced in that access and egress is accomplished by ladders and stone steps carved into the cliff. Also, it is one of the few places where a dwelling has a preserved balcony. More…

Dinosaur National Monument, on the border of Utah and Colorado, is home to one of the greatest dinosaur quarries ever discovered. It is perhaps the world’s finest display of fossils in-place available to the public. More…