Colorado is known for its great outdoors, adventure, and beautiful scenery year round. I fell in love with this state when I visited Colorado for the first time 13 years ago. From then on, I have been to Colorado numerous times, especially in the winter season to go snowboard at one of its world-famous ski resorts.
This year I was able to explore the outdoors in the summer time, and I fell in love with Colorado even more. If you are visiting, here are the top 10 things you should do when visiting Colorado.
- Hike to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon, about ~3 hours west of the Denver Airport. It is a clear/turquoise lake located on the edge of a cliff, so it looks like the lake is hanging on top of the cliff (hence the name). To get there you need to hike a mile up steep and rocky terrain. Even though the hike was only a mile long, it was quite a strenuous hike, so make sure you are prepared with the right shoes and enough water to get you through the hike.
- Watch sunrise over Maroon Bells. The peaks are situated in front of a lake that reflects the mountains and the colors from the sunrise. It’s one of the most photographed peaks in the US. After watching sunrise you can take some time to hike around the area to take in the breathtaking view.
- Visit Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s a beautiful park, complete with view of the Rocky Mountains, historic homesteads, and wildlife. You can spend days just driving around and hiking in this area! For us we spent 2 days and we barely scratched the surface. If you can, it is amazing to catch sunset over the Rocky Mountains.
- Visit a ski resort. Colorado has a lot of world-famous ski resorts, including Vail, Aspen and Breckenridge. Even if you are not there in the winter time, it is still nice to walk around the village areas. While quiet, the village areas are very cute and you may even find some good deals!
- Visit a brewery. There are so many craft/micro brews in Colorado that it will be a waste not to visit at least one of them. For my Memorial Day trip, we visited Avery Brewing Co in Boulder where we tried their brews and stuffed ourselves with local BBQ. Yum! A few years ago, my friend and I also visited New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, which was super fun too, especially since we were able to get on one of their free brewery tours.
- Take in the western theme. Colorado used to be considered the Wild West. As you drive through the state you will see remnants of this heritage – old mining towns like Leadville, ghost town tours, historic buildings, cowboy themes, etc. There are so many things you can do to take part in this western culture. Go nuts!
- Drive through Independence Pass, one of the highest passes (12,095 feet) that you can drive through. When we went over Memorial Day weekend the area was still covered with so much snow that there were many people skiing/snowboarding off the pass. That’s just awesome!
- Visit Leadville, the highest town in the US (10,151 feet). It’s a small and quaint town so there isn’t too much to do, but it’s really cool to say you’ve been to the highest towns in the US. 🙂
- Hike. Hike. Then hike some more. There are so many places to hike around Colorado, and no matter where you hike you are rewarded with beautiful views. Some of my favorite places to hike/explore are The Grottos ice cave.
- See wildlife. There is a lot of wildlife in Colorado, and if you keep your eyes open you may get lucky and see baby elk and baby moose like we did. 🙂