Welcome to Colorado

Colorado is a state where big mountains, big wilderness and big adventure reign supreme. Denver, Colorado Springs, Aspen and Boulder are fantastic cities that serve as excellent jumping off points to days and weeks spent hiking, biking, climbing and camping.

The Rocky Mountains run right through the state and are the main draw. In fact, Colorado is home to the highest concentration of peaks that top 14,000 feet in elevation. Winter brings the crowds flocking to the slopes in search of unparalleled skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. But with 300 days of annual sunshine each year, Colorado’s alpine slopes are as popular during the summer as they are during the winter.

Adventure

The great outdoors may just be Colorado’s greatest attraction. Home to four incredible national parks and a large slice of the mighty Rocky Mountains, the state is a haven for hikers, hunters, fishermen, nature photographers, skiers, snowboarders and all-around adventure-seekers.

Rocky Mountain National Park is perhaps the most famous of the bunch and also one of the most accessible, with the main visitor center located just over an hour’s drive from downtown Denver. It features more than 300 miles of hiking trails that snake their way around the park’s 415 square miles. The popular Trail Ridge Road is a natural star, rising over 12,000 feet with spectacular lookouts.

Mesa Verde National Park is where you can explore both the natural and human history of the state. Home to more than 4,000 archeological sites dating from the years 550 to 1300, the park was once populated with the ancient Pueblo peoples. They left behind more than 600 cliff dwellings with ancient petroglyphs.

Heritage

From massive dinosaurs to the Ancestral Puebloans to grizzled Wild West settlers, the history of Colorado is as eclectic as it is fascinating. Start from the ground up—visit real dinosaur dig sites and pick your way through world-class exhibits filled with ancient dinosaur fossils at Dinosaur National Monument, Dinosaur Ridge, Picketwire Canyonlands, the Dinosaur Journey Museum and the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center.