7 Best Sights in Boulder and North Central Colorado, Colorado

With more than 5 million objects, this museum is home to the largest natural history collection in the Rocky Mountain region. There are five galleries and a discovery corner for kids. Permanent and changing exhibits feature CU research, fossils, archaeological finds, dinosaur relics, plants, and invertebrates. Depending on your level of interest, you could spend anywhere from an hour to all day here.

No visit to Nederland is complete without a spin on the nonprofit Carousel of Happiness, a restored 1910 carousel featuring 57 hand-carved, hand-painted animals running around to the sounds of a 1913 Wurlitzer band organ. The complex includes a gift shop and a puppet theater.

The museum entertains and informs visitors of all ages with interactive science, history, music, and natural history exhibits. The OtterBox Digital Dome Theater screens a mix of planetarium space shows and captivating educational films on its 35-foot dome screen. Also, meet the two resident black-footed ferrets. This is the only museum in the world to host these endangered animals.

You wouldn't expect such a pinball extravaganza in tiny Lyons, but there it is, behind the Oskar Blues brewpub, with more than 50 classic pinball games. The change machines (and fellow gamers) make it a simple and fun evening stop.

Talking about the weather is not boring at this center, where the hands-on exhibits and tours fire up kids' and adults' enthusiasm for what happens in the sky. If you can't make the free, guided one-hour noon tours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, take a self-guided tour or a mobile app tour (available on the Apple and Google app stores). The distinctive blocky-looking buildings, designed by architect I. M. Pei, stand on a mesa at the base of the mountains, where you can see wildlife. Follow the short, wheelchair-accessible, interpretive NCAR Weather Trail to learn more about how weather affects the local environment.

A National Historic District, Fort Collins's Old Town was the inspiration for Disneyland’s Main Street USA, and Old Town Square is a bustling pedestrian zone with sculptures, fountains, a fire pit, and historic buildings that house shops, galleries, bars, and, of course, breweries. Restaurants and cafés here have plenty of shaded outdoor seating. Musicians perform during the summer on a stage, and in the winter, the square is home to Santa's Workshop and an ice-skating rink.