Parks and Recreation Areas

Rocky Mountain National Park is known for its scenery, hiking, wildlife-watching, camping, and snowshoeing.

North central Colorado has six state parks: Eldorado Canyon, Barr Lake, and St. Vrain, all close to Boulder; and Boyd Lake, State Forest, and Lory, all close to Fort Collins. In Boulder and Fort Collins you can literally walk out your door, up the street, and into the mountains or foothills on a hiking trail. There are also plenty of riparian trails and open-space paths within the city limits that can take you for miles; these trails usually have plenty of access points. The northern Front Range is home to a small downhill-ski area: Eldora Mountain Resort, 21 miles west of Boulder. You can access some trails in the Indian Peaks Wilderness from Nederland.