305 Best Sights in Colorado, USA

In the Cuchara Valley you'll see fantastic rock formations with equally fanciful names, such as Profile Rock, Devil's Staircase, and Giant's Spoon. With a little imagination you can devise your own legends about the names' origins. There are more than 400 of these upthrusts, which radiate like the spokes of a wheel from the valley's dominating landmark, the Spanish Peaks. In Spanish they are known as Dos Hermanos, or "Two Brothers." In Ute, their name Huajatolla means "breasts of the world." The haunting formations are considered to be a unique geologic phenomenon for their sheer abundance and variety of rock types.

With virtually no elevation gain, this ½-mile, pine-lined looped path near a popular backcountry campground is wheelchair accessible and provides views of Hallet Peak and Flattop Mountain. Easy.

With 27 tables and 16 pedestal grills, this alfresco dining spot is open year-round, with flush toilets in the summer and vault toilets the rest of the year.

While Petroglyph Point Trail takes you along the side of the canyon, this trail ventures down into its depths. It's only 2.4 miles long, but you descend about 600 feet in elevation. Remember to save your strength; what goes down must come up again. The trail is open even while Spruce Tree House is closed. Still, check with a ranger. Moderate.

This 138-room complex is the best-preserved site in the park; however, the alcove surrounding Spruce Tree House became unstable in 2015 and was closed to visitors. Until alcove arch support is added, visitors can view but not enter this site. You can still hike down a trail that starts behind the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and leads you 100 feet down into the canyon to view the site from a distance. Because of its location in the heart of the Chapin Mesa area, the Spruce Tree House trail and area can resemble a crowded playground during busy periods. When allowed inside the site, tours are self-guided (allow 45 minutes to an hour), but a park ranger is on-site to answer questions.

If you want to see an authentic ghost town, head 15 miles west on County Road 162. Once the supply center for the Mary Murphy Mine and dozens of smaller mines, St. Elmo is the best-preserved ghost town in Colorado. It doesn't take long to walk along the main street and peer into some of the rickety old buildings. There is a B&B, as well as a general store that's open in the summer. Be aware that this area is very busy with ATVs in summer.

Rugged peaks, thick forests, and burbling streams make up this 71,000-acre park nestled in the Medicine Bow Mountains with views of the Never Summer Range. Fish for trout, ride horseback, hike or mountain bike, explore four-wheel-drive roads, or ski, snowmobile, or snowshoe along miles of trails. Boating is allowed in the central reservoir only. Camping, cabins, and backcountry yurts are available year-round.

So named because of a crumbling prehistoric stairway leading up from the dwelling, Step House is reached via a paved (but steep) trail that's ¾ mile long. The house is unique in that it shows clear evidence of two separate occupations: the first around AD 626, the second a full 600 years later. The self-guided tour takes about 45 minutes.

This winery, 3 miles north of town (a mile of it up a steep, narrow dirt road), is in an idyllic setting, featuring old-world-style stone cottages the owner made himself. Specialties include Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Gewürztraminer varietals. Stop by for a free vineyard tour and wine tasting; don't miss the delicious small plates as well. If you plan ahead, you can book a night in the two-bedroom guest cottage.

The Summit County Huts Association has five backcountry cabins where skiers can spend the night (two are open for summer hikers). One popular touring route for backcountry skiing is the trip to Boreas Pass, just south of Breckenridge. The 6½-mile-long trail follows the route of a former railroad, with good views of distant peaks along the way.

Although researchers believe it was probably a ceremonial structure, they're unsure of the exact purpose of this complex, which has no doors or windows in most of its chambers. Because the building was not quite half finished when it was left in 1276, some researchers surmise it might have been constructed to stave off whatever disaster caused its builders—and the other inhabitants of Mesa Verde—to leave.

There are tables and bathrooms at this overlook.

Colorado’s first meadery opened in 1995 on this sprawling property with views of the Little Bookcliffs, and has since added wines to the traditional and fruit mead options, including Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Grigio. Tasting flights start from $7 for three wines to $15 for nine; charcuterie boards are available as well. Reservations are required for the private tours, which include a behind-the-scenes peek into production or wine-and-food pairings; rates start at $75 per person.

In a restored Queen Anne–style house, the Tread of Pioneers Museum is an excellent spot to bone up on local history. It includes ski memorabilia dating to the turn of the 20th century, when Carl Howelsen opened Howelsen Hill, still the country's preeminent ski-jumping facility.

Interactive, age-appropriate play areas for young children and a full menu of activities for older children and teens make the Treehouse Kids' Adventure Center in the Snowmass Base Village a good headquarters for family fun. Summer camp activities include mountain biking, skateboarding, and mountain boarding. When winter comes, the center serves as an upbeat base camp for ski lessons.

In a landmark Kaiser-Frazer building on the north fringe of town, the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts hosts rotating exhibits, live music, and theater. Classes and workshops are offered, and several resident artists work from studios on-site.

This complex with two historic houses (only accessible through tours at an additional charge), a museum, and a garden is a place to learn about the town's history. The first is Baca House, the 1870s residence of Felipe Baca, a prominent Hispanic farmer and businessman. Displays convey a mix of Anglo (clothes, furniture) and Hispanic (santos, textiles) influences. Next door, the 1882 Bloom Mansion was built by Frank Bloom, who made his money through ranching and banking. He filled his ornate Second Empire–style Victorian with fine furnishings and fabrics brought from the East Coast and abroad. The adjacent Santa Fe Trail Museum is dedicated to the effects of the trail and railroad on the community. Inside are exhibits covering Trinidad's heyday as a commercial and cultural center. The Historic Gardens are filled with native plants and grapevines similar to those tended by the pioneers.

The century-old stores and warehouses of Union Avenue Historic District make for a commercial district filled with a mix of stores ranging from kitschy to good. Among the landmarks are the glorious 1889 sandstone-and-brick Union Depot. Pitkin Place, lined with fabulous gabled and turreted mansions, attests to the town's more prosperous times. Walking-tour brochures are available at the chamber of commerce.

The campus of the University of Colorado Boulder began in 1876 with the construction of Old Main, which borders the Norlin Quadrangle, now on the National Register of Historic Places, a broad lawn where students hang out or play Frisbee between classes. The university’s red sandstone buildings with tile roofs, built in the “Rural Italian” architectural style that Charles Z. Klauder created in the early 1920s, complement the campus’s green lawns and small ponds. You can take a walking tour (reservations required) of the campus year-round.

If you're interested in the lives of the region's original residents, stop by the renovated Ute Indian Museum, 3 miles south of town. The museum contains several dioramas and the most comprehensive collection of Ute materials and artifacts in Colorado. It's housed in the 1956 homestead of Ute Chief Ouray and his wife, Chipeta. Today, the complex includes the Chief Ouray Memorial Park, Chipeta's Crypt, a native plants garden, picnic areas, and shaded paths linked to the citywide walking trail.

At the base of Sleeping Ute Mountain, the state's first tribal casino rings with the sound of more than 780 slot machines. Ute Mountain Casino also draws crowds for bingo, blackjack, roulette, and poker. The resort is 11 miles south of Cortez on U.S. 160.

This nature center occupies a 1940s homestead just across from the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. In summer, you can sign up for wildflower walks, morning birding expeditions, evening beaver-pond tours, and the "S'mores and More" family campfire program.

The tasting room at this pretty estate, which also features a lush rose garden that visitors can wander through, is more patio than indoors, although it is covered with a wooden roof and heated in the colder months. The wines—which can be tasted for free and come with a 45-minute wine education talk—include Cuvée Blanc, Primitivo, Barbera, and Nebbiolo among the dozen or so offerings. A wine cellar and dining room are available for private gatherings on a reservation-only basis. In the summer, the winery hosts a self-guided three-day Sip & Cycle event that starts at Varaison, with limited overnight accommodations available for an additional fee.

This viewpoint, at the end of the Warner Point Nature Trail, delivers awesome views of the canyon's deepest point (2,722 feet), plus the nearby San Juan and West Elk mountain ranges.

In a joint effort with neighboring Silver Cliff, this remote and picturesque town at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains became the state's first International Dark Sky Community in 2015. Nestled in quiet Custer County, mountains shade the town from light pollution to the east, preserving the dark nights that provide a perfect backdrop for stargazing year-round. Once a mining town, Westcliffe's 600 residents now thrive mostly on agriculture and ranching, but spring and summer festivals attract tourists from around the world to the charming Main Street, as does the access to outdoor activities. Westcliffe offers over 200 miles of hiking and biking trails in the summer and alpine cross-country ski routes in the winter. Rock climbing and fishing are also easily accessed from here.

A handful of benches and tables near drinking water, a covered kiosk, and restrooms make this a pleasant spot for lunch in the Wetherill area.

This 12-mile mountain road, stretching from the Far View Center to Wetherill Mesa, has sharp curves and steep grades (and is restricted to vehicles less than 25 feet long and 8,000 pounds). Roadside pull-outs offer unobstructed views of the Four Corners region. At the end of the road, you can access Step House, Long House, and Badger House.

You can get a taste of Victorian high life at the Queen Anne–style Wheeler/Stallard House Museum, which displays memorabilia collected by the Aspen Historical Society and features revolving historical exhibits. Your admission fee also covers entrance to the Holden/Marolt Ranching and Mining Museum (open summer only), a hands-on exploration of Aspen's past housed in an old ore-processing building on the western edge of town.

This museum is housed in a long building that served as a barracks for U.S. Army officers. Inside are exhibits such as a collection of guns dating to the Civil War and the plow used by Nathan Meeker to dig up the Utes' pony racetrack.