305 Best Sights in Colorado, USA

One of Craig's most prized historical possessions, the Marcia Car in City Park was the private Pullman car of Colorado magnate David Moffat, who at one time was full or partial owner of more than 100 gold and silver mines. Moffat was also instrumental in bringing railroad transportation to northwest Colorado. He used his private car to inspect construction work on the Moffat Railroad line. Named after his only child, the car has been restored and makes for an interesting tour.

Northeast of Silverton, the Mayflower Mill (also known as the Shenandoah-Dives Mill) is a beautifully restored landmark with tours that explain how precious gold, silver, and other metals were extracted and processed.

In 1985, crews completed construction of an irrigation dam across the Dolores River, forming the McPhee Reservoir, the second largest in the state. It draws anglers looking to bag a variety of warm- and cold-water fish along its 50 miles of shoreline, which is surrounded by spectacular specimens of juniper and sage as well as large stands of pinyon pine. There are two boat ramps. The area also has camping, hiking, and a relatively easy mountain-bike trail, and the mesa offers panoramic views of the surrounding San Juan National Forest.

In summer Steamboat serves as the gateway to the magnificent Medicine Bow/Routt National Forests, with a wealth of activities from hiking and mountain biking to fishing. Among the nearby attractions are the 283-foot Fish Creek Falls and the splendidly rugged Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area. To the north, two sparkling man-made lakes, Steamboat and Pearl, each in its own state park, are a draw for those into fishing and sailing. In winter the area is just as popular. Snowshoers and backcountry skiers are permitted to use the west side of Rabbit Ears Pass, whereas snowmobilers are confined to the east side.

This 6-mile drive skirts the scenic rim of Chapin Mesa and takes you to several overlooks and short, paved trails. You'll get great views of Sun Temple and Square Tower, as well as Cliff Palace, Sunset House, and several other cliff dwellings visible from the Sun Point Overlook.

The visitor center is the best place to go to sign up for tours, get the information you need to plan a successful trip, and buy tickets for the Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Long House ranger-led tours. The sleek, energy-efficient research center is filled with more than 3 million artifacts and archives. The center features indoor and outdoor exhibits, a gift shop, picnic tables, and a museum. Find books, maps, and videos on the history of the park.

From this popular spot, you can admire the Keyboard of the Winds, a jagged ridge connecting Pagoda and Longs Peaks that looks like the top of a spiny reptile's back. The 5.6-mile hike gains 750 feet in elevation as it takes you past Alberta Falls and Glacier Falls en route to the shimmering lake at the mouth of Glacier Gorge. Moderate.

Commissioned in 1895 as the private home of French priest Jean-Baptiste Francolon, this magnificent architectural hodgepodge and museum in Manitou Springs is still decorated, in part, as if a family lived here. More than 30 rooms in this 14,000-square-foot space offer a wide variety of displays and furnishings primarily from the Victorian era, while the building itself includes a Gothic front door, medieval battlements, and nine styles of architecture. You can also have lunch or high tea in the Queen's Parlour Tea Room (reservations required).

This Victorian celebrates the life and times of the scandalous "Unsinkable" Molly Brown. The heroine of the Titanic courageously saved several lives and continued to provide assistance to survivors back on terra firma. Costumed guides and period furnishings in the museum, including flamboyant gilt-edge wallpaper, lace curtains, tile fireplaces, and tapestries, evoke bygone days. The museum collects and displays artifacts that belonged to Brown, as well as period items dating to 1894–1912, when the Browns lived in the house. Tours run every half hour; you won't need much more than that to see the whole place. A bit of trivia: Margaret Tobin Brown was known as Maggie, not Molly—allegedly a Hollywood invention that Brown did not like—during her lifetime.

Just west of the Alamosa wildlife refuge is its sister sanctuary, the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, a 15,000-acre park that's a stopping point for more than 20,000 migrating cranes in the spring and fall. It hosts an annual Crane Festival, held one weekend in mid-March in the nearby town of Monte Vista, and a children's Crane Festival in mid-October at the park with kid-friendly activities. You can see the sanctuary by foot, bike, or car via the 4-mile Wildlife Drive.

There is only one picnic table (and no services) here, but the view is excellent.

Great Sand Dunes National Park's only picnic area is shaded by cottonwood trees with easy access to the sand and seasonal creek. It has a dozen places where visitors can park a car or small RV near a picnic table and a grill.

The massive, snowcapped peak watching over Leadville is Mt. Elbert. At 14,433 feet it's the highest mountain in Colorado and the tallest peak in the entire Rocky Mountain Range, second in height in the contiguous 48 states only to California's 14,495-foot Mt. Whitney.

To relax sore muscles after your outdoor adventure, visit Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort, 8 miles from Buena Vista. The resort has four pools open year-round and a fifth in the summer, plus several "hot spots in the creek"—the water temperature ranges between 97°F and 108°F. The restaurant features mostly fish and steak entrées with creative seasonal specials and has a large stone fireplace and a dramatic view of the Chalk Cliffs. If you're too relaxed to drive home, stay in one of the resort's hotel rooms or log cabins beginning at $320 per night during the summer.

The region's first museum dedicated to the achievements of Latinx in the Americas has a permanent collection as well as rotating exhibits that cover everything from Latin Americans in the state legislature to Latin American female artists in the 20th century. Among the more than 3,300 permanent pieces are the oil painting Virgin of Solitude (circa 1730) and a Mayan polychrome jar (circa 650–950), as well as contemporary works. In addition to the regular hours, the museum is open (with free admission) the first Friday of each month from noon to 9.

This museum captures and tells the stories of Boulder's intriguing history and people. Inspiration abounds, from the rotating exhibits to dynamic guest speakers. The permanent Boulder Experience gallery showcases Boulder's past, and the ever-changing exhibits feature different treasures from the museum's collection of more than 44,000 historical artifacts that are preserved in a private warehouse off-site. Beyond history and art, the Museum of Boulder is also home to the kid-friendly Playzeum and the techy Google Garage, where children can create and experiment.

Introduce yourself to life behind bars at the Museum of Colorado Prisons, which formerly housed the Women's State Correctional Facility and where many of the exhibits are housed in cells. The museum exhaustively documents prison life in Colorado through old photos, including images of prison gang tattoos and women wardens through the years, newspaper accounts, and inmates' confiscated weapons and contraband. The gas chamber sits in the courtyard, where visitors can sometimes hear the voices of inmates in the working men's prison next door. While an important window into prison life, past and present, the museum can be disturbing for young kids and those with loved ones in the prison system.

This museum elegantly displays an eclectic collection of everything from arrowheads to a fire truck. The upstairs of this restored county courthouse holds the largest privately owned collection of working cowboy artifacts in the world. Bill Mackin, one of the leading traders in cowboy collectibles, has spent a lifetime gathering guns, bits, saddles, bootjacks, holsters, and spurs of all descriptions.

Run by a retired archaeologist, the museum depicts life in Colorado from the late 1800s to the 1940s. It features roughly 500,000 artifacts and 23 buildings, including a schoolhouse, church, carriage works, and jail cell, as well as homesteads and teepee replicas.

The Museum of the West relates the history of the area since the 1880s, with a time line, a firearms display, and a Southwest pottery collection. The area's rich mining heritage is perfectly captured in the uranium mine that educates with interactive sound and exhibit stations, and the museum also oversees paleontological excavations. The museums of the Grand Junction area have banded together as the Museums of Western Colorado, which comprises the Museum of the West (this one), the Dinosaur Journey Museum ( 550 Jurassic Ct., Fruita), and the Cross Orchards Living History Farm ( 3073 F Rd., Grand Junction).

Look upriver from this North Rim viewing spot and you'll be able to see into the canyon's narrowest section, just a slot really, with only 40 feet between the walls at the bottom. The canyon is also taller (1,725 feet) here than it is wide at the rim (1,150 feet).

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.

This museum covers virtually every aspect of mining, from the discovery of precious ore to fashioning it into coins and other items. Dioramas in the beautiful brick building explain extraction processes.

The 1,600 acres of this city park, which is open year-round, manifest nature and natural history without a hint of commercialism—or charge. The canyon's moderate hikes include the Lower Columbine and Mt. Cutler trails, each less than a 3-mile round-trip. Both afford a view of the city and a sense of accomplishment.

This small facility on the park's North Rim is open sporadically and only in summer. Rangers can provide information and assistance and can issue permits for wilderness use and rock climbing. If rangers are out in the field, which they often are, guests can find directions for obtaining permits posted in the station.

The round-trip hike to Exclamation Point is 3 miles; a more difficult foray to the top of 8,563-foot Green Mountain (a mesa, really) is 7 miles. The trail leads you along the North Rim; keep an eye out for especially gnarled pinyon pines—the North Rim is the site of some of the oldest groves of pinyons in North America, between 700 and 900 years old. Difficult.

This 2-mile loop is the most demanding of the South Rim hikes, as it brings you about 400 feet below the canyon rim. In places, the trail is narrow and crosses some steep slopes, but you won't have to navigate any steep drop-offs. Oak Flat is the shadiest of all the South Rim trails; small groves of aspen and thick stands of Douglas fir along the loop offer some respite from the sun. Difficult.

Although most travelers heading to Central City take the new highway from I–70, adventurous souls can take the Oh-My-Gawd Road. Built in the 1870s to transfer ore, this challenging drive climbs nearly 2,000 feet above Idaho Springs to Central City. After traveling along a series of hairpin curves you arrive at the summit, where you are treated to sweeping views of Mt. Evans. The dusty road is often busy with mining traffic, so keep your windows up and your eyes open.

More than 100 years old and never more than 14 feet wide, this road stretches from the park's east side to the Fall River Pass (11,796 feet above sea level) on the west. The drive provides a few white-knuckle moments, as the road is steep, serpentine, and lacking in guardrails. Start at West Horseshoe Park, which has the park's largest concentrations of sheep and elk, and head up the gravel road, passing Chasm Falls.

A mine train takes you 1,500 feet underground into the Old Hundred Gold Mine for a tour of one of the area's oldest mining facilities. Your miner-guide follows the vein and operates authentic equipment to show you how mining was done in the old days. Old Hundred operated for about a century, from the first strike in 1872 until the last haul in the early 1970s. Temperatures remain at a steady 47°F, so be sure to bring a sweater or a jacket. Guided tours leave every hour on the hour from 10 am to 3 pm (arrive 15 minutes early to secure your spot). Your ticket price also covers panning for gold, silver, copper, and gemstones in the sluice boxes outside the mine.