9 exciting and
diverse stops on a Colorado road trip

Park all preconceptions about cowboys, steaks and endless snow. Modern day Denver is one sassy city, with a mesmerising mountain backdrop. Denver is packed with cultural sights, a burgeoning foodie scene and sunny summer days.

Denver Art Museum is a great place to kick off, with its world class collections, including one of the world’s best displays of Native American Art. The Museum of Contemporary Art is more provocative and you can also expect the unexpected with the immersive, psychedelic installations at the new Meow Wolf exhibition at Convergence Station.

Beyond the arts, there's plenty more, from the Botanic Gardens and exciting sporting events to artisan savoury and sweet treats in one of the city’s food halls.

By night, sate appetites at Larimer Square, a historic street lined with chic eateries and lit up with fairy lights as darkness falls. Or catch dinner and a show at Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox which entertains with live performances, shows and dancing. Denver is also rightly known for its music scene and wherever you are, chances are you will be accompanied by a song or two drifting down the street. From local bands filling small bars with a lively atmosphere to national artist’s gracing the city’s bigger venues, you’ll be able to find a sound suited to your tastes. 

Next day, hair of the dog can be sought at the new Beer Spa. Work your way around the Beer Therapy Circuit, before relaxing with a chilled one.

Beer should be on the menu in this friendly city, too. It’s home to more than 20 award-winning craft beer breweries plus a giant one, Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser is one of their brands). Take a tour and soak up the booze with bites from The Exchange, where food is dished up from cool converted shipping containers – try chicken stuffed waffle cones, tacos and hot donuts.

Old Town Fort Collins features historic architecture and, if it looks like something from a fairytale, that’s because it is said it was the inspiration for Disneyland’s Main Street USA. While wandering, keep an eye – and ear - out for 'pianos about town'. Dozens of pianos have been painted by artists then dotted around town for impromptu singalongs.

The Gardens on Spring Creek are good for a mosey and include a butterfly house with up to 400 North American species fluttering freely. Or take the old streetcar to City Park, a green space centred around a scenic reservoir called Sheldon Lake, popular with boaters, fishers, hikers and picnickers. 

Just outside town, Horsetooth Reservoir is a beauty spot with walking trails and watery pursuits, including swimming and stand-up paddle boarding.

The Rockies are one of the world’s most iconic mountain ranges. In the Rocky Mountain National Park you’ll find huge peaks all around, including some over 4,000 metres. Dizzying stuff. Summer is one of the loveliest times to visit. Drive through forests of aspen, pine, fir and spruce. Pass crashing rivers and waterfalls, serene alpine lakes and meadows awash with colourful wildflowers at the feet of snow dusted mountains. The legendary 77km Trail Ridge Road is over 3,700 metres at its highest point and traverses the park from east to west. Better still, get out on foot to really appreciate this wild region. There are walks for every level, including short, flat lake strolls, ridgeline trails and challenging climbs. Take a hike with a ranger if you don’t fancy striking out on your own. Along the way, look out for wildlife – elk, moose, bear, bighorn sheep, mountain lions and marmots are just some of the creatures that live here.

You could easily spend a few days in Rocky Mountain National Park. There are several campgrounds (check out the incredible, glittering night skies) or head just outside the park’s eastern entrance to Estes Park, or the western entrance to Grand Lake for hotel options.

While away some time wallowing in the world’s largest hot spring pool. It is a real beauty, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains and the White River National Forest. The bath-tub warm thermal waters of Glenwood Springs opened to the public in the 19^th century – and have been soothing souls and bodies ever since. There are areas for relaxing, for swimming and now a new splash zone with slides, chutes and a not-so-lazy river.

That’s not all. At nearby Iron Mountain Hot Springs, there are 16 smaller, more intimate, soaking pools plus a family pool, scenically situated alongside the mighty Colorado River.

Then there’s the Yampah Spa and Vapor Caves. Here, hot mineral rich waters flood the cave floors creating a totally natural geothermal steam bath, one of the few places on the planet where you can experience this.

All three of these wellness experiences are a great way to chill out after some time hiking in nearby Glenwood Canyon, exploring the town’s Frontier Museum or the caverns and rides at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. This place runs totally on renewable energy, as does every other business in Glenwood Springs. So a stay here is not just pampering but eco-friendly too.

Grand Junction, in the far west of Colorado, is packed with natural attractions, particularly of the geological variety. The crowning glory is the Colorado Monument, with its sheer walled rust coloured canyons. The best way to get an overview is on the 37km Rim Rock Drive which hugs the canyon rims and cliffs, up plateaux and through valleys. Stop off to take some photos and get out on the hiking trails or opt for a guided climb. To the north of the region are the giant Book Cliffs – so called because their rippling surface looks like books on a shelf. They run for over 300km and over the border into neighbouring Utah.

The Grand Mesa area is just as impressive, dotted with more than 300 alpine lakes and forests that look as though they were made for hiking, biking and fishing. The highest point is Grand Mesa itself which is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world and has a lava rock that’s more than 10 million years old at its summit.

Speaking of old, Grand Junction has unearthed huge quantities of Jurassic era fossils and dinosaur remains. From the trailhead at Dinosaur Hill near Fruita, take a mile-long walk to see excavation sites and replicas of bones found here.

Driving around Grand Junction is a pleasure, with lush vineyards, lavender and peach farms everywhere you go, resulting in some tasty farm-to-table dining options.

The Gunnison River has spent millennia thundering through rock, creating the deepest and steepest of canyons. It is something to behold – one of those places that demonstrates the sheer force of nature and reduces us to feeling like mere specks. Exploring the inner canyon is strictly for the most experienced hikers. Only 15 people a day are permitted to do the challenging scramble down to the river and back up again. You have to be extremely fit to take on this hike, but for those who do, it’s a rewarding experience and you can even get a permit to camp overnight next to the river.

Don’t want the slog? Any of us can drive along the rims or down to the river and enjoy the same incredible, vertigo-inducing views. The South Rim provides the most popular viewing points – there are several. It is easy, too, to drive from there down to the East Portal, from where there’s a good view back up the canyon. This place never gets too crowded – it’s the least visited of all Colorado’s National Parks. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a Dark Sky Park, meaning there is little light pollution. Come back after dark with blankets and a telescope or binoculars for superlative star gazing.

It is the cutest little town, crammed with colourfully painted old wooden buildings, housing interesting independent shops, bars, restaurants and B&Bs. Crested Butte (pronounced Beaut!) was once a mining town. These days it’s sometimes described as a surf town in the mountains. You’ll understand why when you feel the cool, laidback and super friendly vibe.

When you’re not hanging out here, head up the mountain. A lift whisks you almost to the peak of Crested Butte itself (and if you want to conquer a mountain it’s an easy walk up the last bit). The surrounding slopes, which promise top class skiing in the winter also create perfect summer walks, with dazzling wild flowers all around. In July, the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival includes photography classes, art workshops, medicinal cookery classes and more. Prefer two wheels to two legs? The biking is pretty special in the Crested Butte area, too –with an impressive 1,120km of mountain bike trails.

The name Buena Vista is Spanish for ‘beautiful view’ and visitors are sure to agree. This charming town has an enviable Rocky Mountains backdrop – with no less than 12 ‘fourteeners’ (mountains that are over 14,000 feet high) within easy driving distance. Buena Vista is also a great jumping off point for forays into the Collegiate Peaks and Buffalo Peak Wilderness Areas, where every kind of activity is on offer, including mountain biking, trail running, rock climbing and horseriding. This area is also the place to try white-water rafting. Don’t worry if you’ve never done it before as there are trips for every level through Browns Canyon National Monument on the Arkansas River.

Calm down with less frenetic watery activity at Cottonwood or Mount Princeton Hot Springs. Both are in scenic settings and offer massage and treatments alongside seriously good soaks. 

While you’re in the area, check out the ‘Wild West’ ghost towns of St Elmo, Winfield and Vicksburg, past gold and silver mining towns, with old saloons, jails and general stores.

There is much to see and do in Colorado’s vibrant City of Champions. A walking tour is a great way to get your bearings. Interesting museums abound. At the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, learn about the area’s history, and those who settled here, in a beautiful old court house. At the US Olympic and Paralympic Museum you can to explore galleries that tell the story of Team USA athletes and their inspirational journeys getting to the Games. Don't miss the Pikes Peak Museum at The Broadmoor to learn the history of the second-oldest motorsport race in the US - the almost 20km winding route to the 4,302m summit of Pikes Peak. 

The surrounding natural wonders draw many visitors to Colorado Springs. Garden of the Gods Park features towering red rock formations set against the backdrop of mighty Pikes Peak mountain. At Cave of the Winds Mountain Park, experience three different cave tours (spooky ghost tours by lantern light anyone?) plus an outdoor park with zip lines, via ferrata and gold panning. And then there is Seven Falls. This waterfall set between the towering Pillars or Hercules, which drops from a height of 55 metres to carve a jagged path through the rocks. Climb the 224 steps to reach hiking trails that take you past the streams that feed the falls. 

For more great views, drive the Pike’s Peak Highway to the top of Pike’s Peak or take the recently renovated Pikes Peak Cog Railway.

A fun day out can be had a Flying W Ranch, with its lessons in Navajo rug weaving, silversmithing and horseshoeing, as well as a Chuckwagon dinner and show.