COLORADO
TRAVEL INFORMATION
When you visit
Colorado, you're given more than just an unforgettable vacation. This
is the state that gives you a complimentary curriculum in geography,
geology, history, wildlife identification and nature appreciation.
Even if you hated school, you can't help but get caught up in the
extraordinary, subtle lessons in this area of dramatic contrasts.
You'll walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs, touch artifacts from Native
American battles, marvel at gold nuggets the size of newborn babes,
and study the vertebrae of a fossilized butterfly that flew millions
of years ago-when Colorado had an inland sea.
You'll
climb to the summit of 14,110-ft. Pike's Peak (by cog railway, in
your own car, or under your own power). You'll stand at the foot
of a 450 ft. sandstone monolith in the Colorado National Monument,
scramble to the top of 700 ft. high mounds of sand in the Grand
Sand Dunes National Monument, and float down rivers whose waters
started as trickles atop the Continental Divide, running pall mall
to the nearest ocean.
You'll
come face to face with Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and long haired
white mountain goats that always seem to be in a state of molting.
You'll
learn the meaning of purple mountain majesty in the midst of drop-dead
scenic panoramas such as Rocky Mountain National Park's Trail Ridge
Road, where 14,000-ft. peaks are at eye level.
But,
we're not just a pretty place on the map. Our cities, with their
museums, galleries, coveted shopping, professional sports teams,
live theater, amphitheater music concerts, fairgrounds and amusement
parks make your stay fun-packed as well as educational and inspirational..
You
can chow down on buffalo burgers, rattlesnake sausage, five-alarm
chili and barbecue to die for. You can be swept up a mountain to
dine on six courses at its summit. Or take along a llama who's toting
your gourmet lunch. Or attend one of many resort tasting festivals
for a soupcon from each restaurant.
You
can sleep under the stars in hundreds of campgrounds, be charmed
to tears at quaint bed and breakfasts, or stay at one of our Best
Western properties.
NATIONAL PARKS
The numbers are staggering. Colorado is privileged to be home to
11 national parks and monuments, 17 national forests, and 40 state
park and recreation areas. What does this say about us? We're fun;
we're dramatically impressive; we're full of contrasts; and we're
as big as the great outdoors.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, less than two hours northwest of Denver,
is our "most" park-most visited, most popular, and most
awesome. A gaggle of 14-ers (peaks over 14,000-ft.), and a highway
that puts you almost eye-to-eye with their summits, Trail Ridge
Road, is the country's highest continuous paved byway Here, tundra
flowers, barely a quarter-inch in diameter, bloom above timberline.
In the valleys, keep your wildlife checklists handy; you're bound
to fill the page with sightings of hawks, eagles, coyote, deer,
elk, bighorn sheep, and even hundreds of species of butterflies.
If
you're fortunate enough to be here during the elk rut in early fall,
you'll hear the males bugle-a hauntingly melodious call that remains
with you forever.
The
park's eastern gateway is from Estes Park, a mountain charmer with
300 shops and restaurants; at the western gateway is Grand Lake,
majestic with its 150-mile shoreline.
Kids
love the GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL MONUMENT. No wonder-700-ft. high
dunes of sand to climb, roll or four-wheel drive down. These miles
of piles stretch along the San Luis Valley floor, against a backdrop
of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in southern Colorado.
At
MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK, in the southwestern comer of the state,
evidence of the ancient Anasazi civilization remains in their marvelously
engineered cliff dwellings. Here, you can explore their ceremonial
kivas, and wander through their mountainside homes.
From
ancient civilizations to Jurassic parks (without the live guys)
the FLORISSANT FOSSIL BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT is a testament to the
time when this central mountain region west of Pike's Peak used
to be an inland sea. More than 80,000 specimens of fish, insects,
pine cones, fragile butterflies, and petrified sequoia trunks are
dramatic reminders of a forgotten time.
Lest
we forget the dinosaurs populating Colorado's lowlands, DINOSAUR
NATIONAL MONUMENT, up in the northwest region, and the Grand Valley
near Grand Junction, are paleontologists' playgrounds. Rated as
two of the most scientifically important areas in the world, dinosaur
remains are discovered here almost daily
Also,
near Grand Junction, the 20,000 acre canyon area of arches, spires
and natural monoliths in the COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT show what
millions of years of rain and wind can do to a landscape. The 23-mile
Rim Rock Drive through the park is so spectacular, you suffer sensory
overload.
In
western Colorado, near Montrose, the BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON
NATIONAL MONUMENT, lets you peer deep, 3,000-ft. deep, into one
of the narrowest gorges in the world. While, near Colorado's eastern
border, BENT'S OLD FORT NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, is a reconstructed
1830's fur trading fort, a major commercial stop along the Santa
Fe Trail. Today, it's furnished with antiques and artifacts excavated
at the fort site.
NATIONAL FORESTS
When 15 million acres of Colorado are under national forest domain,
this means the U.S. Forest Service has reserved the land for your
recreation, adventure and travel, as well as the government's natural
resource development and land preservation. Within their boundaries,
you'll find historic sites, ghost towns, scenic byways over mountain
passes, and preserves of shortgrass prairies.
STATE
PARKS
Catering to everyone's recreational wishes, are Colorado's state
parks, open year-round and as varied as the state's topography.
There are 500 miles of hiking trails in the high country and on
the plains. Paved biking routes, warm and cold water fishing, sandy
beaches for swimming and waterfront camping, lakes and reservoirs
for water skiers, jet skiers, sailors, motorboat jocks and windsurfers.
There are parks with total RV hook-ups and services, those with
access for the physically challenged, and more than 3,000 campsites
for rugged, backcountry types to those used to the comforts of civilization.
THE ARTS
As soon as the snow melts in spring, until the aspen leaves turn
gold in fall, there are music, art, film, theater, crafts, food
and wine festivals up and down the Front Range, on the state's western
slope, and at every major mountain resort. Some towns, such as Snowmass
and Telluride, are so event-oriented, there's a festival scheduled
every summer weekend.
Music groups clamor to be in the line-up of performances at Red
Rocks, the dramatic, natural sandstone amphitheater in the foothills
west of Denver. At the other end of town, Fiddlers Green hosts music
groups several times each week.
Boulder
covets its Colorado Music and Shakespeare Festivals; this artsy
town surrounding the Colorado University campus, is a culture capital.
Opera,
in English, resonates in the century old Victorian Theater in Central
City, the mining town famous for its Face on the Bar Room Floor.
At
the Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vail, Bravo! Colorado schedules
a summer of classical performances with visits from the Russian
Bolshoi Ballet. Meanwhile, over the pass, the National Repertory
Orchestra and Breckenridge Music Institute give classical and popular
concerts in this town's Riverwalk Center.
Internationally
acclaimed musicians perform at the Aspen Music Festival (with visiting
concerts in Salida), As one of the nation's premier music events,
the Aspen festival put this town on the summer map decades ago.
There's
bluegrass and jazz at Telluride, country western in Grand junction,
and America's second largest arts complex in Denver hosts music,
dance and Broadway theater productions year-round.
A
most unusual event takes places each June and July in the forests
of Larkspur, south of Denver. The Colorado Renaissance Festival
brings you back centuries in time, with jousting knights on horseback,
medieval crafts, magicians, jugglers, fortune tellers and feasting
with maidens, knaves, oafs and monks.
Art
galleries fill Front Range and mountain towns. Salida, alone, has
53; in Estes Park, more than 200 artists' works may be viewed and
purchased, Outdoor arts and crafts shows line the streets of Snowmass,
Durango, Dillon, Breckenridge, and Steamboat Springs, pen where
photography workshops also are popular. Festivals in Vail, Beaver
Creek and Breckenridge are extremely popular and attract the top
creative hands from across the country.
The
largest outdoor art celebration in Colorado is the Cherry Creek
Arts Festival in this tony area of Denver. Only the finest artists,
craftspersons, sculptors, potters and photographers make the strict
juried selections for exhibition at this anticipated annual event
each Fourth of July weekend.
Statewide
food tasting festivals let local chefs strut their stuff. This is
the chance to sample signature dishes from the finest resort restaurants.
The Taste of the Summit, in late June, summons chefs from restaurants
in the world-class resorts of Keystone, Copper Mountain and Breckenridge
in addition to the towns of Dillon, Frisco and Silverthorne. Breckenridge,
itself, with more than 100 fine restaurants in this restored Victorian
mining town, holds its tasting over the Memorial Day weekend, combining
it with cooking demonstrations. The posh resort of Beaver Creek
shares its delicious secrets in a summer tasting fete. And, in early
fall, Grand junction celebrates its newest harvest with a wine festival
and tastings from its critically acclaimed six wineries.
Hot
air balloon festivals are feasts for the eyes. Mass ascensions in
Snowmass, Steamboat Springs and Telluride are spectacular summer
traditions. Pilots challenge each other's maneuvers with tests of
skill, while visitors engage-in sensory overload.
Then
there's Oktoberfest, usually celebrated in late September to coincide
with the turning of the aspens. Beer, brats, music and dancing herald
the start of fall in scores of towns.
For
more information contact:
Colorado
Department of Tourism
or
visit their web-site at:
http://www.state.co.us
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