United States IPA Region 17

Colorado and Wyoming

Travel and Recreation

"The scenery bankrupts the English language" That's what president Teddy Roosevelt said of Colorado. The Rocky Mountains' over one thousand peaks 10,000 feet or higher (fifty-four of them over 14,000 feet) dominate the state. In fact 75% of all land in the continental U.S. above 10,000 feet lies in Colorado, making it the nations highest state. If you could somehow iron out Colorado, it would be bigger than Texas. But, Colorado is not just scenery. Its diverse present and colorful past blend to offer the opportunity to see, do, and experience a wide range of activities, all seasoned with a Western hospitality unparalleled in the Rocky Mountain region.

Of Statewide Interest

The Colorado Official Vacation Guide and Map is available for free by calling 1-800-COLORADO (1-800-265-6723) or visiting Colorado.com. You are also welcome to visit the Colorado Travel and Tourism Authority's online travel information guide.

Colorado Adventure Guide
Colorado, the Official Online Resident and Visitor's Guide
Colorado Vacation Guide
Colorado Casino and Gamaing Information from Casino City

Colorado Road and Weather Conditions

Road and Weather Conditions from the Colorado Department of Transportation
Traffic Cameras - Metro Denver
Denver Area Weather from The Weather Channel
Colorado Springs Area Weather from The Weather Channel National Weather Service Colorado Weather Roundup
The Weather Underground for Colorado
Resort Sports Network - Cams and Conditions from Colorado Resorts Colorado Eye and Weather Cams - 60 live Colorado Cams

Colorado Ski Country

Colorado is perhaps most famous for it's skiing, so here is the place to determine the current conditions of your favorite area, and even take a look at it on one of the live cameras! Most Colorado ski resorts are open year round, offering a variety of warm weather activities when there's no snow on the ground.

Colorado Ski Country USA,Inc.

Arapahoe Basin
Aspen (Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, Snowmass)
Beaver Creek
Breckenridge
Copper Mountain
Crested Butte
Durango Mountain Resort
Eldora
Howelsen Hill
Keystone
Loveland
Monarch
Powderhorn
Silverton Mountain
Ski Cooper
Sol Vista Basin at Granby Ranch (formerly Silver Creek). Call 1-888-283-7458 or 1-970-887-3384
Steamboat
Sunlight Mountain Resort
Telluride
Vail
Winter Park Resort (Winter Park and Mary Jane)
Wolf Creek

Denver Metro Area

Denver, the "Queen City of the Plains," has as its backdrop the Rocky Mountains, an area six times that of the Swiss Alps. Denver is the booming hub of the Rocky Mountain West, the largest urban center within a 600-mile radius. It is neither a rowdy cowtown nor a glamorous mountain skiing capital-it's a little of both, as well as high-tech, interesting and immensely entertaining. And, the fact that its size is not overwhelming makes it the perfect vacation spot.

Metro-Denver has interesting attractions for almost everyone. Consider . . .

A gold-leaf domed capitol building, modeled after the U. S. Capitol, whose thirteenth step is exactly one mile above sea level;
The United States Mint, a Florentine Renaissance palace housing one of only three gold depositories in the U. S. It is the nation's second largest storehouse of gold bullion and produces five billion coins yearly;
Denver International Airport (DIA), at fifty three square miles, it is larger than the Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago O'Hare airports combined, making it the largest commercial port in the world;
Historic restored Larimer Square, the gateway to the Lower Downtown (LoDo) District, a twenty-block area of gas lamps, arcades, carriage rides, fine dining, nightclubs, Victorian architecture, and Coor's Field, home of the Colorado Rockies;
Lovely old buildings like the Beaux-Arts Union Train Station and the Gilded Age Brown Palace Hotel;
A mile-long pedestrian street mall lined with trees, shops, and sidewalk cafes; some 1,400 chairs make this the best spot for "people-watching" in the city;
An elegant glass and steel Performing Arts Complex, second only to New Yorks Lincoln Center in the total theater seating capacity of its nine performance venues, including theatre, symphony, and ballet;
All "big four" professional sports teams -- the two time Super Bowl Champions, the Denver Broncos football team; the Colorado Rockies baseball team, the 1996 Stanley Cup winning hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche; and the Denver Nuggets basketball team;
A wealth of museums, including a natural history museum, the fourth largest of its kind in the country, with a dinosaur exhibit rivaling the technology of Jurassic Park; an art museum with the finest collection of American Indian art works in the world; a former bordello which houses the Museum of of Western Art with collections of western paintings from Remington to O'Keefe; the Colorado History Museum with artifacts from the state's colorful past; the Black American Western Museum and Heritage Center, housing tributes to the west's black cowboys, doctors, legislators and teachers; the Childrens' Museum, with its hands-on, interactive exhibits and activities; the ForneyTransportation Museum with its large collection of antique cars, motorcycles, trains and planes; the Molly Brown House Museum, displaying collections of the rags-to-riches survivor of the Titanic disaster; the nationally-recognized Colorado Railroad Museum, 12 acres of locomotives, cabooses, and railroad cars, along with displays of Colorado's railroad history; the Mizel Museum of Judaica, with its changing exhibits, not to be missed by anyone with an interest in Jewish artifacts from around the world; the Firefighter's Museum, where you can learn the history of firefighting and enjoy old fire engines and fire equipment.

Travel west into the mountains and you can be a part of a leisure-time activity that has created more excitement than Denver has seen since the Gold Rush of 1859-the slot machines and poker and blackjack tables of Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek. If gambling isn't for you, visit the towns' Victorian buildings, some of the nation's best preserved, and nearby gold and silver mines. Or how about a trip to Georgetown, with its more than 200 Victorian buildings and scenic narrowgauge steam train, or visit the kid-sized village of Tiny Town or Buffalo Bill's Grave and Museum at the top of Lookout Mountain. Red Rocks outdoor amphitheater is worth a visit even if no one is performing. Evergreen is home to the International Bell Museum, a collection of over 3,000 bells, the biggest bell collection in the country. Travel the Oh-My-God Road between Idaho Springs and Central City -- still a hair-raising adventure. Maybe you'd rather choose the more sedate drive to the summit of Mount Evans on the highest paved road in North America.

The Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau
Denver Area Events Calendar
Denver International Airport
Denver Area Travel and Visitor Infofmation

Arvada Chamber of Commerce
Aurora Chamber of Commerce
Boulder Chamber of Commerce
Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
Denver - South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce
Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce
Metro North Chamber of Commerce

Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Area

Travel south to Colorado Springs and nearby Manitou Springs, where, in 1893, at the summit of Pikes Peak, Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write "America the Beautiful." Be sure to visit the famous Broadmoor Resort Hotel and the Air Force Academy, and such natural wonders as Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls and Cave of the Winds. Other attractions are the U.S. Olympic Training Center, the U. S. Space Foundation, the Pro Rodeo Hall of Champions and the Museum of the Cowboy, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, NORAD, Anasazi cliff dwellings, the Shrine of the Sun-a memorial dedicated to Will Rogers-and the highest cog railway in the country, the Manitou Springs and Pikes Peak, which takes riders to the 14,110-ft summit of Pikes Peak. Further west is Florissant. There are preserved petrified trees and extensive shale fossil beds containing the remains of animals and plants that lived 35 million years ago.

Head south and stop at Buckskin Joe, an Old West theme park or visit Royal Gorge Near Canon City and see the world's highest suspension bridge.

Colorado Springs Airport
ColoradoSprings.com City Information
Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau
Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce
City of Cripple Creek, Official Home Page
Cripple Creek Casino Listing
Divide Chamber of Commerce
Manitou Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau
Victor, Colorado, City of Gold Mines
Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce

Cave of the Winds (Colorado Springs)
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado Springs)
Flying W Ranch (Colorado Springs)
Royal Gorge Bridge and Park (Canon City)
U. S. Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs)

The Rest of Colorado

Do you enjoy biking, hiking, camping, fishing, whitewater railing, hot-air ballooning, paratreking, sandshoeing and snowshoeing, backpacking, and skiing? There are 23.5 million acres of protected state and federal land in Colorado, including 600,000 acres of national parks, monuments, historic sites and recreation areas, as well as almost 10,000 miles of fishing streams and 2,150 lakes. One of the top five national parks in the nation is Rocky Mountain National Park, 405 square miles of magnificent scenery, including Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous highway in the world. Dinosaur National Monument appeals to the dinosaur-lover in all of us. Remains of the oldest, largest, and smallest dinosaurs may be viewed there. For the adventuresome, there is Great Sands Dunes National Monument, a giant 700-ft high sand pile at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Visitors can hike on it, 4-wheel drive over it, even ski on it. For the historian, there are the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park in the southwestern corner of the state.

Lowry Pueblo Ruins
Anasazi Heritage Center

Colorado Media

Denver Post (major Denver daily, wide circulation)
Rocky Mountain News (major Denver daily, wide circulation)
KWGN The CW 2 (CW Denver)
KCNC News4 (CBS Denver)
KMGH 7 News, the Denver Channel (ABC Denver)
KUSA 9News (NBC Denver)
KDVR My Fox Colorado 31 (Fox Denver)

The Colorado Springs Gazette
KOAA News First 5/30 (NBC Colorado Springs)
KKTV 11 News (CBS Colorado Springs)
KRDO News Channel 13 (ABC Colorado Springs)
KXRM Fox21 (FOX Colorado Springs)
KXTU The CW57 (CW Colorado Springs)

Aspen Daily News
Boulder Daily Camera
Durango Herald
Fort Collins Coloradoan
Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Grand Junction Sentinel
Greeley Tribune
Pueblo Chieftain
Vail Daily News