Wine Bars: Toasting the Grape
Savvy servers are pouring wines and discussing them knowledgeably in wine bars proliferating in Colorado. Order them by the glass, by the bottle or by flight — small pours of…
Colorado Guest Ranches: In Touch With Your Inner Cowgirl
Purple lupine, pink wild roses and yellow arnica color the green hillside directly outside my cabin. Any moment, I expect to see a deer wander through the thick forest of…
On Track: Hop a Ride Into the Past
Few sounds evoke Colorado’s history more than the mournful call of a train whistle echoing through a canyon. You still can hear that sound in many of the state’s mountain…
Stuck in the Mud: Spring Trail Running in Vail
As in many of Colorado’s resort towns, Vail’s summer season technically kicks off on Memorial Day weekend. The Beaver Creek Rodeo is in full-swing and the Teva Mountain Games once…
Grand Lake, Colorado: Water, Wilderness and Western Charm
The sky blushes as the first rays of dawn creep over the Colorado mountains. Grand Lake appears glassy smooth, forest and rocks reflecting in its mirrored surface. One peak dominates.…
In Grand Junction: A Lazy Main Street Sunday
You’ve hiked wickedly steep terrain through the Colorado National Monument’s remote canyons. You’ve rewarded yourself with visits to a dozen wineries, drinking enough tastes to fill a few bottles. It’s…
Sculpture on the Blue: Massive Art Exhibit in Breckenridge
In summer, walk along the Blue River bike path in downtown Breckenridge, Colorado, and you’ll likely spot outdoor sculpture faster than you can find the first T-shirt shop. Impressive, considering…
8 Questions: Life as a Liftie
At resorts and ski areas in Colorado, and across the country, lift operators make the chairs go ‘round. So don’t duck the ropes and don’t grumble when they ask for…
The PI: Do Drop In for Local Color
Remember the old Charlie Daniels song, “Uneasy Rider”? A longhair on a road trip to Los Angeles has a flat tire and chances into a redneck bar called the “Dew…
Wily Wildlife: How Daniel Boone Got His First Coonskin Cap
Somehow it’s become entrenched in American cultural mythology that if life deals you a savage blow, you simply have to move to the mountains and your girlfriend comes back and…
Springtime On the Slopes: It’s Party Time!
Smile! It’s springtime in the Rockies, when snow is deep, temperatures are mild, days last longer and sun shines stronger. Best of all, you can sleep in while the snow…
On Mountain Time: Slowing Down in the Fraser River Valley
I’ve driven this road a hundred times, but it doesn’t matter. I still strain my neck trying to take in the scenic view as my car climbs the foothills out…
Mountain High: Colorado Dude Ranches
The last traces of snow have disappeared here in the Rockies, replaced by blooming wildflowers, shimmering aspen and the pure, warm breezes of summer. The temperate days and cool nights…
Aloha Organic Fruit: A Peach of a Place
Steven Sherer and his wife Pat moved to Colorado’s Western Slope from Hawaii in 2008 with the intention of buying a small acreage in the Palisade area so they could…
Tabernash: What Kind of Car Would Jesus Be Driving?
The tiny community of Tabernash might not be among your first choices of Colorado vacation spots because the list of tourist amenities it does not have far outweighs the attractions…
Colorado Scenic Byways: Grand Mesa
In western Colorado, the Grand Mesa towers more than a mile above the landscape. Aspens paint thick dark forests with streaks of gold, while some 300 lakes mirror the changing…