The Loch, Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

The snow covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains are at their finest in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. The park offers a wide range of experiences, from broad valleys teeming with elk and deer, to gorgeous lakes at the foot of towering mountains, to the stark tundra world above timberline which comprises fully one third of the park. More…

The Red Mountain Mining District, Colorado

The Red Mountain Mining District

The most famous and spectacular segment of the San Juan Skyway is known as the Million Dollar Highway, connecting Durango, Silverton, and Ouray. The name refers to the mineral riches extracted from these mountains in the late 19th century, most incredibly from the historic Red Mountain Mining District. Today, a roadside exhibit just north of Red Mountain Pass (elevation 11,018 feet) tells its story: men and machines battling a remote and rugged alpine wilderness and succeeding, a classic story of the historic American West. More…

Fall River Pass, Colorado - elevation 11,796 feet

Colorado’s Trail Ridge Road

The Trail Ridge Road bisects Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park while running 48 miles from Estes Park to Grand Lake. It reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet while crossing the Continental Divide and is America’s highest continuously paved road. The Trail Ridge Road (US-34) offers visitors thrilling views, wildlife sightings and spectacular alpine wildflower exhibits. More…

American Basin, Alpine Loop, Colorado

Colorado’s San Juan Skyway

Southwest Colorado’s famed San Juan Skyway, one of America’s great scenic drives, covers the best of the San Juan Range, the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, teeming with 14,000 foot peaks. The region offers great scenic driving, hiking in wilderness areas, old west Victorian-style towns, great ski resorts, four wheel driving, relics of the mining era, and even a hot springs. More…

San Juan County Courthouse, 1557 Greene Street, Silverton, Colorado

Silverton, Colorado – The Mining Town that Never Quit

Silverton, Colorado known as “the mining town that never quit”, is nestled in a deep valley at 9,300 feet beneath 13,000 foot peaks in the spectacular San Juan Range, the western slope of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Aside from the history, the town is also the gateway to miles of four wheel drive roads and hiking trails in the awe inspiring high country. More…

Colorado's Durango-Silverton Narrow-Gauge Railroad

Colorado’s Durango-Silverton Narrow -Gauge Railroad

One of the American West’s most scenic and historic tourist rides is on the famed Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Using refurbished early equipment including huge, coal-fired steam locomotives, the railroad ferries thousands of visitors every year from Durango, up the spectacular gorge of the Animas River to the “old west” town of Silverton, Colorado, “the mining town that never quit”… More…

Keystone Hill Overlook, Colorado

The Strange World of 420 Tourism in Colorado

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington, there has been much publicity and interest in so-called “420 tourism”. My own view is that visiting Colorado without enjoying its scenic beauty as well as indulging is hardly worthwhile. So we tried our own version of the 420 tour. More…

Ouray Hot Springs, Colorado

Colorado Points of Interest – Canyonlands & Four Corners Travel Guide

The Colorado Scenic Points of Interest Section of the Canyonlands & Four Corners Travel Guide features the famous Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Million Dollar Highway, part of the renowned San Juan Skyway. Also covered is the Grand Mesa Scenic and Historic Byway and the towns of Silverton, Ouray, and the popular ski resort of Telluride. More…

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Colorado Indian Artifacts Sites – Canyonlands & Four Corners Travel Guide

The Colorado Indian Artifacts Sites Section of the Canyonlands & Four Corners Travel Guide features the world famous Ancestral Puebloan – Anasazi – cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park, as well as the exciting guided tours at Ute Mountain Tribal Park. Off-the-beaten-path opportunities are showcased at Hovenweep National Monument and Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. More…

Eagle Nest House cliff dwelling, Ute Mountain Tribal Park

Ute Mountain Tribal Park, Colorado – Spectacular Anasazi Cliff Dwellings & Rock Art

The Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwestern Colorado was created to preserve significant remnants of the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) people, including spectacular cliff dwellings and rock art. The full-day guided tour provided by the Ute Mountain Tribal Park is in two parts: in the morning, we cover several rock art and ruin sites in Mancos Canyon; in the afternoon, we hike an exciting trail to the famous cliff dwellings of Lion Canyon, a tributary of Mancos Canyon. More…

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado – The Balcony House Tour

Balcony House in Mesa Verde National Park may be visited only by a ranger-led tour. This adventuresome tour allows the visitor to experience a taste of what the orginal inhabitants experienced in that access and egress is accomplished by ladders and stone steps carved into the cliff. Also, it is one of the few places where a dwelling has a preserved balcony. More…

A scenic stretch of the Green River near the Dinosaur Quarry - Dinosaur National Monument

Dinosaur National Monument, Utah & Colorado

Dinosaur National Monument, on the border of Utah and Colorado, is home to one of the greatest dinosaur quarries ever discovered. It is perhaps the world’s finest display of fossils in-place available to the public. More…