Christine Loomis - Colorado Off the Beaten Path®: Discover Your Fun

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ISSN 1539-6614

ISBN 978-1-4930-2633-3

ISBN 978-1-4930-2634-0 (ebook)

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Contents

About the Author

Christine Loomis is a travel writer, editor, and photographer and was the first travel editor at Parents magazine. She also covered travel for Family Life magazine and was editor-in-chief of Scientific Americans Explorations. She has written and edited for many websites, including USA Today 10best (where she serves as a Denver expert) and Cruiseable. Christine has also provided family, adventure, and romance travel content and photo essays for websites like Away and Orbitz, and her freelance articles have appeared in many publications, including Endless Vacation, AAA magazines, Roads to Adventure, the San Diego Tribune, and the Washington Times. She is the author of three travel books and sixteen childrens books. Her essay, Vincents Room, was included in the anthology A Mothers World (Travelers Tales). In addition to destination coverage, Christine writes about fishing, health & wellness, and food. She is a board member of the Society of American Travel Writers and resides in Denver.

Acknowledgments

This book was written with the assistance of many people. The author thanks Gaylene Ore, Ore Communications; Rich Grant, Denver historian, formerly with Visit Denver; Mike Lane, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation; Anne Klein, Durango Area Tourism Office; Rebecca Filice, Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association; Brooke Burnham, Visit Estes Park; Vicky Nash, Resort Trends, Inc.; Maria Miller, kmalco group; Mistalynn Meyeran, Visit Grand Junction; Kristin Yantis, Malen Yantis PR; Ashley Smith, Vail Resorts; Katie Coakley, Peeples, Ink; Melissa Wisenbaker, Promo Communications; Kyle Patterson, Rocky Mountain National Park; Candace Brantner, Mesa Verde Country Tourism Office; and Kira Rose Riley, Boulder hiker/researcher extraordinaire.

Introduction

Colorado is a four-season destination offering unparalleled adventure and recreational pursuits, a thriving arts scene, a rich cultural heritage, flavorful cuisine, and 26 renowned ski areas and resorts. The states breathtaking scenic landscape boasts natural hot springs, the headwaters of seven major rivers, many peaceful lakes and reservoirs, 12 national parks and monuments, and 54 mountain peaks that top 14,000 feet.

Its no wonder that Colorados cities and small towns frequently appear on those Best Places to Live in America lists. The state has so much to offer that many people come and never leave. Even longtime residents constantly find new things to love about the state.

The mountains are perhaps the biggest draw. Every spring wildflowers fill the meadows, streams and rivers flow, and life returns to the high country. Summer means long, warm days, afternoon thundershowers, and exploring the forests and alpine reaches. In the fall, aspen shimmer golden against electric blue skies, and bull elk gather in the meadows to bugle and herd their cows. Winter is the time for thrilling downhill runs through fresh powder, quiet snowshoeing or cross-country ski tours deep into the woods, or sitting by a crackling fire in a cabin as snow swirls outside.

But theres more to the state than mountains. Colorado is the true West, and just outside any town or city another world begins, where ranches, farms, and scattered rural communities represent the western rural lifestyle. Much of the states early pioneering history comes from agricultural beginnings on the plains and the valleys.

Colorados Great Sand Dunes are the tallest in North America. The Pawnee Grasslands Buttes protect a Great Plains geography largely gone from the American landscape. Dinosaur bones can be inspected at Dinosaur National Monument. Rivers run through canyons, awaiting exploration by raft. Historic ghost towns and ancient Native American ruins remain to remind visitors of the first people to call this place home.

Along with the open spaces and natural beauty, Colorado is also a renowned cultural destination. Front Range cities are blessed with world-class performing arts, cuisine to satisfy any palate, a thriving music scene, a high concentration of microbreweries, extensive bike paths and parks, seven major league sports teams, and top-notch universities. And perhaps best of all, within easy access of each of these cities await the Rocky Mountains.

Colorado Off the Beaten Path travels to the far corners of the state and covers most points in between. It offers a mixture of unique, less-known destinations and more well-known locales. Both visitors and residents will find new places to explore to keep them busy for years to come.

A word about Amendment 64 and the growing niche market of pot tourism. As of January 2014, its legal in Colorado for those over the age of 21 to use marijuana privately and to possess it in very limited quantitesup to 1 ounce for Colorado residents and a quarter ounce for visitors. The big challenge for the Colorado Tourism Office is educating visitors about the laws.

In spite of what you may have heard, Colorado is not a free-for-all of pot smoking. The law specifically bans public consumption of marijuana. Using it in public areas is illegal and that is being enforced. Public areas include business and residential areas, city sidewalks, ski areas, city parks, state parks, national parks, and all public lands. What this means for visitors is that they can purchase marijuana legally in a legal dispensary selling recreational pot, or in a medical dispensary if they have a medical marijuana card, but unless they have found marijuana-friendly lodging theres no place they can legally use it.

It is absolutely illegal to take marijuana across state borders or on airplaneseven on flights to other Colorado citiesand security personnel at Colorados airports actively look for it and confiscate it when found.

Authors Note

After attending the University of Oregon in the 1970s, I headed to New York to be a magazine editor. Fate intervened. I stopped to visit friends in Coloradoand stayed for nearly five years. Eventually I reached New York and served as editor on several national publications, though Colorado remained in my heart and mind. After sixteen years working in Manhattan, I moved to Boulder with my family, where I stayed for another sixteen years before moving to Northern California. Yet once again I was drawn back to Colorado.