Boulder and North Central Colorado
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Boulder and North Central Colorado - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Chautauqua Park
For some of Boulder's prettiest views, follow Baseline Road west from Broadway to Chautauqua Park, nestled at the base of the Flatirons. Grab a picnic or ice cream cone at the General Store and relax on the lawn, or use the park as a launching point to 40 miles of hiking trails. Historic Chautauqua is also home to a tasty restaurant, the historic Chautauqua Dining Hall, open year-round for brunch and dinner. Or attend a lecture, silent film, or concert at the auditorium, which hosts the Colorado Music Festival and internationally renowned concerts every year. For a bird's-eye view of Boulder, keep going west on Baseline (which turns into Flagstaff Road) 1 mile to Panorama Point, and then 3½ miles to Realization Point.
900 Baseline Rd., Boulder, Colorado, 80302, USA303-413--7200Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
2. Downtown Boulder Historic District
The late-19th- and early-20th-century commercial structures of the Downtown Boulder Historic District once housed mercantile stores and saloons, but today the stores here cater to modern tastes, with fair-trade coffees and Tibetan prayer flags. The period architecture—including Queen Anne, Italianate, and Romanesque styles in stone or brick—has been preserved.
Boulder, Colorado, USA -
3. Fiske Planetarium
This dome on the University of Colorado campus puts on planetarium shows and star talks, as well as laser shows choreographed to music by the likes of Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, and Queen. Showtimes vary somewhat, but generally laser shows take place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, and star shows are sprinkled throughout the week, including some family matinees. The planetarium hosts live talks on Thursday evening. The Sommers–Bausch Observatory is open for free public viewing every Friday, weather permitting, when CU classes are in session.
2414 Regent Dr., Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA303-492–5002Sight Details
Rate Includes: $12 -
4. Pearl Street
Between 8th and 20th Streets in the downtown area, Pearl Street is the city's hub, an eclectic collection of boutiques, bookstores, art galleries, cafés, bars, and restaurants. From 11th and 15th Streets is a pedestrian mall, with plenty of good people-watching and some of the most outrageous street performers you'll ever see. Regulars may include fire-eating contortionists, a man who plays the piano while hanging from his feet in a tree, and steampunk-style street bands.
Boulder, Colorado, USA -
5. University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
With more than 5 million objects, this museum is home to the largest natural history collection in the Rocky Mountain region. There are five galleries and a discovery corner for kids. Permanent and changing exhibits feature CU research, fossils, archaeological finds, dinosaur relics, plants, and invertebrates. Depending on your level of interest, you could spend anywhere from an hour to all day here.
15th St. and Broadway, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA303-492–6892Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free; $3 suggested donation -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. 1879 Avery House
The stately sandstone Avery House was built in 1879 by Franklin Avery, who set the tone for Old Town's broad streets when he surveyed the city in 1873. You can tour the inside on weekends. The Avery House is just one of 36 sites on the Poudre Landmark Foundation's historic walking-tour map, which includes several self-guided options.
328 W. Mountain Ave., Fort Collins, Colorado, 80521, USA970-221–0533Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed weekdays -
7. Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee National Grassland
The Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee National Grassland, an enormous area that encompasses 1.5 million acres, has fishing, sailing, canoeing, and waterskiing, as well as hiking, mountain biking, birding, and camping. Contained within the Arapaho National Forest is the Arapaho National Recreation Area (ANRA), a 35,000-acre expanse adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park that contains Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain Lake, Monarch Lake, and Willow Creek and Meadow Creek reservoirs. Toss in neighboring Grand Lake and you have what's known as Colorado's Great Lakes.
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8. Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
View local and worldwide contemporary art exhibits and performance art at this innovative museum with frequently changing exhibitions. Admission is free on Saturday, and the museum stays open late on Wednesday during the summer when the farmers' market is in season.
1750 13th St., Boulder, Colorado, 80302, USA303-443–2122Sight Details
Rate Includes: $2 (free Sat.), Closed Mon. -
9. Carousel of Happiness
No visit to Nederland is complete without a spin on the nonprofit Carousel of Happiness, a restored 1910 carousel featuring 57 hand-carved, hand-painted animals running around to the sounds of a 1913 Wurlitzer band organ. The complex includes a gift shop and a puppet theater.
20 Lakeview Dr., Nederland, Colorado, 80466, USA303-258–3457Sight Details
Rate Includes: $3 -
10. Colorado River Headwaters Scenic and Historic Byway
Whether you're staying in Grand Lake or merely stopping on your way to another destination, the 80-mile (one way) Colorado River Headwaters Scenic and Historic Byway between Grand Lake and State Bridge is worth a side trip. The route takes you along the Colorado River, past hot springs, ranches, and reservoirs, through wide spaces with views of mountains, along deep canyons, and through a seemingly incongruous sage-covered desert. Along the turnouts within Gore Canyon, you can get a good look at the roaring Colorado River and train tracks below. Stop by the viewing platform at the Gore Canyon Whitewater Park at Pumphouse to see paddlers and boarders playing in the waves.
Grand Lake, Colorado, USA303-757-9786 -
11. CU Heritage Center
Seven galleries of campus history sweep you into exploring the past, present, and future of university achievements and traditions. Warp into space with the University of Colorado's astronauts, and see an Apollo 15 moon rock; strut to the tunes of master swing conductor Glenn Miller; challenge yourself to building a 1.5-million-LEGO-brick model of the Boulder campus; and see if you can name the school's latest Olympians.
1202 University Ave., Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA303-492–6329Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Sun. -
12. Eldorado Canyon State Park
With steep canyon walls, a rushing creek, verdant pine forests, 10 picnic sites with multiple tables, and 12 miles of trails, this park attracts thrill-seekers and nature lovers alike. Rock climbers scale the sandstone walls, kayakers charge the rapids of South Boulder Creek (if stream flow allows), and anglers cast lines for brown and rainbow trout. The Streamside Trail parallels South Boulder Creek for ½ mile (wheelchair accessible for 300 feet). The 1-mile (one-way) Fowler Trail is wheelchair accessible, with interpretive signs and great views for climbers. For Continental Divide views, take the 3½-mile (round-trip) Rattlesnake Gulch Trail, which climbs 800 feet. Snowshoeing is popular here in winter. Mountain bikers crank on Rattlesnake Gulch Trail and the Walker Ranch Loop (accessed from the Crescent Meadows trailhead off Gross Dam Road). Hikers can climb the 3½-mile (one-way) Eldorado Canyon Trail to Crescent Meadows. The park is frequently at capacity on weekends and holidays, so weekday and evening visits are recommended.
9 Kneale Rd., Eldorado Springs, Colorado, 80025, USA303-494–3943Sight Details
Rate Includes: $10 per vehicle -
13. Estes Park Museum
The museum showcases Ute and pioneer artifacts, displays on the founding of Rocky Mountain National Park, and changing exhibits. It also publishes a self-guided walking tour of historic sites, which are mostly clustered along Elkhorn Avenue downtown.
200 4th St., Colorado, 80517, USA970-586–6256Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Sun.–Tues. -
14. Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
The museum entertains and informs visitors of all ages with interactive science, history, music, and natural history exhibits. The OtterBox Digital Dome Theater screens a mix of planetarium space shows and captivating educational films on its 35-foot dome screen. Also, meet the two resident black-footed ferrets. This is the only museum in the world to host these endangered animals.
408 Mason Ct., Fort Collins, Colorado, 80524, USA970-221–6738Sight Details
Rate Includes: $12.50 -
15. Grand Lake
The largest and deepest natural lake in Colorado, Grand Lake offers calm waters for boating, fishing, and kayaking. It also feeds into two much larger man-made reservoirs, Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain Lake. These three bodies of water, along with Monarch Lake and Willow Creek and Meadow Creek reservoirs, are called the "Great Lakes of Colorado."
Grand Lake, Colorado, USA -
16. Hot Sulphur Springs Resort and Spa
At Hot Sulphur Springs Resort and Spa, 15 open-air pools are sprinkled up the hillside, with temperatures ranging from 98°F to 112°F, and a day pass grants access to all of them. The seasonal swimming pool is just right for recreation, at a comparatively frigid 80°F, and the resort also has four private, indoor pools (two reserved for spa treatments). Bring sandals if you have them, especially during snowy months when rock salt is used on icy walkways.
5609 County Rd. 20, Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado, 80451, USA970-725–3306Sight Details
Rate Includes: $26 -
17. LaVern M. Johnson Park
Located along the banks of the St. Vrain River, this lovely park has something for everyone, from picnic areas and a playground to a winter-season ice-skating rink. Bird-watchers come from all over to see eagles nesting in the sandstone cliffs here. There's also a white-water park for kayakers and tubers, a splash pad, tubing on the river, and camping.
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18. Lyons Classic Pinball
You wouldn't expect such a pinball extravaganza in tiny Lyons, but there it is, behind the Oskar Blues brewpub, with more than 50 classic pinball games. The change machines (and fellow gamers) make it a simple and fun evening stop.
339-A Main St., Lyons, Colorado, 80540, USA303-823–6100Sight Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.--Wed. -
19. MacGregor Ranch Museum
This working ranch, homesteaded in 1873, is on the National Register of Historic Places and provides a well-preserved record of typical ranch life. Take a guided tour of the 1896 ranch house, then explore the outbuildings and machinery on your own as you take in views of the Twin Owls and Longs Peak.
180 MacGregor La., Colorado, 80517, USA970-586–3749Sight Details
Rate Includes: $7, Closed Nov.–May -
20. Mapleton Historic District
Three blocks north of Pearl Street and west of Broadway, this neighborhood of turn-of-the-20th-century homes is shaded by old maple and cottonwood trees. It makes for a scenic walk near downtown but away from the busy mall.
Boulder, Colorado, USA
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