Colorado Summer Vacation Planning

Colorado Summer Vacation Planning, the best season

If you're planning a Colorado summer vacation, you have come to the right place. A Colorado summer vacation is the best time of year to visit this glorious state. The Mountain West is the most geographically diverse region in the United States, and with that comes natural wonders to be explored. A Colorado summer road trip starts with finding destinations that meet your expectations, planning scenic routes through the mountains, and locating all those fun family activities along the way. Use our FREE itinerary tool to start planning and organizing your summer vacation.

Colorado National and State Parks

Colorado has 42 state parks, 4 National Parks, 11 national forests, and 42 wilderness areas, each showcasing different parts of our great state, from the eastern plains to the highest peaks. That adds up to 43.3% of Colorado classified as public land, and what amazing land it is! These parks and forests are popular attractions during the Colorado summer, and fortunately, they are spread out across the state. You can easily visit one or more during your scenic road trip. State Parks offer various amenities for camping and feature attractions such as a gorgeous mountain lake, hiking trails, and much more. Learn more about National and State Parks.

Colorado Summer Culture, Festivals, Local Events

As you travel through the state, you will encounter many cultural events and festivals (events calendar).

Check the concert calendar and find an outdoor concert or nearby live music. Red Rocks Amphitheater is always a fantastic place to watch a show.
Consider a brewery tour such as the Coors Factory Brewery Tour in Golden or the Breckenridge Brewery Tour. Winery tours are also popular.
Catch a game at the Coors Field, home of the Rockies, in Denver.
Many mountain communities have regular art walks or exhibits going on.
The Colorado Pro Rodeo Tour is a popular cultural event with scheduled rodeos throughout the state.
Stop at a nearby Farmers Market. Beyond all those mountains lie very fertile valleys. Colorado produces many fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, and artisan crafts. Palisade peaches are a favorite.
If you enjoy participating in local athletic events, search your favorite mountain community for whatever type of race or event you would like to participate in. You will surely find something (mountain biking, running, golf tournaments…, etc.).

Family Fun Colorado Vacation Planning - things to do with kids

If family fun is what you’re after, Colorado is the place to be. You might say that family entertainment is the state’s specialty. Mountain resort towns (ski resorts) are your-round these days, featuring gondola and chairlift access mountain biking and hiking trails. You will also find mountainside adventure parks in these same locations, adding to the fun with various kids activities such as bungee trampolines, put-put golf, adventure park-type challenge courses, mountain slides, and more. Nearby mountain communities have even more fun things to do with kids such as guided tours, state parks, and dedicated adventure parks.

Whitewater Rafting, Lakes, Water Parks, Adventure Parks and more

Getting wet during the Colorado summer season is widespread and easily attainable. With abundant mountain lakes, whitewater rivers, and water parks across the state, you can easily add this to your vacation planing. The popularity of adventure parks has created variations that include adventure packages, which combine water fun with other types of adventure.

Whitewater rafting is a super fun family adventure. You can easily find rafting companies that provide trips to match the group size and ability level.
Try ziplining across Colorado’s stunning landscape. Many zipline companies now offer adventure packages.
Water parks are another great summer way to cool down. Check out Elitch Gardens and Water World, both in Denver, which are super fun.
Stop at the Frisco Adventure Park, located in Frisco next to Lake Dillon. It is a family-friendly center with lots of family activities.
Visit one of Colorado’s many lakes. The larger lakes have marinas with boat rentals, allowing activities like water skiing and jet skiing, sailing, SUPs, fishing, and more.
Take a guided horseback ride. Horseback riding is found near mountain resorts or popular destinations like Estes Park.
Schedule a group off-road tour, a great way to build memories and see the fantastic sights.
Visit a state park. Parks are found throughout the state. These unique parks feature family entertainment such as beaches, picnic sites, boat rentals, fishing, hiking & biking trails, and more.

Dinosaurs and Historical Vacation Planning Stops

Colorado Summer Dinosaur Sites

Colorado is rich in history and has many interesting historical sites worth visiting along your family's summer road trip. If you’re planning to visit the Royal Gorge Region, add a stop at one of these exciting dinosaur fossil preserves or museums:

The Royal Gorge Regional History Museum, see fossils, dinosaur bones, and a complete Stegosaurus replica skeleton.
Garden Park Fossil Area - a 3,600-acre area rich with fossils.
Indian Springs Trace Fossil Site - see tracks left by prehistoric creatures.
Include Skyline Drive as part of your summer road trip - view fossils and more tracks.

Dinosaur National Monument in NW Colorado is a unique geographical place with dinosaur remains from 100 million years ago. This area is rich in fossils and early pioneer history.

Historical Colorado Road Trip

Many of Colorado’s mountain towns developed during the Gold Rush era, coinciding with the cattle companies' open-range days. These two significant Western development events are seen in the Colorado we know today. Check out the local mountain town museums to learn more about how early settlers lived and made a living.

Denver Museums

Dever has 51 unique museums, ranging from children-focused to more traditional centers, such as the Museum of Nature & Science, Black American West Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.

Sightseeing a Perfect Family and Friends Activity

When you arrive in Colorado, sightseeing begins, as the mountain landscapes will instantly captivate you. However, getting deep into roads less traveled or passing through dramatic landscapes can be done in various ways. Sightseeing tours are a wonderful way to share memories with family and friends. If getting an eye full is what you’re after, here are some recommended sightseeing options:

Take a scenic train ride. Not only will you pass through dramatic mountain landscapes, but you will also learn about Colorado’s mining era. These trains are perfect activities for kids as they often feature hands-on mine exploration, storytelling, and special holiday trains.
Sign up for an off-road tour. Guided jeep tours will travel on original mining roads (maintained) through rugged terrain and pass by dramatic vistas—a fun family and friends activity.
While in one of Colorado’s resort towns, you can buy a ticket for a gondola ride or a chairlift ride and get a bird's-eye view of the forest and surrounding landscapes. You can also hike or bike at the top and stop in for lunch.
Include a scenic byway in your Colorado summer road trip. Stop at historical sites, check out ghost towns, and camp along the way.

Summer Vacation Rest and Relaxation

A Colorado summer vacation can be a chance to rest and rejuvenate your soul. Health and wellness retreats and experiences are growing in popularity. Visiting one or several of Colorado’s natural hot springs is a favorite place to recharge. The soothing, hot mineral waters will revitalize your being. Many of these natural springs have been developed into full-service spas that combine experiences such as massage, meditation, and spa services and provide on-site lodging.

Popular Colorado Summer Vacation Destinations

Some of Colorado’s favorite places to explore and enjoy your summer vacation are places that have big attractions such as:

Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) is a favorite national park with various camping options, extensive hiking trails, and educational experiences.
Estes Park is a beautiful mountain town beside RMNP, the gateway to Trail Ridge Road, Grand Lake, and Lake Granby.
The Royal Gorge Region has attractions like the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, Royal Gorge whitewater rafting, and the Royal Gorge Scenic Train.
Mesa Verda National Park in southwest Colorado offers a spectacular look into the Ancestral Pueblo people. Visitors can call, walk, drive, or take a tour through the park.

A Colorado Summer Vacation Planning and more

There are many more amazing places and things to do on your Colorado Summer Vacation, and hopefully, you will make discoveries along your journey. Planning your summer vacation starts with finding destinations and activities that interest you and crafting your summer road trip route to facilitate these visits. If finding kids activities is a primary focus please check out this article specifically about kids activities in Colorado. Please use the free itinerary tool as you will find it indispensable for organizing your trip.

Summit for Life 2024

The Chris Klug Foundation (CKF) invites you to join us for the 2024 Summit for Life (S4L) and help us celebrate the 19th Annual “Kickoff to Winter” in Aspen, CO!

Summit for Life is a nighttime uphill race up Aspen Mountain, and one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for CKF. Our mission is to raise awareness of the lifesaving gift of organ, eye, and tissue donation. By participating in S4L, you are helping us spread this message, and making a difference for the 103,000 children and adults awaiting transplant in the United States today.

Racers will climb 3,267 vertical feet to the summit to raise awareness for the gift of life. Each year over 400 racers and riders take on the challenge and join CKF as we celebrate at the top! Every racer is required to fundraise a minimum of $100. (Don’t feel limited by the fundraising minimum, we encourage racers to go above and beyond for the chance to win some awesome prizes! We are here to support your efforts–please contact us for ideas, strategies, tips, tricks, and tools!)

SUMMIT FOR LIFE: Hike, skin, or snowshoe your way to the top where there will be a post-race party held at the Sundeck Restaurant! Enjoy dinner provided by The Little Nell, live music, and an awards ceremony where we will announce our 2024 Michael Wells Inspirational Award. We’ll also be presenting our top fundraisers and top race finishers with their (much-deserved!) awards.

You can also register with your buddies as a team! Whether you belong to a gym, work for a company, or volunteer with an organization, get a group of your friends, family, co-workers, volunteer buddies, gym partners, etc, together, pick a team name, and start training for the climb and fundraising to raise awareness for organ, eye, and tissue donation! There is also a prize for the best dressed team so please have some fun with your race costumes! All registered participants will receive a commemorative 2024 Summit for Life item.

RIDE FOR LIFE: Skip the uphill hike and ride the Silver Queen Gondola straight to the top of Aspen Mountain! Greet your friends, cheer on the racers, and join us for the post-race party at the Sundeck.

Shining Mountains Film Festival

Aspen Indigenous Foundation presents the 5th annual Shining Mountains Film Festival, with feature length and short films/documentaries as well as live Q&A, dance performance and Native artists booths, Saturday Dec.1 and Sunday Dec.2 at the Wheeler Opera House. Tickets@aspenshowtix.com

Summit for Life

The 17th Annual Summit for Life is scheduled for Saturday, December 3. This nighttime uphill race on Aspen Mountain begins at 5:30pm, and finishes at the Sundeck at the top of the mountain for dinner, live music, and an awards ceremony. Participants then enjoy a beautiful ride on the Gondola back to the base of the mountain. Additional registration option include Virtual Summit for Life and Ride for Life.Summit for Life is a fundraising and outreach event for the Chris Klug Foundation. CKF is a national nonprofit located in Aspen, Colorado that promotes organ, eye, and tissue donation and transplantation awareness through education, inspiration, and registration. We honor and celebrate donors and recipients.CKF strives to eliminate the wait for the 106,000 people on the transplant waiting list. Approximately 96% of Americans support organ, eye, and tissue donation, but only 54% actually register. Every day 22 people die waiting for a lifesaving transplant. One organ donor can save the lives of 8 people, and one tissue donor can impact the lives of 75 people. Furthermore, organ, eye, and tissue donation is supported by most major religions, does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, race, income, social status, or age (the oldest donor in the world was 107, and the youngest was 74 minutes). Live life, give life!

Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience

The JAS Labor Day Experience is back and jammed pack with an epic lineup:Stevie Knicks, Chris Stapleton, Leon Bridgets and more artists to follow!The Hottest 72 Hours of the Summer! The JAS Labor Day Experience includes three days of world-class music with crowds of up to 11,000 per day. In addition to headline performances on the main stage, two side stages keep the music going throughout the day with a mix of up and coming artists. The JAS Village provides shopping, eclectic food and beverage vendors, kids corner and moreJoin us for three nights of today’s best performers outdoors at the beautiful Snowmass Town Park. Patron Passes also help JAS fulfill its mission to bring world-class renowned and emerging artists to its stages.

Garden Dialogues 2022

Register now https://www.tclf.org/garden-dialogues-2022-aspen-co to explore the 73-acre Charlie Mountain Ranch that has been revived by Design Workshop as a diverse and ecologically-rich landscape. Resting in the shadow of adjacent peaks, Charlie Mountain Ranch is located at the end of a wide, glacially-carved valley in western Colorado. Since its settlement in the late 1800s, the property has long been valued for its fertile soils, rolling terrain, and access to the valley’s arterial creek. In collaboration with architect Pearson Design Group, Design Workshop rejuvenated the ranch as a family compound. Because the scenic, cultural, and ecological values of the ranch are integral to the rural nature of the surrounding community, designers sought to ensure that the proposed design responded to regional development patterns, wildlife habitat, wildfire prevention, creek and water conservation, and responsible land management and stewardship.

Who We Are

A non-profit established in 1998, The Cultural Landscape Foundation® (TCLF) connects people to places. TCLF educates and engages the public to make our shared landscape heritage more visible, identify its value, and empower its stewards. Learn more https://www.tclf.org/about-tclf.

Make a Difference

The Cultural Landscape Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and relies on donations to support the many programs and initiatives that promote education about and stewardship of our shared landscape legacy. Donate today https://donate.tclf.org/donate/.”

Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert Series – The California Honeydrops

The always anticipated FREE Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert Series returns to the base of Aspen Mountain to kick off Spring Jam on March, 25 2022. Enjoy free live tunes at the base of Aspen Mountain with The California Honeydrops, a blues and R&B band out of Oakland, California. In addition to the Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert series, celebrate our 75th Anniversary with KickAspen Night skiing on March 25th and Saturday, March 26th.The California Honeydrops don’t just play music—they throw parties. Led by dynamic vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Lech Wierzynski, and drawing on diverse musical influences from Bay Area R&B, funk, Southern soul, Delta blues, and New Orleans second-line, the Honeydrops bring vibrant energy and infectious dance-party vibes to their shows. Assembling from 7 to 8 musicians, the band delivers an eclectic performance and innovative recording style. Since 2008, Honeydrops have released 7 studio albums, 3 live albums and 2 cover albums. Their forthcoming album is set to release in the late summer of 2022.

Bud Light Spring Jam 2022

Bud Light Spring Jam—the week-long spring festival delivering competitions, downtown concerts, and parties across Aspen Snowmass—is back for its 22nd year.
A spring season packed with lively events kicks off the weekend of March 25 and 26 with live music from the Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert Series and the KickAspen Night Skiing with late-night Laps on Nell Chair on Aspen Mountain. That same weekend, enjoy Terrain Park Boot Camp at Snowmass and the start of the Anon 4 MTN Mission, with teams of four competing in an adventure scavenger hunt across all four mountains from March 25 through April 3. And further into spring, mark your calendars for the NEPSA Awards at the Wheeler Opera House on March 31, the Slash the Mass Banked Slalom on Snowmass April 2 and 3, and the Bud Light Core Party on April 2, where featured artist Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats will perform for free in downtown Aspen.

Anon 4 MTN Mission

Join us for a mountain adventure at Aspen Snowmass! The Anon 4 MTN Mission will take teams on an adventure across the four ski areas of Aspen Snowmass and participants will earn prizes along the way. Join us for a mountain adventure at Aspen Snowmass! The Anon 4 MTN Mission will take you on an adventure across the four ski areas of Aspen Snowmass. From March 25th to April 3rd participants are invited to explore parts of our four mountains that you might not have otherwise.

Teams of 2 or more will use a mobile phone app to navigate between designated check points on Snowmass, Buttermilk, Aspen Highlands and Aspen Mountain. The check points are assigned a point value and the goal is to collect at least 200 points to be eligible for prizes from our sponsors.

Maroon Bells

Visiting the Maroon Bells

The Maroon Bells are a must-see to complete your Aspen adventure. The series of distinctive bell-shaped peaks tower at 14,000 feet above the glacial Maroon Valley and offer some of the best views in the world. – The most photographed mountains in North America

For reservations and questions, please call (970) 930-6442
or email info@vistitmaroonbells.com.
Full reservation details can be found through the Aspen Chamber or the U.S. Forest Service.

Summer 2023 Update

Reservations are required to access the Scenic Area and related amenities by personal vehicle or by shuttle. Reservations can ONLY be secured through the Aspen Chamber. >>

Access with a personal vehicle reservation will begin on May 15th through October 31. The cost for each vehicle reservation will be $10. Personal vehicle parking reservations will initially be available in rolling three-week increments.

Maroon Bells Information

Here, you can explore the glacial valley while surrounded by 14,000-foot peaks. Maroon Lake, surrounded by fields of wildflowers, mirrors images of the Maroon Bells in its waters.

For the best Maroon Bells experience

Visit the Bells on a weekday and utilize the bus service. If you have skied in Aspen, you know how easy and hassle-free the bus service is. Riding the bus system is a hassle-free way to access the area and leave the driving to someone else.

The road is open to private vehicles prior to 8 a.m.; However, the parking lot can already be full. Frequently, photographers or overnight hikers have begun their Maroon Bells experience in the wee hours of the morning. Which fill up the parking lot before the rest of us have even gotten out of bed. When this happens, the road is closed to private vehicles in advance of 8 a.m. The road is subject to closure at any time due to overcrowding. *Leaf peepers visiting on peak foliage weekends in late September/ early October should anticipate this being the case and plan alternate visits accordingly.*

Camping & Hiking

Camping and pet-friendly hiking trails are both available. Camping or backpackers going further into Aspen’s Maroon Bells must make campsite reservations or permits for backcountry camping. Find more info about camping.

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Location: Aspen