Colorado car counters estimate that 25,000 vehicles wind through breathtaking Glenwood Canyon every day. This week many will be headed for the Art Guild’s 44th Annual Fall Art Festival at the Ramada Inn, 124 W. Sixth St. Four hundred professional and amateur artists will be selling paintings, pottery and sculpture from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sept. 24. Make your first stop the popular Bargain Bin to poke through original work priced under $125.
Glenwood Springs always has been a destination resort for folks wanting to soak, ski or snoop for celebrities. The first white man to take the waters was the prospector, Civil War vet and two-time mayor of Denver for whom nearby Mount Sopris was named. Since he stuck a toe in the healing waters of the Yampah Springs on July 23, 1860, Glenwood’s unique landscapes, colorful history and authentic Western hospitality have been a magnet for sports and spa aficionados. Locals – 8,400 of them – have spotted Goldie Hawn at Wal-Mart and Orlando Bloom in the Rendezvous Restaurant. The town not only looks like a movie set but has served as one for Kiefer Sutherland and Dennis Hopper, Charles Bronson and Patrick Swayze, and stunt men for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie climbed the rock face of the canyon for “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” out last year.
Getting around: Glenwood Springs, Exit 116 on I-70, sits at the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers, 157 miles west of Denver, 62 miles west of Vail and 41 miles northwest of Aspen.
