Attendance boomed and sales hummed across Colorado during the Fourth of July weekend, merchants and travel officials said Sunday.
Near-record traffic was reported in some locations, and even those below that lofty mark said business was an improvement on recent gloomy times.
Friday was the fifth-busiest day in the Eisenhower Tunnel’s 36-year history, as more than 47,000 cars passed through the 2-mile stretch of Interstate 70, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
CDOT began reporting congestion-related delays in the eastbound lanes shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday.
On a typical Friday, more than 30,000 cars pass through.
“I’m in Breckenridge,” said Wave Dreher the spokeswoman for AAA Colorado, reached by cellphone Sunday morning. “And it’s packed. I mean, this town is full to capacity.”
While in many regions people are staying closer to home the “the economy in the mountain states is doing better than the rest of the country,” Dreher said.
“And the Fourth of July is typically a driving holiday. Gas prices across the state are $2.55. A year ago, we were at $4.01.”
The Independence Day festivities were beefed up by festivals or carnivals in Aspen, Keystone, Breckenridge, Estes Park, Georgetown, Paonia, Nederland and other mountain venues.
The Greeley Stampede and Cowboys’ Roundup Days in Steamboat Springs drew the Western fans, and big numbers took to the state’s parks, rivers and reservoirs.
The Colorado National Monument, a 22,000-acre national park near Grand Junction, was on pace for a record weekend after an estimated crowd of 7,000 passed through on Saturday, said National Parks Service spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo.
“We’ve seen a steady attendance numbers all summer, trending upward,” she said.
Attendance, however, wasn’t strong in Steamboat Springs, which hosted the 106th Cowboys’ Roundup Days — with its ceremonial cattle drive down Main Street.
“We’ve had a lot of people, but it hasn’t been as insane as in the past,” Dan Pichiotino, the manager of the Steamboat Smokehouse barbecue restaurant on Lincoln Avenue.
Steamboat Springs visitor Jena Segal of Rock Springs, Md., favored the smaller crowds.
“That’s the reason people come out West, for the wide-open space,” she said. “People come out here to get away from the crowds back East.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
