Because Colorado is cool.

From the Rocky Mountains to the Great Plains, from the urban corridor to tiny towns on the Western Slope, from Denver to Durango, from La Junta to Rifle, from the Arkansas River to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado is a beautiful, diverse tapestry.

We have wonderful music, vibrant arts, hiking, biking, skiing, rafting, fishing, paragliding and good eating. A Colorado experience can be weird, wild, scary, spectacular, sublime, or soothing.

But seldom boring.

As the Centennial State celebrates its 150th birthday, here are 150 things that are quintessentially Colorado:

1. A summer concert at Red Rocks: Music at the world-renowned, natural sandstone amphitheater fills the soul.

2. Maroon Bells: Too pretty to be real — but they are, and undoubtedly the most photographed spot in the state.

3. Powder days: Getting off the Panoramic lift at Winter Park on a bluebird day, skiing Vail’s Back Bowls, or riding clouds of champagne powder at Steamboat: heaven.

4. Bagging a fourteener: Summiting one of Colorado’s 58 ranked and unranked peaks that rise above 14,000 feet in elevation is a rite of passage for many.

5. Palisade peaches: Juicy and sweet, the famous, scrumptious Western Slope fruit is available late July through September.

6. State flag: How many other states celebrate — and market — their state flag like Colorado? (Fun fact: The blue stripes represent Colorado skies, the white is for snow-capped peaks, the golden circle is sunshine, and the red “C” represents the rocks and earth.)

7. Opening day at Coors Field: Colorado’s Mardi Gras as baseball fans and partyers — not necessarily in that order — pour into LoDo.

8. Riding Mr. Twister: Baby Boomers got their thrills riding the roller coaster, which opened in 1964 at the original Elitch Gardens in north Denver. debuted at the new location in 2023.

9. : Fielder was not only a spectacular nature photographer, but he was also a state historian.

10. KBCO radio: Long before streaming and SiriusXM came along, KBCO’s “World Class Rock’ brought quality music and new artists to listeners in the Denver-Boulder area, starting in 1976.

11. Manitou Incline: Want to get your steps in? Hike “The Incline,” in less than a mile via 2,768 steep steps.

12. Colorado Columbine: The state flower (Aquilegia caerulea) blooms in summer and brings a smile to every hiker’s face.

13. Rocky Mountain big horn sheep: The state animal was nearing extinction around 1900, but conservation efforts saved them. There are now in Colorado.

14. : The Arkansas River Valley produces watermelon, honeydew, and, most famously, cantaloupe, which have up to 3% more sugar than California cantaloupe. (Fun fact: Rocky Ford High School’s mascot is a Meloneer.)

15. Chipotle: “Do you want guac on that?” In 1993, Steve Ells, a graduate of Boulder High School and CU Boulder, opened the first Chipotle Mexican Grill blocks from the University of Denver.

16. Glenwood Springs Hot Springs: The spring waters — called Yampah, or literally “Big Medicine,” by Utes — have been soothing tired muscles and spirits for centuries. It’s now touted as the .

17. Mesa Verde National Park: Established in 1906, the cliff dwellings give visitors a glimpse of what life was like over 700 years ago when the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving agricultural communities on the mesas and in the cliffs.

18. Great Sand Dunes National Park: Hike the tallest dunes in North America or sand sled or sandboard down the slopes. Then look into .

19. Pikes Peak: The 14,115-foot peak is touted as “America’s Mountain.” Drive to the top, hike up or ride the world’s highest and longest cog railroad.

20. Bolder Boulder: It’s not just a run, it’s also a celebration, complete with costumes. The Memorial Day 10K began in 1979 with 2,700 entrants. By 2004, it was the largest timed 10K in the world, with 47,454 participants.

21. Bent’s Old Fort: The reconstructed adobe fortress became a national historic site in 1960. It was built in 1833 as near the Arkansas River along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail.

22. Colorado welcome signs: There are 40 of the wooden, brown-and-white “Welcome to Colorado” road signs around the state. The design dates back to the 1950s.

23. Telluride Bluegrass Festival: It began as the Telluride Fourth of July Celebration in 1973. It became the Telluride Bluegrass Festival on July 6, 1974. Emmylou Harris once called it “the Valhalla of places to perform.”

24. View from Wolf Creek Pass: Coming off the pass, looking west toward Pagosa Springs, is the look above the west fork of the San Juan River Valley. Breathtaking.

25. Empower Field at Mile High: Exiting the stadium with the fans after a big win is a magic carpet ride.

26. Stanley Hotel: Founded in 1909 by F.O Stanley, the reigns over Estes Park and sits at the doorstep of Rocky Mountain National Park. And it was the inspiration for Stephen King’s “The Shining.”

27. Garden of the Gods: The park was gifted to Colorado Springs in 1909 by the children of railroad magnate Charles Elliot Perkins. , a 35-foot, 1.4-million-pound red rock, is the star.

28. Subarus: Preferably with a sticker-covered Thule strapped to the top of an Outback, they are Colorado’s vehicle of choice. Or so it seems.

29. Hanging Lake: A short but steep and rocky hike takes you to a cliffside turquoise . It was named a National Natural Landmark in 2011.

30. South Park vista: From the top of Kenosha Pass, the valley — filled with green ranchland, twisting creeks and rimmed with snowcapped peaks — seems to go on forever.

31. The Numbers: A challenging, whitewater stretch of the Arkansas River just south of Buena Vista, The Numbers is a guaranteed adrenaline rush.

32. Big Blue Bear: The 40-foot-high bear, created by local artist Lawrence Argent, peers into the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver.

33. “Blucifer:” Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore the 32-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture with glowing red eyes on Peña Blvd approaching Denver International Airport.

Blucifer just turned 13. But the family of the artist who died creating it would prefer you don’t call it that.

34. Eisenhower Tunnel: The only bore through the Continental Divide that is named after a U.S. president. (The accompanying is named for Gov. Edwin C. Johnson.)

35. Frozen Dead Guy Days: The festival, begun in Nederland in 2002 and relocated to Estes Park in 2023, revolves around , a Norwegian mountain pioneer who died in 1989 but is cryogenically preserved.

36. The Broadmoor: Known for comfortable luxury, the famed hotel opened in 1918 and is the longest-running, consecutive Forbes five-star, AAA five-diamond resort in the country.

37. The Brown Palace: The Downtown Denver hotel has been a landmark since 1892. It has hosted U.S. presidents, heads of state, and in 1964 ... The Beatles!

38. The Colorado Trail: One of the most spectacular long-distance trails in the country, the 567-mile Rocky Mountain journey begins in Denver and finishes in Durango.

39. Grand Lake fireworks: The over the state's largest natural lake, deep in the mountains, is unforgettable.

40. : You can't miss the signs touting the store's “Stetson Hats, “Levi Overalls” and more. According to Rocky Mountain PBS, there are 100 of the signs alongside US 40 and Colorado 131, starting 100 miles from downtown Steamboat Springs.

41. Golf at elevation: Everyone has a favorite course, from municipal links to posh country clubs. But it's tough to top Grand Junction's Redlands Mesa.

42. : The 17.6-mile  trail in southeast Colorado features 150-million-year-old dinosaur footprints and prehistoric Native American rock art.

43. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad: A spectacular ride into the past along the Animas River through canyons in the San Juan National Forest, active since 1882.

44. : About 15 miles north of Durango are the iconic cliffs where Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy) and Robert Redford (The Sundance Kid) jumped into the Animas River to escape a posse. (Fun fact: Part of the famous scene was filmed in California.)

45. Rocky Mountain National Park: How to describe Colorado's slice of mountain paradise? The park's 415 square miles encompasses a spectacular range of mountain environments, from meadows to alpine lakes to towering peaks.

46. : There were nearly 2,500 wooden carousels carved in America between 1885 and the 1930s, but fewer than 150 survived. One of the best can be found at the county fairgrounds in Burlington.

47. Pawnee National Grassland: Covering 193,060 acres northeast of Greeley, it is home to hundreds of birds, pronghorn antelopes and other wildlife.

48. Crested Butte wildflowers: The town owns the title as “Wildflower Capital of Colorado.” Look for varieties like lupine, paintbrush, elephant heads, fireweed and glacier lilies.

49. : Within the 32 square miles of the Colorado Plateau in northwest Colorado are towering stone monoliths, red-rock canyons and the 23-mile Rim Rock Drive.

50. : A thundering triple waterfall and limestone caves make this a gem of the Colorado State Parks system.

51. DIA: The largest U.S. airport in square miles is easily recognizable, with its tent-like roof intended to mimic the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies. (It's also known for  conspiracy theories, never-ending construction projects, parking woes, long security lines ... .)

52. Complaining about Californians and Texans: Come on, admit it, you've done it.

53. "Rocky Mountain High": You sing along when you hear John Denver's ode to Colorado, the state's second official song. (The first is “Where the Columbines Grow.”)

54. The : Held annually in January at the National Western Complex, the event has celebrated Colorado's cowboy roots since 1906.

55. : In late July, Fairplay celebrates its heritage with burro, llama, dog and outhouse races, as well as a parade. The fete began in 1949 when a challenge went out to anyone who wanted to race alongside a burro from Leadville to Fairplay.

56. Sliding down a snow field: It's boiling hot on the Eastern Plains, but nice and cool at 11,990 feet on Loveland Pass. Find a patch of snow and away you go! (Don't forget the selfies.)

57. Fly fishing: Colorado is heaven for anglers casting for rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout. What's the best spot? The Gunnison River? The Frying Pan River? The fly fisherman will never tell.

58. : With steep, dramatic walls that range from 2,700 to 1,750 feet, this national park east of Montrose is stunning.

59. Hot-air balloon festivals in Colorado -- like the ones in Telluride, Erie, Colorado Springs and Moffat County -- offer kaleidoscopes of color against Rocky Mountain skies. (Wanna take a ride? There are that will take you up.)

60.: Before craft brewing was all the rage, there was Coors in Golden, the largest single-site brewery in the world.

61. Ralphie: CU's famous buffalo just might be the best mascot in college football. (The current Ralphie, nicknamed Brandy, is the seventh bison to fill the role.)

62. : At the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the San Luis Valley, the area includes a Hindu temple, a Zen center, several Tibetan Buddhist centers, and various New Age activities.

63. : Touted as the oldest tavern in Denver, continuously serving fine beers and spirits since 1873, it also offers a famous jalapeño cream cheese burger.

64. Dinger: Love him or not, the purple Triceratops mascot for the Colorado Rockies has been around since  April 16, 1994, famously "hatching" from an oversized egg on the grounds that would become Coors Field.

65.  "Bucky" the Bronco: , Bucky first stood above the scoreboard at the original Mile High Stadium. He now stands atop the South Stand scoreboard at Empower Field at Mile High.

66. Loveland Valentines: The northern Colorado town, known as the Sweetheart City, has been for 80 years.

67. : For more than six decades, thespians have performed The Bard's works under the stars on the University of Colorado Boulder campus at the Mary Rippon Theatre.

68.  : The annual party celebrates Pueblo's famed green. Every September, more than 100,000 people stroll along Pueblo’s historic Union Avenue listening to live music, browsing local art and getting tastes of roasted chiles.

69. Million Dollar Highway: Stunning and scary (for some), the road travels between Silverton and Ouray in Southwest Colorado. Full of switchbacks and sheer cliffs, it .

70. : Telluride, perhaps Colorado's most picturesque mountain town, sits in a box canyon. At the end of the canyon, you’ll find the highest free-falling waterfall in the state.

71. :  Dating back to the founding of the Town of San Luis in 1851, the late July weekend festival celebrates the history of Colorado's oldest town with bands, vendors, parades, mariachi mass, a softball tournament, food stalls and a 10k run.

72. Chapel at the Air Force Academy: The (closed until 2028 for renovation) is the most recognizable building at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The aluminum, glass, and steel structure features 17 spires that shoot 150 feet into the sky.

73. New Year's fireworks on Pikes Peak: For more than 100 years, members of the AdAmAn Club have hiked Pikes Peak to ring in the New Year with a fireworks display on the famous mountain.

74. Near Grand Junction, this trail features 35 sandstone arches, the second-highest concentration of natural rock arches in North America outside Utah.

75. : A 32-mile mountain bike route that descends 6,000 feet from the top of the Grand Mesa to the town of Palisade. Spectacular.

76. America's oldest whitewater festival is held along the banks of the Arkansas River in June. It features concerts, craft beer, river rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, and running. FYI,  FIBArk stands for "First in Boating in the Arkansas River."

77. : Located in Teller County, in the mountains west of Colorado Springs, the monument protects 34-million-year-old fossils of redwood trees and insects.

78. : For more than 40 years, the Lakewood restaurant has served Mexican food in a pink adobe building that features caves, cliff divers, and endless sopapillas. The iconic restaurant gained cult fame after being featured in an episode of "South Park." Casa Bonita (Spanish for “pretty house") is now owned by the show’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

79. Mountaintop matrimony: For 35 years, couples have gathered on the Forest Meadow run at to exchange vows and kisses at 12,000 feet.

80. : Dating back to 1879, the saloon is an enduring piece of Leadville’s history with a classic, wild-west oak bar. Touted as "a gathering place for locals, outlaws, and legends," it has hosted figures such as Doc Holliday, Molly Brown and Oscar Wilde, and witnessed the rise and fall of Leadville’s mining boom.

81. : Founded in 1932, it's the fifth-oldest professional opera company in the country. The summer performances take place at 8,500 feet in the intimate 550-seat opera house built in 1878.

82. : Held annually during Labor Day weekend for 52 years, the event matches movies and the mountains. The 2025 event included the debut of "Springstreen: Deliver Me from Nowhere."

83.  A: Just outside the historic San Juan Mountains town of Silverton, the well-preserved ghost town features abandoned buildings and mining structures, taking visitors back to Silverton's mining frontier history.

84. Meeker base camp: The town in the northwest corner of the state is the center for some of the best in Colorado. Hunters encounter terrain ranging from 6,000 feet to mountain peaks exceeding 12,200 feet in the Flattops Wilderness.

85. : The annual 10-day celebration, culminating on the Fourth of July, brings the Northern Colorado community together with rodeos, concerts, carnival rides, parades and more.

86. galore: Need some culcha? The dozens of museums in Colorado can help. Among them: the Denver Art Museum; the Firefighters Museum; the Museum of Nature & Science; the Museum of Illusions; the Morrison Natural History Museum; the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver; the Museum of Northwest Colorado; the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum; The ProRodeo Hall of Fame & Museum of the American Cowboy; the Children's Museum of Denver; Colorado Railroad Museum; Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum; the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery; the Aspen Art Museum; the Museum of the West; the National Mining Museum; Forney Transportation Museum; the Clyfford Still Museum; the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum; and the History Colorado Museum, where you can currently see "Zoom In: The Centennial State in 100 Objects."

87. Rocky Mountain Oysters: A famous -- or is it infamous? -- delicacy consisting of deep-fried, thinly sliced bull or bison testicles.

88. :  The original "mountain pie" pizza restaurant opened in Idaho Springs in 1973 and has been a sanctuary to escape I-70 ski traffic ever since.

80. : A restaurant with heads of actual wildlife on the walls? That they can then serve you? Seriously? (And they also offer Rocky Mountain oysters; see above.) Wild.

90. Colorado natives: Who brag about being Colorado natives.

91. Transplants: Who are annoyed by those who brag about being Colorado natives.

92. The Front Range: Even after decades of living in Colorado, you catch yourself pulling over on Interstate 25 to snap a photo of the majestic mountains after a rainshower, when the clouds are lying heavy on the horizon. Stunning.

93. Glenwood Canyon, that took 12 years to build. Workers had to bore three tunnels through the canyon’s rock; built 15 miles of retaining walls to hold the road in place; and construct  40 bridges and viaducts, according to CDOT. Amaze amaze amaze. (If you get it, you get it.)

94. Sleigh rides, dog sled rides: Take an old-fashioned in Steamboat Springs, or zip behind a pulling you along snowy Breckenridge trails. The kids will never forget it.

95. : The home of Titanic survivor Margaret Brown offers a Victorian Horrors theater program around Halloween, letting guests traipse through the 1889 house and enjoy ghostly tales.

96. Golf: Where else can you partake nearly year-round without baking (don't tell me it's a dry heat, Arizona) or drowning (hello, humid Florida)? And with nearly to choose from, you might even be able to find a tee time.

97. The Olympics: Denver is the only city in the country to reject the Winter Olympics (in 1976), giving us the right to gloat over by doing so (sorry, Montreal).

98. : With the Arkansas River flowing 956 feet below, it remains America’s highest suspension bridge. The bridge spans 1,260 feet and features 1,257 wooden planks.

99. Fickle weather:  A day in May begins with bright sunshine and warms up to 80 degrees. Eight hours later, it's snowing. Two days later, it's 80 degrees.

100. The : The man-made ice-climbing park sits in a spectacular natural gorge just outside Ouray. The free, public park is home to more than 150 named ice and mixed climbs and draws adventurers from around the world.

101. DCPA: The is a downtown treasure hosting Broadway touring plays, Tony Award-winning theater, classical music, ballet and operas.

102. Aspens: Monarch Pass? Kenosha Pass? Independence Pass? Guanella Pass? Does it matter? With aspen glittering golden against cobalt-blue skies, autumn in Colorado is magical.

103. Enstrom toffee: Based in Grand Junction, but found throughout the state, the almond toffee is the star of the show for , a business that dates to 1929 and is still family-run.

104. : The urban oasis features native and exotic plants and trees, the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory, the Mordecai Children's Garden and outdoor concerts in the summer.

105. Eldorado Canyon: Just south of Boulder, is a mecca for rock climbers. For others, hiking along scenic South Boulder Creek and stopping for a picnic works just fine.

106. : Nestled at the base of the Flatirons in Boulder, Chautauqua is a national historic landmark that includes Chautauqua Auditorium, built in 1898. From the Chautauqua Trailhead, hikers can access 40 miles of trails.

107.  Apres ski: The after-ski bliss begins with taking off the boots, then gathering at a lodge, bar, or restaurant to unwind and exaggerate your most epic run of the day. A hot tub session is optional.

108. : At the top of Lookout Mountain, just west of Denver, is the Buffalo Bill museum and gravesite. The popular tourist attraction tells the story of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, star of his Wild West Show that began in 1882.

105. : Though not as famous as Mesa Verde, the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument is a precious time capsule. Sitting just outside of Dolores, it consists of nearly 200,000 acres and features the largest concentration of archaeological dig sites and Ancestral Puebloan ruins in the United States.

106. : Boulder's pedestrian mall features restaurants, shops, flowers, street artists, and people watching. It's about as Boulder as it gets.

107. : Gold and silver first brought people rushing to these mountain towns as they gambled on their future. Now people gamble in the casinos.

110. Hiking is more than just a walk in the park: From a half-mile stroll atop Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park to a 10-mile trek deep into the wilderness, hiking is Colorado's religion.

111. Indoor rock climbing: For those who need their fix, there are rock-walled gyms throughout Colorado. Climb on!

112. : Robert Redford's beloved festival will make its Boulder debut Jan. 21-31, 2027, after beating out Utah and Ohio to become the event's next host. Sundance is moving from its longtime home in Park City, Utah.

113. : The famed adobe restaurant opened in February 1963, specializing in what founder Sam Arnold called “New Foods of the Old West.” The building was inspired by a drawing of Bent����ap Old Fort, the famous fur-trading post on the Santa Fe Trail.

114. Golden retrievers: We love our dogs. Labrador retrievers, bulldogs, hunting dogs, even "little yippers." But according to , golden retrievers are Colorado's most popular breed.

115. and Rodeo: In late August through Labor Day, Pueblo hosts rodeos, carnival rides, agricultural competitions, big-name concerts, monster trucks, fine art, and food, drink and Western and Hispanic culture.

116. Strawberry Park Hot Springs: Thermal pools, unique stone masonry in the Rockies near Steamboat Springs. Famously, clothing is optional after dark, so minors are not permitted after sundown.

117. Craft beer. OK, so the latest heyday of craft beer in Colorado -- which started with Boulder Brewing Company in 1979 and was popularized by the Wynkoop in LoDo in 1988 -- may have passed, but local breweries are often still the social and economic hubs of their neighborhoods -- and still employ thousands of people and bring people from around the world to the state.

118. Marijuana legalization: Even if you don't partake, it's kind of awesome that Colorado was the .

119. The Denver City and County Building at the holidays: The tradition of kicking off the holiday season in Denver by lighting up the City and County Building dates back to 1918, which brings us to ...

120. ... the fact that colored outdoor Christmas lights were invented by in 1914, as a way to bring cheer to his ailing son.

From Jolly Ranchers and cheeseburgers to teddy bears and tampons, these inventions were created in Colorado

121: Parades: Sure, we have organized marches for Memorial Day, St. Patrick's Day, PrideFest, and MLK Day, but smaller parades are a hoot, like Goldens in Golden and the Fourth of July parades that small towns like Salida, Frisco and Florence hold each year. (Watching little kids scramble for candy tossed off of a 1950s firetruck and saluting veterans in uniform strolling behind will make you proud to be an American, and perhaps long for a more innocent time.)

122. Naked skiing: The , started at Glenwood Springs' Sunlight Mountain Resort in 2021, invites women -- and only women or nonbinary individuals (there were 700 of them in 2025) -- includes a run in which participants are invited to ski or snowboard sans clothes. Brrrr.

123. Free concerts: in Ruby Hill Park produces more than 50 free concerts at its outdoor amphitheater every summer. And stake out a spot early with your picnic basket for one (or all) of the 10 free concerts at . (Which leads us to ... )

124. Jazz live: Who says it's a dying art form? Colorado is home to the Winter Park Jazz Festival, Telluride Jazz Festival, Denver Jazz Fest, Evergreen Jazz Festival, UNC-Greeley Jazz Festival and Jazz Aspen Snowmass. (Which leads us to ... )

125. and : These two music venues in Denver offer stellar performances by some of the most acclaimed jazz artists in the country in intimate settings.

124. Colorado's culinary chops: abound here, from Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson (Frasca); Erika and Kelly Whitaker (The Wolf's Tailor); Caroline Glover (Annette); Matt Vawter (Rootstalk); Johnny Curiel (Alma Fonda Fina); Alex Seidel (Fruition); Troy Guard (TAG); and Jennifer Jasinski (Rioja). Eat up.

125. : In the summer, take a ride to the top of the Continental Divide, where you will be treated to 360-degree views of five mountain ranges.

126. The Denver Nuggets: They may not always win, but boy, these guys have heart -- and the best basketball player in the world in Nikola Jokic. And an NBA title in 2023.

127. The Colorado Avalanche: Three Stanley Cup titles and a roster of Hall of Famers for a rabid fan base.

128. The Denver Broncos: Eight Super Bowl appearances. Three Super Bowl wins. John Elway. Peyton Manning. Floyd Little. Orange Crush. Football as religion since 1960.

129. The Rapids: Fans have been getting their kicks from the pro soccer team since 1996. The Rapids won their only MLS Cup in 2010, their second MLS Cup appearance.

130: : Crazy for women's soccer? Colorado sure is. On March 28, Summit FC set the U.S. attendance record for a women’s professional sporting event at Empower Field, with 63,004 fans on hand to witness the club’s inaugural home match against the Washington Spirit.

131. The Colorado Rockies: "Rocktober" took the Rockies to the World Series in 2007, but the LoDo ballclub usually struggles. But a summer night at Coors Field with a beer and a hot dog has been a great combo since 1995.

132. Sandhill cranes: Each spring and fall, thousands of the long-necked birds during migration. Every March, there's even a party to celebrate them, in the form of the .

133. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center: There's a pool, gyms, an indoor shooting range, velodrome (track) and more at the Colorado Springs site. And are available.

134. Four-wheeling on Imogene Pass: A rugged and scary former mining road that connected Telluride and Ouray in the San Juan. Mountains. Thrill-seekers top out at 13,114 feet.

135. , not just the marathon: Playboy Magazine once called Colfax Avenue the “longest, wickedest street in America.” Jack Kerouac wrote about Colfax in his novel "On the Road." Music venues, bars, restaurants, shops, and interesting people-watching. Colfax has a thriving live music scene with The Fillmore, The Ogden Theater, The Lion’s Lair and many more bars serving up live music as well. The Colfax Renaissance is well underway. Come check it out!

136. Running around Wash Park: From fit singles scouting out other fit singles, to fit seniors just looking to stay fit, the 2.5-mile crushed-gravel outer loop in South Denver is a runner's mecca.

137. The name: Colorado's lyrical name has its origins in Spanish, as the word for "colored red." So very apropos.

138. Race to open by Memorial Day: The highest continuous paved road in the United States to 12,183 feet through Rocky Mountain National Park, connecting the towns of Estes Park and Grand Lake. The goal is for snowplows to clear the road by late May. It doesn't always work out.

139. Olathe sweet corn: Iowans may try to argue, but one bite of this variety will have you longing for several ears, slathered with butter and a touch of salt. (And it freezes well off the cob, as well; save some for your holiday casseroles.)

140. : The heart and soul of Denver, where it got its start between 14th and 15th in the late 1800s. Named for the pioneering General William Larimer, it was the city’s first block, its first commercial district, home to its first residence and first city hall, and was the city’s first designated historic district.

141. : At the peak of elk rut in Rocky Mountain National Park -- typically mid-September through mid-October, you might hear the bulls' loud bugling. Researchers say the animals call out as a warning, or to communicate with their harems. The sound will haunt you.

142. Same-sex marriage: Colorado has offered civil unions since 2013 and they have been legally recognized here since October 2014. They weren't established as a until June 26, 2015.

143. Denver Press Club: The in the United States, founded in 1867, and the building itself was designated a Historic Landmark in 1986. Stop in and toast Damon Runyon at the bar.

144. Georgetown and the : A charming ride on this narrow-gauge railroad (called "an engineering marvel" after its construction in 1884) takes you through a scenic path over the Devil's Gate Bridge. Afterward, stroll the quaint streets of historic Georgetown, once the center of the mining industry in Colorado.

145. Pulitzer winners: The Denver Post (nine), Rocky Mountain News (four), and Colorado Springs Gazette (one) have been in reporting, photography and editorial cartooning.

146. Nobel winners: Colorado is home to , including CU Boulder's David Wineland (in physics, 2012); John Hall (physics, 2012), and Thomas Cech (chemistry, 1989).

147. Authors: Dozens of accomplished , including Gonzo journalist and author Hunter Thompson; Jon Krakauer ("Into Thin Air"); Jack Kerouac ("On the Road"); Peter Heller ("The Dog Stars"); Allen Ginsberg (Beat poet); Stephen White (Alan Gregory thrillers); Blake Crouch ("Dark Matter); and Kent Haruf ("Plainsong").

148. Root Shoot Whiskey: The Loveland-based Root Shoot Spirits’ American Single Malt Whiskey was named Whiskey of the Year  in this year's London Spirits Competition. That's in the world.

149. Horseback riding: Fans of "Yellowstone" with visions of Western cowboys on horseback are in luck: will let you come out and saddle up. Cowboy hats optional.

150. Well, you live here. Duh.

Denver Post staffer Barbara Ellis contributed to this report. 

“Yeah, we’re in talks with a couple of different groups. A project that big, we just got to make sure we do it right, because we don’t want to have to redo anything down the road. But they are fun conversations.”

That was Josh, on building new facilities.

In 2017.

“We have the land around the arena, and over at Elitch Gardens. We’re part of a master plan there to develop that out, and the first phase of that will include, most likely, an Avalanche and Nuggets facility. … But there’s a lot that goes into that. We’re working as fast as we can.”

That was also Josh, also on building new facilities.

In 2022.

So you’ll forgive the army of cynics up in the Grading The Week offices for chuckling and shaking their heads when Josh, when asked about one of the best franchises in hockey still practicing in a local rec center with a giant arcade on the ground floor, said this to the cameras:

“There’s one final hurdle that we’re in and we hope to have some information relatively soon. But again, we’re dealing with the city, and we’re working on pedestrian access over Speer, in and around that. I don’t have an exact time frame, but we’re very close.”

That was this past Thursday. Also Josh. Also on new facilities.

In 2026.

Josh Kroenke’s practice facility promises — C

The kindest thing we’ll say about KSE and some overdue buildings for the Avs and Nuggets to call home — or, heck, even one facility for the pair of them — is this:

We’ll believe it when we see it.

It never ceases to amaze the basketball guys and gals on the GTW crew who’ve worked in other markets how a franchise with one of the 10 best centers to ever play the game (Nikola Jokic) basically shoots, trains, and lifts weights in this teeny-tiny space just above floor level at Ball Arena. We’ve seen church basements with larger, dedicated basketball and CYO spaces and better facilities than the Nuggets’.

And yet the basketball side of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, or KSE, is palatial compared to its NHL counterparts down the road.

The Avalanche have won three Stanley Cups since 1996. That’s tied for the second-most in the NHL (Detroit — boo, hiss — has four) over the last 30 years.

And yet the directions for getting to the Avs’ locker room at the South Suburban Family Sports Center sound like something lifted from the movie “This Is Spinal Tap:” Go past the climbing wall in the lobby, veer left at the arcade and go up the steps. Yet they’ve been there since 1998. It feels like 1998. Actually, the whole thing feels incredibly bush league.

Ex-Nuggets voices staying classy while being stiffed by KSE  — A

We say this a lot in the GTW offices, but Scott Hastings is a better man than us. At least in front of a microphone.

“The young Scott Hastings probably would’ve thrown a fit, been upset, cussed people out, gone on the radio today and said, ‘You Em-effers,'” Hastings, the now-ex TV analyst for the Nuggets, said during his mid-day radio show on 92.5-FM earlier this week. “But it doesn’t do anybody (any) good. It’s not helpful.”

That said, we wouldn’t have blamed him for dropping a few expletives into the conversation. The Kroenkes did all their broadcast crews dirty, but especially those on the TV side, by squabbling with the even more stubborn jerks at Comcast in recent years. As a result, two of KSE’s best teams, the ’21-22 Avalanche and ’22-23 Nuggets, won championships in the NHL and NBA, respectively, while local broadcasts of their games were unavailable on many television sets in their home market.

Chris Marlowe deserved better. Hastings deserved better. So did Post alum Chris Dempsey, who, as anyone who’s met him will tell you, is an even better dude than he is a reporter and analyst. And that’s saying something.

More than five years after the 2020 shutdowns, garden centers and nurseries are navigating what the from Garden Center magazine calls a “post-COVID hangover.”

Released in January, the data from the annual survey of owners, operators and managers found that Spring 2025 saw the second-smallest reported growth in spring sales over the past decade. For the first time, more independent garden centers reported no increase in working capital than those that did.

Although most responding independent garden centers remain profitable, their profitability rate still falls just below the average for the past 10 years.

“It all points to an industry in need of some solid motivation,” wrote Patrick Alan Coleman, editor of , Greenhouse Management and Produce Grower magazines, in the report.

Coleman said it����ap not the time to panic, but rather an opportunity for the industry to reassess operations and make improvements in marketing, staffing, inventory management and infrastructure.

Independent garden centers have also faced growing competition from big-box retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s, which have .

In 2025, Home Depot was the top retailer for gardening supplies and plants, according to a , although its numbers dropped significantly from 2024.

Still, 30.3% of respondents said independent garden centers offer the highest quality plants, followed by Home Depot at 24.7%, Lowe’s at 12.8% and Walmart at 11.5%

Denver garden centers are adapting to those pressures while trying to preserve the personalized experience that sets them apart from national chains.

City Floral Garden Center is one example.

Serving the community since 1911, and one of the city’s oldest greenhouses, the center launched an online ordering platform last year through Shopify called .

“We are trying to stay relevant in this convenience-driven society,” said Candace Wickstrom, who, alongside her husband Matthew, has owned City Floral Garden Center since 2007.

“A large part of our customers just love the experience of coming in and picking out their own plants, but younger consumers today, it����ap more of a mix. Some people may want a better assortment than they can get at Home Depot, but maybe they don’t want to take an hour to come pick out their own plants. So, we are continuing to develop the offerings on that online platform.”

The pandemic plant boom

Wickstrom said the pandemic brought a surge in gardening as people spent more time at home during city-mandated lockdowns. Houseplants and rare plants saw a spike in popularity, in the United States, particularly due to and fueled by Gen Z and millennials.

Over time, she said, some interest has fallen off as people travel and return to other hobbies, though many of the new customers have stayed. She said consumers have increasingly leaned toward water-smart gardening and growing vegetables at home.

“The idea of producing your own ‘farmers market’ in your backyard really caught on during the pandemic and remains popular,” Wickstrom said.

“That����ap an interesting topic for City Floral, because we’ve been growing our own vegetables for, you know, more than 30 years in our own facility.”

As a grower-retailer, City Floral , including growing over 60 varieties of tomatoes and 70 varieties of peppers, Wickstrom said.

Data from Garden Center’s report found that 71% of respondents in their 2025 survey grow some of their own plant material, just below the all-time high of 72% in 2021.

Among respondents that grow more than half of their plants, 33% reported increasing volume, diversity, or both over the past two years. Customer demand is the main driver, followed by economic pressures, quality control and shipping costs.

In addition, annuals are the most commonly grown plants at independent garden centers at 62%. Perennials follow at 59%, while vegetables and herbs are grown by 53% of respondents, according to the Garden Center report.

Vegetables and herbs grew 6% from 2024 to 2025, and has seen a substantial increase in recent years as a result of rising grocery prices, driving customers to grow their own produce, Coleman wrote.

Indoors, foliage plants are grown by a quarter of centers, while 12% of respondents nurture flowering houseplants in their greenhouses.

Wickstrom said many consumers remain highly price‑driven, with some customers splitting their spending between box stores and locally owned retailers.

Wickstrom said the price gap between big-box stores and independent retailers has narrowed in recent years as labor, transportation, economic uncertainty and production costs have emerged across the industry.

“Bulb prices went up probably 15% this year with tariffs,” she said.

“Unfortunately, those costs do have to be passed on to the consumer. We do not, as an industry, make enough money that we can absorb those costs entirely.”

Seventy-five percent of garden centers who took the survey raised plant prices between 1% and 10% in 2025, roughly the same as the previous year, the report found. However, more respondents than previous years said they do not plan to raise prices in 2026, citing ongoing customer affordability concerns.

Real estate pressure is also reshaping Denver’s nursery industry. Wickstrom said that many long‑standing farm families have sold their land, reducing the number of local growers and tightening the plant supply chain.

Paulino Gardens, which operated just north of Denver in Adams County for over 60 years, closed in 2019. That closure was followed by Groundcovers Greenhouse & Garden Center at 4301 E. Iliff Ave.

The city of Denver has since , with plans to develop it into a park slated for completion in spring 2027.

Similarly, Welby Gardens, a Colorado-based growing operation founded in 1948, closed last year before the property was later purchased by Arvada-based Blooma Farms for $4.5 million.

Local and unique experiences

City Floral, at 1440 Kearney St., is the last sizable independent garden center in Denver proper that employs about 50 people year-round, Wickstrom said.

During peak season that number grows to roughly 110 employees, split among its Denver retail garden center, its landscaping division and a three‑acre growing facility in Golden.

As local centers close or relocate farther from the city, Wickstrom said she worries it will become difficult for residents to garden at all.

“Very few people are going to be willing to get in a car and drive 30 minutes plus to get to a garden center,” she said.

At the same time, some new owners are stepping into the industry.

Cade Scholl, alongside his wife Kara, became owners of in February 2025.

Scholl said they were inspired to buy the business at 7150 Leetsdale Dr. because they had always wanted to own their own company and were drawn to the welcoming nature of the gardening industry.

“For the most part, it is difficult for the small retailers like myself to match exactly what some of those big nationwide stores can do. There’s a few things that that we can match them on, but it’s difficult,” he said.

“What we provide, though, is a unique experience.”

Scholl said gardening can feel intimidating for beginners who may not know which plants work best for certain light conditions, soil types or watering schedules. But at independent retailers such as Country Fair, he said, customers can rely on experienced staff.

“If you come in, you’re going to see one of three or four people that is always in the store, and they’re going to be willing to help, and a lot of times they’ll even know your name,” he said.

“We even get times where people will come in and they will have bought a plant at one of those big box stores and they ask us for advice. We can usually get that plant back on track and nurse it back to health.”

Interest in growing food at home remains strong, Scholl said.

“This time of year, we’ve sold a lot of seeds, and I expect it will continue to sell seeds throughout the spring,” Scholl said.

Scholl said Country Fair works with small and local vendors to offer plants and products that customers might not find in big-box stores.

He also plans to rebuild classes and workshops at the garden center, which had faded under the previous owner, to strengthen the local gardening community through education.

Saturday-Sunday. It wouldn’t be spring without the return of Elitch Gardens, Denver’s biggest theme park and one that’s chock full of roller coasters, kids’ attractions and water slides (maybe too early for those). Following a season pass-holder preview last week, the theme park just west of downtown Denver reopens to the public for limited dates starting Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19.

The Saturday-Sunday dates continue through late May, when the 135-year-old park is open daily. Still, the 10 a.m.-6 pm. April and May windows are great chances to beat the summer crowds and take advantage of short lines at the most popular rides. Season passes run $80-$110 while single-day tickets are $48, with prices going up on May 21. The park is located at 2000 Elitch Circle in Denver. Call 303-595-4386 or visit for more.

Record Store Day at Wax Trax

Saturday. The vinyl rarities sold exclusively during the annual Record Store Day in April run from Taylor Swift to the Grateful Dead and local indie acts, but much of the appeal is the joyous atmosphere that surrounds the industry promotion. Audiophiles of all ages and backgrounds gather at local brick-and-mortar stores to celebrate physical media, often standing in line for hours to get first crack at one of hundreds of live albums, singles and reissues.

Among the many metro-area record stores that are celebrating on Saturday, April 18, Wax Trax Records is activating its trio of locations, including its newly opened Highland neighborhood outpost, with free breakfast for the line, local bands (including a preview of the forthcoming Blucifer’s First Rodeo festival), DJs, ticket and turntable giveaways, and a limited edition beer collaboration with Cerebral dubbed First Pressing. Doors open at 8 a.m. at the locations in Capitol Hill, South Broadway and Northside locations. Free admission. Call 303-831-7246 or visit for more details.

A masterful Colorado Ballet

Friday-Sunday. Colorado’s best ballet company will bring back its MasterWorks program this weekend with a triple threat of titles, this year including a world premiere. In addition to George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco (set to Bach) and Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring (on stage for the first time since 2013), there’s the intriguing S. Rachmaninoff, a world premiere by choreographer Yoshihisa Arai, commissioned by Colorado Ballet following his acclaimed take on Boléro. “The new ballet traces Sergei Rachmaninoff’s emotional journey from crisis to creative triumph, embodying the healing power of art,” organizers wrote online.

Performances include live music from the Colorado Ballet Symphony Orchestras. They started last week and continue at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18, with a matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 19, at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, 1385 Curtis St. in Denver. Tickets are $40-$160 at .

Fort Collins Book Fest

Friday-Saturday. Readers, take note: The Fort Collins Book Fest is wrapping up its second and final weekend at Foothills Mall, from Friday, April 17, to Saturday, April 18. The event features multiple panels and workshops with poets, children’s authors, sci-fi novelists, illustrators, comics artists and more, plus a marketplace showcasing dozens of Colorado writers.

This weekend’s cohort includes Denver Post reporter Meg Wingerter, whose new book, “The Silence that Remains” (Mission Point Press), is “a historical fiction novel with the sweep of ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ set against the full weight of Stalin’s reign of terror,” organizers wrote (see more at ). The marketplace is open 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, although all authors may not be present the whole time. Tickets are pay-what-you-can at . 215 E Foothills Parkway in Fort Collins.

RTD’s E and W lines will see service interruptions at Denver’s Union Station from the beginning of service Saturday until Tuesday. Riders should anticipate delays, the transportation district said in a news release.

The E line is being rerouted to a downtown loop and is detouring from the 10th-Osage Station to the Colfax at Auraria Station, then continuing to the 16th and 18th Street stations at Stout and California streets.

E line riders can take a temporary bus shuttle from the 10th-Osage Station to Union Station or take the 16th Street FreeRide, RTD officials said.

Bus shuttles are replacing W line service between the Auraria West Station and Union Station and will include the 10th-Osage Station to accommodate transfers.

E line shuttle locations:

• 10th-Osage Station: bus bridge gate on Osage Street;
• Empower Field at Mile High, Auraria West stations: bus bridge sign at Fifth and Larimer streets;
• Ball Arena-Elitch Gardens Station: bus bridge sign at station, near the Chopper Circle roundabout;
• Union Station: Gate B22 in the underground bus concourse.

Normal service is set to resume Tuesday, RTD officials said.

“The cool factor is off the charts,” Ryan Ross, director of and president of a local investigations firm, said. “The gondola system is like a ride-hailing car system in the air. You get to ride-hail your own cabin. It can seat up to six. You’d enter into your phone where you want to go.”

A public presentation by , , and manufacturers on Tuesday evening will unveil more about the envisioned “automated elevated transit network” — broader than the single-gondola concept city officials considered a few years ago. The presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the auditorium at 101 W. Colfax.

New Downtown’s designs show gondola cabins moving above streets in three loops with 14 stops — one linking Denver Union Station with Civic Center, and another circling Civic Center. An eight-mile loop would link Union Station with the Burnham Yard (near the Denver Broncos’ preferred site for a future new football stadium), the Auraria higher education campus, Elitch Gardens and Coors Field.

Ross’s other proposals for reviving downtown include a 500-foot-tall Ferris wheel off Little Raven Street and an amphitheater along the 16th Street Mall.

Five years ago, gondola transit surfaced in a plan linking Denver Union Station with the Highland neighborhood west of downtown — crossing Interstate 25, train tracks, and the South Platte River. Cities elsewhere have installed gondolas for transit “where obstacles such as waterways, highways, or topography would make other alternatives less feasible,” DOTI planner Riley LaMie said. In ., city officials installed an aerial tram connecting the South Waterfront District with a university campus across diverse terrain.

For Denver, “this was proposed as a transit solution because of the highway, river, railroad, and topography changes that are all in close proximity to each other,” LaMie said. But DOTI hasn’t studied the feasibility of a downtown-wide system, potential benefits, and how gondolas would compare with other transit, he said.

The gondola cabins would move separately in the same direction along a fixed guideway, Ross said. At stations, the cabins would detach, and pulleys would lower them for passengers to get on or off. Speeds would range from 25 to 35 miles per hour, slowing at turns. They’d stop at every station or carry riders to stations they’d designate using a Den-Vair smartphone app, he said. “Commute to work. Rent a cabin for a private party. Ride alone and meditate. Ride with a group and get married in the air. Your ride. Your design.”

Like a rocket. A rickety one. The kind they used to.

Now, full disclosure: The football wonks on the Grading The Week team are fans of Shedeur The QB. They think he’s been getting terrible advice and that he’s overplayed badly about six different hands since the start of the year. But they also think that there’s an NFL signal-caller there — somewhere.

They’re just not sure that somewhere is northern Ohio.

Shedeur and the Browns — C

Like Russell Wilson in New York, the Browns are ready to put their old horse, Joe Flacco, to pasture after a 1-3 start. Largely because their statuesque — in that he can’t really move — signal-caller threw for two scores against six picks.

Since Flacco is roughly 146 years old, this moment was a “when” and not an “if.” Here’s the part, though, that threw the internet, and Team Sanders’ media pals, for a loop: Rookie (and former Oregon star) Dillon Gabriel, who may or not may not be tall enough to ride , is now slated to start a Week 5 showdown with the Minnesota Vikings.

Bonus: The Brownies’ depth chart for the week features Flacco as their backup and kept Shedeur listed at No. 3.

And this is where it gets very, well, Tebow-y. Not in terms of style (Sanders can throw; Tim couldn’t, bless his heart), but … audience.

Essentially, you have a fan base, one that’s loudest online, that feels that the son of CU football coach Deion Sanders can do no wrong — no matter what evidence, on-field or off-field, is actually put in front of them.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have the Browns coaching staff, the Browns front office, and most NFL front offices — a collective that does not give two flips what the Shedeur stans on social media think.

, he’s saying out loud what at least some old-money front offices and staffs probably think about Shedeur.

More disclosure: It probably doesn’t help Sanders win over the hearts and minds of the latter when he a) tells ESPN Cleveland, and then, b) silently mouths, or “mimes,” answers to reporters’ questions the next.

Nor does it help that Coach Prime , citing concerns over playing time.

Fast forward to October. With Lamar Jackson hurt, Cooper Rush is starting behind center for Baltimore this weekend. Perfect timing? Not quite.

FanDuel network coming to Denver — B

Denver will apparently soon become one of the centers of the regional sports network business — or what’s left of it.

The FanDuel Sports Network, the remains of what were once the Fox Sports/Bally Sports regional networks, is planning on operating a centralized broadcast hub in the metro, as reported by The Athletic/New York Times earlier this week.

Production from five NBA franchises will be out of the Front Range: The Hawks, the Thunder, the Grizzlies, the Timberwolves and the Spurs. Local NHL telecasts for the Wild, Hurricanes and Predators will also be produced from here.

By our math, that means at least 20% of the league’s local NBA broadcasts will soon either be produced in Denver or have Denver-based production help. And the Front Range will be the production home of 13% of the NHL’s local broadcast feeds. As the GTW crew features more than a few former cable TV subscribers in its ranks, this is one item they’ll be keeping a curious eye on.

Last week, the 58-acre Elitch Gardens in downtown Denver wooden roller coaster, which had previously been closed this year for maintenance, according to the company. The massive Twister III dates to 1964, when it was first built at Elitch’s original location in northwest Denver.

It has since undergone several upgrades and rebuilding phases — including a 2023 rebrand as Twister III (from Twister II, of course) after a year-long closure — and includes a 90-foot drop, 100-foot darkened tunnel, and “the sights, sounds and winds of a real tornado,” according to Elitch’s.

The park also reopened its 45-year-old Sidewinder coaster this season, following two years of closure. That means every coaster at Elitch’s is fully operational at the moment, which is good news for theme park fans who have been concerned about Elitch’s uncertain fate.

The property’s owner, Kroenke Sports Enterprises (which also owns Ball Arena, the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche), plans to one day redevelop the area for apartments, condos, retail and office space. But there is no timetable for that, and Kroenke recently indicated that it is planning to invest in the theme park.

On the other hand, the smaller, equally historic Lakeside Amusement Park was unable to reopen its own star roller coaster, the Cyclone, this summer despite two years of efforts to recertify it after an accident and a 2022 lawsuit from a rider who alleged the coaster lacked sufficient safety measures. The affordable theme park still plans to host the on Thursday, Aug. 21, though it said on its website that other rides had also been offline this season due to .

Brenda Fishman, the park’s operations manager who runs Lakeside with her mother, Rhoda Krasner, said the Cyclone — the oldest wooden roller coaster west of the Mississippi River — is still set to reopen, she just doesn’t have a specific opening date.

“Elitch’s is an incredible business,” said Mike Neary, executive vice president of Kroenke Sports Entertainment (KSE), in an email to The Denver Post this week. “We have every incentive to not only keep Elitch’s going, but to invest in rides and attractions and overall experience.”

In fact, the park reopened two of its signature roller coasters this summer after both had been closed. Twister III: Storm Chaser is now running for the first time in 2025 after repairs, while the Sidewinder, closed for maintenance since 2023, reopened two months ago.

KSE, which owns Ball Arena, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, Altitude Sports & Entertainment, as well as other teams, stadiums and real estate, bought out Revesco Properties’ share of a property known as the River Mile in June. River Mile is planned as a 62-acre mixed-use redevelopment that includes the land under Elitch Gardens.

Revesco and KSE first bought the property together in 2015 and announced plans to scrape and redevelop it in favor of a massive residential and retail complex that would abut Ball Arena and its parking lots. At the time, the discussions involved moving Elitch Gardens out of downtown.

The original plan — which would make room for 15,000 residents, along with offices and hotels, stores and restaurants inside several 40- to 60-story towers — was approved by the city in 2018.

Nothing has gone forward, however, and although Elitch Gardens is still on shaky grounds, Kroenke’s buyout of Revesco seemed to suggest that the theme park may remain for a while.

Cindy Hann, an Elitch Gardens spokesperson, declined to comment on a potential move, but said this season’s attendance has been an “incredible” boon for the park (though she also declined to provide those attendance numbers).

“Currently, we are focused entirely on creating thrilling experiences right here in the heart of Denver, including preparing for our signature Halloween and holiday season events,” Hann said. “We were very pleased with our 2024 season and are on track for another strong year in 2025.”

Elitch Gardens, which is 135 years old, moved from its original space in northwest Denver to its current home in 1995. There, it transformed into a contemporary, thrill-ride theme park.

Note: Colorado laws prohibit all personal fireworks that explode or leave the ground. Some examples, according to the , include bottle rockets, firecrackers, Roman candles, cherry bombs and M-80s. Those who use illegal fireworks are subject to fines of more than $1,000 and possible jail time.

Typically, if fire restrictions are in place or a Red Flag Day is in effect, no fireworks of any kind are allowed. Updated, county-by-county restrictions can be viewed at

All of the following events are free, all ages, open to the public and weather-permitting, unless otherwise noted. As a rule of thumb, be sure to leave your pets, booze, drones and weapons at home, and don’t forget to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Most fireworks displays start between 9 and 9:30 p.m.

Arvada

Independence Day fireworks return to the Stenger Soccer Complex (entry at West 58th Avenue and Oak Street) on Friday, July 4, with food trucks but also propane grills allowed on site. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. and West 58th will shut down to traffic beginning at 8 p.m. Accessible parking is available in Stenger’s northeast lot.

Aurora

The Aurora Municipal Center hosts the city’s 4th of July Spectacular; the fireworks take place around 9:30 p.m. on July 4. Food trucks and three hours of live music are planned. The fireworks display lasts 30 minutes at 15151 E. Alameda Parkway. Free on-site parking.

Berthoud

Berthoud’s Third of July festival will take place from 5 to 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 3, at the Berthoud Recreation Center. Live music, beer garden, food trucks, lawn games and more, with fireworks at 9 p.m. Waggener Farm Park, 1000 Berthoud Parkway.

Brighton

The city of Brighton’s 4th of July celebration takes over Carmichael Park, 650 E. Southern St., starting at 5 p.m. on July 4. The evening will feature live entertainment from Ninety2K, as well as food, free face painting for kids and more. The fireworks display will follow at the end of the live performances.

Adams County’s big Stars & Stripes event is on Thursday, July 3, from 4 to 10 p.m. at Riverdale Regional Park, 9755 Henderson Road in Brighton. Food and beer vendors will begin serving at 4 p.m., with live entertainment from Tayler Holder at 6 p.m. Parking is free. Fireworks at 9:30 p.m.

Broomfield

Broomfield’s Great American Picnic starts at 5 p.m. on July 4 in Broomfield County Commons Park, 13200 Sheridan Blvd., and includes food, a beer garden, children’s games and entertainment, and the 18th annual all-ages bike parade (at 5:30 p.m.; kids are required to wear a helmet). Live music starting at 6 p.m. will lead into 9:15 p.m. fireworks. Limited parking on-site and additional parking available at Legacy High School, with shuttles available from 5 to 11 p.m. Note: this year includes a layout change wherein the east side of the park will be fenced to further protect formal entry and exit points.

Commerce City

The Colorado Rapids’ popular 4thFest Celebration at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park returns with what organizers bill as the state’s largest display. The free event on July 4 opens before that day’s game against Sporting Kansas City with an array of family-friendly activities and entertainment. The soccer game at 7:30 p.m. costs money, but fireworks can be seen all around the stadium at 6000 Victory Way, with lots opening at 7 p.m.

Denver

Downtown residents and visitors will, for the second year in a row, see drones rather than fireworks at Civic Center’s���ڰ���� Indy Eve (formerly Independence Eve). The Thursday, July 3, event includes the Night Market, a performance from Circus Foundry, a family fun zone, and live music from the Colorado Symphony Brass & Percussion Ensemble. The drone show starts around 9:15. Gates open at 5 p.m. and entertainment starts at 5:30 p.m., with food trucks on-site. 101 E. 14th Ave.

Coors Field will launch fireworks on Friday, July 4, and Saturday, July 5, following the nighttime Colorado Rockies games against the Chicago White Sox. The best views are inside the stadium, but you can also see them if you hang out around Lower Downtown or adjacent urban neighborhoods. 2001 Blake St.

Paid visitors to Elitch Gardens theme park and nearby viewers will also get an up-front seat on Saturday, July 5, as fireworks begin just before the park’s daily closing. 2000 Elitch Circle.

Englewood

Englewood’s family-friendly July 4 event, starting at 5 p.m., spans Belleview (5001 S. Inca Dr.) and Cornerstone parks (5150 S. Windemere St.) in conjunction with the cities of Littleton and Sheridan, Arapahoe County and South Suburban Parks & Recreation. It will feature kids’ activities and food trucks along with dusk fireworks. 

Erie

This year’s fireworks display takes place at Erie Community Park (450 Powers St.) on Thursday, July 3, with the fireworks launched from the rooftop of the Erie Community Center at 9 p.m. Food trucks and vendors will be on site. Limited parking starts at 6 p.m.

Firestone

The 23rd Fourth at Firestone arrives on July 4 with a 10 a.m. parade and family-friendly activities at Miners Park — including booth vendors and food trucks — starting at 11 a.m. Starting at 4 p.m., Miners adds live music, a beer garden, and more food trucks, followed by the 9:30 p.m. fireworks display.

Glendale

This early Independence Day celebration takes place on Wednesday, July 2, at Infinity Park, 4599 E. Tennessee Ave. Viewers can sit inside the stadium, in the stands, on the field, or on the turf to the south of the stadium to view fireworks around 9:40 p.m. Before that, they’ll screen the 1998 movie “Armageddon” (7 p.m.).

Highlands Ranch

The fireworks begin at 9 p.m. and run for a half-hour at Highland Heritage Regional Park, 9651 S. Quebec St. in Highlands Ranch. Food trucks will be on site. Organizers recommend walking, biking or ride-sharing, as there will be little to no on-site parking.

Lafayette

Lafayette’s rather early celebration on Saturday, June 28, will feature 4 to 10 p.m. festivities at Waneka Lake Park, 1600 Caria Drive, including food, adult drinks, kids’ activities like face painting and bounce houses, live music, and the fireworks at dusk.

Littleton

The Red, White & You show returns to Clement Park on Thursday, July 3, with a 5-10 p.m. celebration that includes a kids’ zone, live music, food, beer and wine, and the 9:30 fireworks display south of the amphitheater. The rain-or-shine event will take place at 7306 W. Bowles Ave.

Lone Tree

Lone Tree Elementary and Prairie Sky Park will host a full slate of activities on July 4, starting with the 9 a.m. Family Fun Ride and Stroll, followed by the opening of the Family Fun Park through 1 p.m. (free, but ). At 6 p.m., Party in the Park at Prairie Sky kicks off with live music, followed by 9:30 p.m. fireworks. 9381 Crossington Way.

Longmont

Longmont’s fireworks and drone displays can be viewed best at the downtown Street Party, which runs 5-10 p.m. on July 4, along 2nd Avenue between Kimbark and Collyer streets, and Emery Street between 1st and 3rd avenues. The free, 9:15 p.m. drone show and 9:30 p.m. fireworks show can also be viewed from the green space area north of the Longmont Museum, and the City of Longmont Recreation Center, south of Left Hand Creek. Kids’ activities, food and drink will be on site.

Louisville

Coal Creek Golf Course at 585 W. Dillon Road opens at 6 p.m. on July 4 with food trucks, adult beverages, bounce houses, face painting, and patriotic music. Fireworks start around 9:30 p.m., and free shuttles are available starting at 5:30 p.m. at Louisville Recreation Center, 900 Via Appia Way, as well as Coal Creek Ace Hardware, 1343 E. South Boulder Road.

Northglenn

Northglenn’s jam-packed July 4th Festival is back with the classic cars, duck derbies, live music, military recognition and picnics and kids’ activities. Food vendors and a beer garden, too. Noon to 9:30 p.m. July 4 at E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park, 11800 Community Center Dr. Fireworks will launch at 9:15 p.m.

Parker

Parker’s fireworks show at Salisbury Park returns July 4 at 9:30 p.m. with a display that can be seen “throughout the community,” even if it’s remote-only (i.e. without up-front seating). Officials have lots of ideas where to set up at , but caution that parking along roadsides is not permitted.

Thornton

The party starts at noon at Carpenter Park Fields (11000 Colorado Blvd.) with food and drinks, live music, a presentation of colors and more. Paved and unpaved parking is available in the lots south of the Carpenter Park Fields and west of 108th Avenue. And don’t miss the annual tradition of the nighttime parachutists, who will herald the dusk “Red, White & Boom!” fireworks show.

Westminster

The city’s 4th of July Celebration begins at 4 p.m. at Westminster City Park(10455 N. Sheridan Blvd.) with fun for the whole family, including live music, and fireworks at 9:15 p.m. There’s a free shuttle from various locations; see for schedule and routes.

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