Tag: Outdoors
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New Dark Sky Community designated in Colorado, joining short list
Another part of Colorado has been recognized for its rare celestial view. In announcing the state’s next Dark Sky Community, DarkSky International described Old Snowmass as a “spectacular corner of the Roaring Fork Valley” ー an unincorporated corner between Aspen and Basalt that has been the center of a grassroots effort to fight light pollution…
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Colorado hot springs celebrates ‘first-of-its-kind’ expansion
A hot springs destination in Colorado has marked a “major” expansion. And it’s not exactly the expansion you’d expect at a soaking retreat. In Glenwood Springs, Iron Mountain Hot Springs is calling its newly opened Sauna Summit “the country’s most diverse sauna collection” that achieves “a first-of-its-kind contrast therapy destination.” The contrast is felt between…
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With new book, Colorado climber turns the page on horrific chapter
In her hospital bed on the morning of May 8, 2017, Melissa Strong asked her husband, Adam, for a pen. She could barely grip it; her fingers hardly resembled fingers, more like dark and swollen nubs after tense, reconstructive surgeries and three weeks at UCHealth Anschutz in Aurora. Finally, the bulky bandages were off. And…
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Rocky Mountain National Park to continue reservation system while other parks won’t
While some of America’s most popular national parks are dropping reservations this summer, they will still be required at the most popular one in Colorado. Rocky Mountain National Park has announced its timed-entry reservation system for the peak season from May 22 through mid-October. The system returns a crowd control measure that debuted five years…
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Lower bird count, growing noxious weeds, new species reported in Colorado Springs open spaces
How are the plants and animals that call Colorado Springs home doing? The city’s Parks Board recently gained insights during an annual report from Cody Bear Sutton, the Parks Department’s natural resources specialist. Sutton presented a brief summary of findings from 2025 regarding some wildlife and noxious weeds across parks, open spaces and greenways. Monitoring…
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For Valentine’s Day, a love letter to Colorado’s great outdoors
Dearest Colorado, It is Valentine’s Day, a day to profess my love for thee. But where to begin? Where our love story begins, of course, almost 10 years ago. I was wandering in a way that some of your earliest settlers had wandered across the country. Except they came by wagon, and I in an…
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Free day coming up at national parks, first of many scheduled for 2026
Trying to save money on your next visit to one of Colorado’s greatest natural treasures? Some dates on the 2026 calendar will help you do just that, starting Monday. Presidents Day is the first of the National Park Service’s free entrance days scheduled for the year. That means saving $25-$30 on passes at places like…
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Ski trail returns to rim of famed canyon in western Colorado
The chance to ski atop one of Colorado’s most picturesque canyons only comes around every so often. Now might be the time. Finally, amid a record dry spell, grooming has started along South Rim Road at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The park’s website indicates tracks were laid around the turn of this…
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‘Diamond in the rough’: New trails unlock adventure in red rock wonderland of southern Colorado
CAÑON CITY • It’s around here somewhere. Tiffany Brewer is sure of it. She’s sure, because she’s been here several times before ー this place where one walks atop red rock ridges that rise with the mountains not far from town. And yet one might feel closer to the national parks of Utah than to…
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Officials seek more ‘active management’ at sand dunes in northwest Colorado
At a scenic site of sand dunes in northwest Colorado, land managers want more “boots on the ground” through a new collaboration. “Active management” was another phrase often repeated at a recent meeting in Walden, where officials with the Bureau of Land Management and Colorado Parks and Wildlife spoke to people who know and love…