Outdoors & Rec

There’s finally snow on Colorado slopes — and people are heading to the hills to take advantage of it. They can also take advantage of some special deals; for example, kids under five at Arapahoe Basin, the first mountain to open this year, can ski free. (Get all the details…

Depending on how you look at things, we either got a lovely extended fall or were robbed of primo skiing due to unseasonably warm weather. If you fall in the latter camp, you’ll be glad to know that resorts are finally opening – and offering more than ever this year.

When the re-imagined 2016 Snowboard Block Festival moved to the Denver Performing Arts Complex Sculpture Park with a new two-day format, it brought the Van Doren Pro Jam along for the ride on Saturday, October 15. Photographer Brandon Marshall caught the pro action – and a few skate punks, too –…

We’ve already offered tips for transplants who want to go leaf-peeping. Now that we’ve gotten autumn etiquette out of the way, we’re sharing our list of the best places to go see the turning colors. The most popular options are also the most obvious — Trail Ridge Road in Rocky…

The trees are already changing, and this weekend massive swathes of forest in the high country will begin to glow in gorgeous shades of yellow, orange and red. As the weather turns colder, week by week trees in other regions will shed their leaves, until finally the groves of the…

The National Park Service marked its 100th anniversary on August 25, and admission to all 413 national parks is free through Sunday, August 28. Colorado is home to four national parks — Rocky Mountain National Park, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Great Sand Dunes — as…

Over 2,000 bicyclists will arrive in Leadville on Saturday, August 13, to race in one of the most grueling yet beautiful mountain bike races in the world, the Leadville Trail 100 MTB. Thirteen of the riders, including Tour de France veteran Ted King and former Olympic cyclist and Coloradan Timmy…

Drivers aren’t the only public nuisances on the Denver streets. After we published our  Eight Rules of the Road for Cyclists, readers suggested that we write something about the ways that drivers can be asshats, too. Good idea. Not that deflecting blame for bad behavior should be rewarded. (It’s just…

Kids and adults alike are suddenly planning their summer around the places where they can find the most Pokémon. The app has topped 15 million downloads in the U.S. (and counting). Fortunately, Pokémon Go stops are clustered in some of the coolest spots around Denver, so you can stroll around…

Colorado is an active state, no doubt about it. Every year we either have the lowest rate of obesity, or we’re bitter about losing out to those skinny bitches in Massachusetts. And we’re by and large environmentally conscious, too. Put those two factors together, and you have the reason why…

Even in hot weather, a soak in hot water can be refreshing. Although you won’t have time today to hit some of the more far-flung spots on our list of the Ten Great Colorado Hot Springs, several readers suggest another option close by: Indian Hot Springs. Says Sarah: For a…

Bud+Breakfast is opening a new location in the mountains of Grand County this weekend, marking the company’s fourth marijuana-friendly bed-and-breakfast in Colorado. Located about an hour and a half from Denver in Parshall, Camp Bud+Breakfast was set up in partnership with Aspen Canyon Ranch, in a ranch setting where guests…

Last week’s Bike to Work Day in Golden kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Visitors Center, where Mayor Marjorie Sloan dedicated the brand-new Golden Bike Library, a bike-share program for residents, visitors, students and workers in the town that’s distinct from Denver’s B-cycle, and designed with families in…

“This is an area that’s been long neglected in terms of infrastructure, and that’s one of our major intents — to bring greater connectivity to this northeast Denver community,” says Will Kralovec, director of master site development for the Urban Land Conservancy, which is leading the community-driven development of 303…

When it comes to biking, what’s gonzo to one rider may be nothing but sweet singletrack to another. Colorado has a staggering variety of trails that appeal to all skill levels, but the routes that demand total concentration and titanium-steely nerve — steep, switchback-y, technical, rocky, rooted out and rutted…

Let’s face it: Colorado was made for hiking. From the highest peaks in North America to the lush forests of lodgepole pine and aspen, wildflower-blanketed meadows that go on for miles to river- and glacier-carved canyons, the Rocky Mountain landscape is ideal for exploring. That also means that there’s a…