Colorful Colorado

[Jennifer]

Colorful Colorado

BY DAN LEETH

Special to the Pioneer Press

 

Tourism promoters like to say there is no perfect time to visit "Colorful Colorado." Residents know otherwise.

 

The best period for hitting the high country, many believe, falls between mid-September and mid-October. Days are warm, nights cool, and mosquitoes have hightailed it for the season.

 

So have the crowds. Highways become unjammed, resorts uncrowded and restaurants uncongested. The mountains turn mellow.

 

To read the complete article, click here: Colorful Colorado

[Dave Reese]

Colorado,

Since I don't ski, February this past year was my least favorite time to visit. I had trouble working my camera in the Garden of the Gods when the actual temperature was 14 and it was windy. I did not even try to find out the wind chill equivalent.

But we have had some of our favorite visits around April. The ski crowds are gone, and tourist season has not begun. We were once able to take the first cog railroad ride to Pikes Peak for the year, when there were areas where the snow was higher than the train windows. No need for a reservation for dinner at the Cliff House, you could take the first tour when you arrived at the Cave of the Winds, and my Garden of the Gods photos were not filled with other people.

In Denver, I have enjoyed shirt sleeve weather on the 16th Street Mall in January, and have really enjoyed all the seasons. Breckenridge around Labor Day had arts festivals, and Denver had their festival on the Capitol grounds as well. Just avoid the Springs around USAFA Parents Weekend or Graduation Weekend as room rates do go up. But during Graduation week you get to see the Thunderbirds practice. What a great feeling sitting at an outside table at Sonic and having them fly over in perfect formation.