What to See in Colorado, United States

Colorado brings together the Southern Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau and the Great Plains. Between them are forests, mesas, canyons, rivers, desert country and enormous sand dunes, making the state a place of striking contrasts. This Colorado travel guide introduces the landscapes, history and towns that give the region its character. Neywo offers free audio guides for 12 cities in Colorado, with 242 narrated places in total and 11 walking tours.

What to see and do in Colorado

Explore the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide

The Rocky Mountains rise along Colorado’s western side, with the Continental Divide following much of the mountain crest. This great geological backbone separates landscapes and watersheds while connecting many of the state’s best-known mountain areas. The foothills can have very different weather from places only a few miles away, a reminder of how strongly Colorado’s terrain shapes daily conditions.

Discover the plains, mesas and desert landscapes

Colorado is not only a mountain destination. About half the state consists of flat or rolling land, while the eastern plains stretch alongside the rising Rockies. Farther west, the Colorado Plateau contributes mesas, canyons and desert lands. This meeting of plains, mountains and desert country is one of the defining features of the state.

Visit the San Luis Valley

In south-central Colorado, the San Luis Valley forms a broad highland landscape where the Rio Grande begins. Its position between mountain and desert environments reflects the state’s wider variety of terrain. It is also part of a region where the changing elevation and topography help produce very different local conditions.

See the Great Sand Dunes

Huge sand dunes are among Colorado’s most unexpected landscapes. Their presence adds another environment to the state’s already varied map of forests, rivers, plateaus and high plains. Together with the San Luis Valley, the dunes show why Colorado cannot be reduced to a single mountain image.

Learn about Colorado’s Indigenous history

People have lived in this region for at least 13,500 years, and possibly much longer. Native Americans and their Paleo-Indian ancestors inhabited Colorado, while the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains served as a major migration route for early peoples moving through the Americas.

Artifacts discovered at the Lindenmeier site provide one trace of this deep past. The Colorado River Numic language, also called the Ute dialect, is still spoken in Colorado, connecting the state’s present-day Indigenous communities with a history that reaches far beyond the nineteenth century.

Understand the state’s settlement and mining history

Colorado’s modern history accelerated during the nineteenth century. Much of the Nuevo México region was annexed to the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, followed by the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush and an influx of settlers. President James Buchanan signed the act creating the Territory of Colorado, and the territory became the thirty-eighth state in 1876 after President Ulysses S. Grant signed the proclamation admitting it to the Union.

Mining also brought conflict. Poor conditions and anger among miners contributed to major labor clashes, including the Colorado Coalfield War and the Ludlow massacre. Colorado’s story therefore includes not only rapid growth and statehood, but also the difficult consequences of industrial settlement.

Spend time in Denver and the Front Range

The Front Range Urban Corridor follows the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains between Cheyenne and Pueblo. About 84 percent of Colorado’s population lives in this band. Denver, the capital and largest city, is at its center, while Colorado Springs is the state’s second most populous city.

The corridor offers a way to understand Colorado’s urban life alongside its mountain setting. Government and defense are important parts of the economy, as are mining, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing. The state is also home to major military installations, including Fort Carson and the United States Air Force Academy.

Explore Boulder and the mountain towns

Boulder is one of the cities to include in a Colorado itinerary. Its Neywo guide covers 10 narrated places, including Chautauqua Auditorium, First Baptist Church of Boulder, CU Art Museum and Fiske Planetarium.

For a different kind of mountain-town experience, Telluride has a narrated place in its Historic District. Aspen has four narrated places, including Aspen Art Museum, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen Community Church and Holden/Marolt Mining and Ranching Museum. Golden also has four, among them the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum and the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.

Other towns spread across the state offer their own local stories. Buena Vista has 12 narrated places, while Glenwood Springs has 19, including Hotel Colorado, Sumers Lodge, the Roaring Fork River and Cascade Creek.

Experience Colorado’s food and cultural identity

Colorado’s culture reflects both the Southwest and the Rocky Mountains. Mexican restaurants are found throughout the state, and Boulder gained national attention when it was named America’s Foodiest Town in 2010. Colorado wines have also attracted favorable attention beyond the state.

Language adds another layer to this identity. English is the official and most commonly spoken language, followed by Spanish, while the Colorado River Numic language remains part of the region’s living heritage. Colorado’s modern culture also includes its distinctive approach to cannabis: voters approved medical use in 2000 and later protected personal use by adults while establishing a regulatory framework similar to alcohol.

Consider Colorado’s changing future

The state’s varied landscapes also reveal some of its current challenges. Rising temperatures and declining water availability are expected to affect agriculture, forestry and tourism. Water and climate are therefore part of Colorado’s present-day story, alongside its mountains, plains, cities and outdoor recreation.

Explore Colorado with Neywo’s free audio guide

Neywo has free audio guides for 12 cities in Colorado, covering 242 narrated places in total. The app includes 11 walking tours, with narration available in 11 languages.

Choose a city, start walking and let the app tell the story of each place as you reach it. You explore at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Alongside Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder and Telluride, you can discover Durango, Ouray, Salida and Steamboat Springs through narrated places in the app. Download Neywo and explore Colorado one story at a time.