Historic Landmarks

historic-landmarks
Colorado Historical Landmarks trace the state’s extensive mining roots, Native American culture, and of course the incredible expansion into the mountains. Nearly every town of Colorado is home to a piece of history, especially the most prominent mining towns or the high-altitude mountain passes established by early travelers and miners. In fact, there are over 21 federally designated Colorado Historical Landmarks that are waiting for you to explore.

Off the Tourist Track: The Quieter Side of Southwestern Colorado

Canyon of the Ancients

Far southwestern Colorado is synonymous with archeology, cliff houses and Native American history. But visitors don’t need to follow packed tours and camera-toting masses to experience the area’s wealth of Ancestral Puebloan culture. Just west of Dolores, the Anasazi Heritage Center makes a great preface for a trip through the region. The center features special [...]

Central City Opera House: Something to Sing About

Central City Opera House

Central City, 35 miles west of Denver, may be known best to outsiders as a gambling town, but the casinos aren’t the only attractions. The Central City Opera House, built in 1878, offers a historic and cultural experience. Welsh and Cornish miners, who brought cultural heritages to the gold-mining town from their homelands, built the [...]

The Stately Stanley: Estes Park’s ‘Shining’ Hotel

The Stanley Hotel

Perched atop a hill overlooking the stunning scenery of Estes Park, the Stanley Hotel holds court as one of Colorado’s most notable historic hotels. The sprawling, stately hotel, built in 1909, was the inspiration for Stephen King’s scary book “The Shining.” The author got the idea for his novel while staying in Room 217, where [...]

Tabernash: What Kind of Car Would Jesus Be Driving?

Tabernash Colorado

The tiny community of Tabernash might not be among your first choices of Colorado vacation spots because the list of tourist amenities it does not have far outweighs the attractions it does, other than the Colorado-class views, of course. For instance, among the things the town lacks is a motel, a definite impediment for the [...]

Crested Butte: Distinctive Destination

Crested Butte Distinctive Destination

At first glance, you can tell Crested Butte, in south-central Colorado, is not your typical glossy ski resort town. The attention paid to retaining its mining-town character is evident – and exactly why Crested Butte was chosen as one of the Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2008 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Wildflower gardens [...]

Chautauqua Park: Boulder’s Historic Landmark and Hangout

Chautauqua Park Boulder

Historic Chautauqua Park, once part of a vast circuit of summer educational retreats across America, offers hiking, dining, lodging and cultural events. The Colorado landmark has transformed itself into a Boulder hangout at the base of the dramatic foothills known as the Flatirons. When songsters aren’t strumming their guitars and filling the park with the [...]

San Luis Shrine: Stations of the Cross Sculptures

San Luis Shrine

On a hill overlooking tiny San Luis in southern Colorado, a series of statues lines the trail from base to crest. It’s the Shrine of the Stations of the Cross and the trailhead begins on the town’s Main Street. San Luis, Colorado’s oldest town (settled in 1851), is a quiet burg with few other attractions, [...]

The Brown Palace: Denver’s Historic Gem

Brown Palace Historic Gem

Beneath a grand ceiling of stained glass, the soft ringing of teaspoons as they hit saucers echoes through the atrium lobby of Denver’s historic Brown Palace Hotel. The sound of Afternoon Tea is coupled with melodious piano being played for guests, enriching the ambience that permeates the historic walls. Built in 1892 by Henry C. [...]

Cross Orchards Historic Farm: The Apple of Your Eye

Cross Orchards Historic Farm

Cross Orchards Historic Farm, tucked into the eastern edge of Grand Junction, is a working apple farm and historic site that gives visitors a glimpse of farming life in the Grand Valley in the early 1900s. In its prime, the ranch was operated by the Red Cross Land and Fruit Company, and the orchard was [...]

South Platte River Trail: Northeastern Colorado’s Historic Byway

South Platte River Trail Historic Byway

The Rockies disappear in the rear-view mirror. Ahead, Interstate 76 stretches mile after monotonous mile on a northeasterly sweep toward Nebraska. Grandeur is scant. Wheat waves, cattle graze and the loftiest point visible is often the next town’s water tower. The unpretentious plains of northeastern Colorado seem an unlikely place to find a scenic and [...]

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