I'm thinking of moving to Colorado, what is a good small tourist town to ?

[lars12801]

I'm a Chainsaw Artist and I'm looking to move out west to Colorado, I've lost that NY state of mind and want a change, anybody have some good advice

[McGowdog]

Wow! Not too much traffic in here yet.

What can I say about Colorado? We moved out here from SoCal when I was 10.

You've got the eastern plains which is very rural. Continuing from east to west, you've got the Front Range which is basically the I-25 corridor running from south to north, but more specifically from about Colorado Springs (which I jokingly refer to as Denver South), Monument-Palmer Divide area, Castle Rock, the Denver Metro area and northwest through Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, then Ft. Collins.

Heading further west, you've got the Rocky Mountains with the Continental Divide intermingled from the southwest edge of the state going north almost disecting the state up the middle to the north, then you've got the Western Slope which is very scenic although sparse.

If you get a chance, you might head to Denver sometime and plan a road trip to the mountains from there. You might check out Boulder (scenic and liberal), Estes Park, maybe take a drive through Rocky Mountina National Park, then back to I-70 and head west and check out some of those resort towns such as Breckenridge, Dillon, Vail, Glenwood Canyon, etc.

I'm not sure what you're looking for in a small tourist town. I would imagine you'd want to check out the mountains. I used to work in the Durango area. That's in the southwest section of the state.

It's a pretty big state. I'm definitely no expert here. Hopefully others will post soon and give you some other ideas.

Hope that gives you an idea or two.

Colorado has four major rivers; The Arkansas which starts up near Mt. Elbert by Twin Lakes and winds down towards Salida, then east through the Royal Gorge, Canon City, Pueblo (Pueblo Reservoir is in Pueblo West), then along the Ark Valley (heading east from Pueblo you've got Fowler, Manzanola, Rocky Ford, Swink, LaJunta, Las Animas, Lamar (John Martin Reservoir), then Kansas. You've got the Colorado River, the Rio Grande, and the South Platte. There's great river rafting on the Arkansas and the Colorado. I'm not sure where you'd raft on the Colorado in Colorado, but on the Arkansas, you go to Browns Canyon.

Oh, and we have skiing. If you're late for the season, you can ski Arapahoe Basin till the snow melts-sometimes well into June.

I like southern Colorado because it's close enough to the Front Range and about an hour to the Colorado Springs airport.

Here's the Greenhorn Mountain near Colorado City, Rye, and San Isabel;




Oh, and we get snow sometimes;



Here's those rafting shots on the Arkansas at Sidels in Browns Canyon;



I'm the one in the green helmet saying Oh Fook, Paddle Paddle Paddle!

Enjoy.