• Playing Cowboy at the Home Ranch and Devil's Thumb Ranch: Nestled in the mountains near Steamboat Springs and Winter Park, respectively, these are two of the state's standout guest ranches, with luxurious perks. At the Home Ranch, expect food from an expertly trained French chef and adventurous horseback rides; at Devil's Thumb, there are all sorts of outdoor activities and geothermally heated lodge rooms and cabins.
  • Riding an 1880s Narrow Gauge Steam Train: There are two: The Durango & Silverton follows the Animas River from Durango up through the San Juan Mountains to historic Silverton; the Cumbres & Toltec chugs out of Antonito, Colorado; through the Toltec Gorge of the Los Piños River; over Cumbres Pass into Chama, New Mexico. Scenery is stupendous over both lines, and each fulfills every train buff's greatest dream of smoke in your eyes and cinders in your hair.
  • Exploring Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve: About 40 miles northeast of Alamosa, this huge pile of sand is a great place to explore, camp, hike, or just play in the 750-foot-tall dunes. Rangers provide guided nature walks and campfire programs in the summer, and a hiking/off-road-vehicle trail leads out the back of the monument into the national forest.
  • Exploring the Denver Museum of Nature and Science: The largest museum of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science features scores of world-renowned dioramas, an extensive gems and minerals display, a pair of Egyptian mummies, and a terrific fossil collection. 
  • Feeding Giraffes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo: On the lower slopes of Cheyenne Mountain, at 6,800 feet above sea level—making it the nation's highest—Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs is home to the largest and most prolific captive giraffe herd in the world, with about 200 live births since the 1950s. Visitors can actually feed the long-necked beasts

     

  • Playing in the Giant Sandbox that is Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve: About 40 miles northeast of Alamosa, this huge pile of sand is a great place to explore, camp, hike, or just play in the 750-foot-tall dunes. 

 

 

 

 

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.