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Colorado Road Trip: 4 Days of Hiking and Hot Springs - Conde Nast Traveler
This drive offers the best of Colorado: canyon hikes, blue waters for kayaking, and great local breweries.
Colorado's middle-of-the-country setting means visitors often forget there's plenty of water to play in (or on, when it freezes over come December). But Coloradans know better than to overlook these locales. Instead, we plan our trips around reservoirs, alpine lakes, and hot springs—because there’s nothing more ahh-inducing after a long day in the mountains than cooling your toes in the river or a soak in geothermal pools.
For a few days on the road that will showcase all of the above, follow this Colorado road trip that starts in Denver. It traverses some hidden gems in southwestern Colorado and offers a taste of the best of the region: mountains, charming towns, a national park, and, yes, plenty of hot springs. There’s something special to experience in any season, but this circuit is particularly beautiful when the fall foliage covers the mountains in gold and orange. In fact, there is so much to do that it’d be easy to extend your trek—spontaneity we highly encourage.
This drive offers the best of Colorado: canyon hikes, blue waters for kayaking, and great local breweries.
Colorado's middle-of-the-country setting means visitors often forget there's plenty of water to play in (or on, when it freezes over come December). But Coloradans know better than to overlook these locales. Instead, we plan our trips around reservoirs, alpine lakes, and hot springs—because there’s nothing more ahh-inducing after a long day in the mountains than cooling your toes in the river or a soak in geothermal pools.
For a few days on the road that will showcase all of the above, follow this Colorado road trip that starts in Denver. It traverses some hidden gems in southwestern Colorado and offers a taste of the best of the region: mountains, charming towns, a national park, and, yes, plenty of hot springs. There’s something special to experience in any season, but this circuit is particularly beautiful when the fall foliage covers the mountains in gold and orange. In fact, there is so much to do that it’d be easy to extend your trek—spontaneity we highly encourage.