Veteran Travelers Undeterred By Violence

The peak of leaf-peeping season in the northern mountains most likely is a week or two away, but the onset of the great fall foliage transition has begun. “We’ve had some chilly nights, a few 34s, 35s, some light frost on the deck,” said longtime Steamboat Springs resident Cathy Wiedemer. “That maybe has helped with it.

Public access to Mount Democrat, a fourteener near Fairplay that is part of the popular DeCaLiBron Loop, has been permanently secured following the sale of the trailhead, the trail and the summit to the nonprofit Conservation Fund by landowner John Reiber. Reiber closed the DeCaLiBron, a popular trail that crosses Democrat and three other 14,000-foot peaks — Cameron, Lincoln and Bross — due to liability concerns in March.

As Denver’s population has exploded, so have its entertainment options. One might think that growth makes it easier to get into the best restaurants, concerts, and sporting events, given that there are more of them than ever. One would be wrong. Related Articles Entertainment | What to do this week in Denver: Festival of Horror, Latin Fashion Week, Chuck D on stage Entertainment | Paddleboarders dressed as witches will haunt Colorado lakes; here’s how to join them Entertainment | Southwestern Colorado’s best little beer festival takes IPA lovers straight to the source | Opinion Entertainment | Six can’t-miss Oktoberfest parties, from Denver to Longmont to Vail Entertainment | Denver Food & Wine Fest, “Dog Man” Musical, and more things to do in Denver this weekend The metro area and Front Range’s hottest events and venues are slathered in hype, but it’s justified in the form of the state’s newly Michelin-starred restaurants, the nationally ascendant University of Colorado football team, and the biggest concerts at massive, metro-area venues. Here are a few of Denver’s toughest tickets this season. Newly Michelin-starred restaurants It didn’t take long for reservations to flood the state’s most acclaimed eateries after the industry-standard Michelin dining guide bestowed its first Colorado stars this month.

The culmination of Steamboat Resort’s ambitious three-year redevelopment project tops the list of most exciting resort improvements in Colorado this winter with a new base-to-summit gondola that will dramatically increase uphill capacity and a 655-acre terrain expansion. There’s also a new lift at Keystone to serve above-timberline bowl skiing that previously was hike-to terrain, and a fancy new mid-mountain restaurant at Copper Mountain, but Steamboat’s $220-million transformation stands apart as the most significant upgrade in the resort’s 61-year history. Since 2021, Steamboat — which was pounded by snow last year — replaced an old gondola that ran from the base to mid-mountain at Thunderhead and demolished the old gondola building to make room for base area improvements that include an ice rink and a food hall.

Autumn in Estes Park is when everything falls into place. Your rock shoes will stick a little better, the trails are in ideal condition for mountain biking, trail running or hiking, and the trout are biting. It’s peak season for your favorite activities but not for the crowds if you can play hooky – you may have the trail, river or rock to yourself if you can get out midweek.

There isn’t as much buzz this year around the Great American Beer Festival, which takes place at the Colorado Convention Center on Sept. 21-23, as usual. The annual event — considered to be the largest commercial beer fest in the United States — has had trouble generating momentum since taking two years off because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while there are usually dozens, even hundreds, of events at metro Denver breweries, bars and restaurants during the week of the fest, 2023 isn’t seeing nearly as many.