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A historic Colorado tramway that appeared doomed a year ago is running again thanks to its sale to an out-of-state company that builds and operates urban and tourism gondolas.
Built in 1955, the Estes Park Tram operated through 2022 but didn’t open last year after its owners put it up for sale. Gondola Ventures bought and reopened it in May.

The Eagle River Inn is back. The hotel that was first built in the late 1800s has been a staple of Minturn on the north side of the Eagle River, across from the historic Minturn Saloon for over a century. The new life that has been put back into this lodge is courtesy of some local investors and Tierney and Joe Delude, two Chicago transplants who met years ago in Aspen after graduating college.

“Use your senses. Do you hear the fat crackling?”
I’m standing in the kitchen of Chez Maggy attempting to render duck skin on a stove with help from chef de cuisine Nick Morgan. We’d seasoned the meat with salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence and placed it skin-side down in a cold pan so the temperature of the poultry could rise slowly. Now, the pan was snap, crackle, popping with escaping fat. A quick peek at the darkening skin told us the poultry was ready to move into a 500-degree oven to cook through.

The 10-mile roundtrip hike to the top of Mount Ida might sound daunting. Let’s face it; it is.
But every step along the way makes the views from the top worth every huff and puff of energy.
The trailhead up to Mount Ida starts at Milner Lake and follows the Ute Trail through thick forest and uses several sets of steps to help with the elevation gain. This initial steep climb gains some elevation – starting at about 10,740 feet and climbing to about 11,100 feet in about 1.5 miles – before the trail splits.

From a mountainside aerie 1,300 feet above Idaho Springs, on a 19th-century mining claim called the Sun and Moon, Mary Jane Loevlie savored a broad panorama that frames Mount Blue Sky and its sister fourteener, Mount Bierstadt. Loevlie saw the future here years ago, and her vision is finally beginning to take form.
“Coming up here for a sunset cocktail?” she mused with excitement Wednesday morning, imagining an evening when her long-held dream becomes reality.

What’s red and white and sprouts up all over Telluride this time of year? We’re not talking about just amanita muscaria mushrooms, but rather a whole festival dedicated to fungi.

Colorado teems with peaks including 58 fourteeners, more than 600 thirteeners, and 32 ski areas — it can be hard to remember that nearly half of the state is flatter and undulating.
Born and raised here, that’s certainly been the case for me.
But skirting either side of the rugged Rocky Mountains, the Centennial State is home to desert mesas, plateaus, and canyons alongside the rolling High Plains — full of opportunities to explore.
Pueblo sits in Southeast Colorado’s high desert.

“Greenville, South Carolina? But why?”
That was the most common response I heard — especially from friends from the South — when I shared that I’d be heading to Greenville for nearly a week earlier this summer. When I explained that I was visiting to attend a work conference, they looked slightly less puzzled, but still skeptical.

Whenever I visit a winery, I sigh deeply and say, “I wish I never had to leave.” The wine’s delightful taste, the vineyards’ scenic beauty, and the warm hospitality make me content.
Some Colorado wineries do want you to make yourself right at home — albeit not forever. Many now offer on-site lodging through vacation rentals, guest houses, inns, campsites, and more.
For your next wine-infused getaway, here’s a snapshot of some Colorado wineries that will let you spend the night.

Colorado is more than beautiful mountains, windswept prairies, and arid deserts. It’s the stories of the people who came before us, of the triumphs and tragedies of life in the rugged frontier, of a state and nation going through growing pains.
Life in the West was often a struggle, and some places represent our ingenuity and perseverance. Some places harbor dark secrets, revealing shameful stories.