Why Colorado Is The Perfect Vacation Escape For Texans

Whether you’re a Texan explorer who loves the outdoors or a committed urban foodie, Colorado won’t disappoint. Read on to find out why North America’s highest state tops Texans’ travel lists every year, from its world-class beer to one of the planet’s most famous mountain ranges.

Easy and affordable flights

One of the key appeals of Colorado for Texans is the ease and affordability with which it can be reached. Companies such as United, American Airlines and Frontier Airlines run daily direct flights from all the major Texan airports – especially Dallas – to the Coloradan cities of Denver, Montrose, Colorado Springs, Aspen, Durango, Vail and Grand Junction. Most non-stop flights between these states take just over two hours and return journeys cost as little as $50, making Colorado an ideally located vacation spot for Texans.

The country’s best winter sports

Colorado is the premier destination in the USA for skiing and snowboarding, with 28 resorts and the highest lift-served landscapes in the country. Texans looking for a high-speed winter fix have an almost bewildering array of spots to choose from, from vast regions such as Vail (seven miles wide, with 193 skiable trails) to smaller, historic resorts such as Howelsen, which offers 15 slopes and world-class ski jumps. Other ways to make the most of the pristine snow and crisp skies of a Coloradan winter include ice skating, fat-tire biking, dog sledding and snow tubing.

Colorado is also a perfect destination for Texans looking to escape their state’s blistering summers, when the mercury often passes the 100F (38C) mark. Temperatures in Colorado usually top out at about 90F (32C) in July, but generally hover around 75F (24C) throughout the rest of the summer. This enjoyable warmth makes Colorado a top summer spot for outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, mountain biking, white-water rafting and horse riding.

Professional sports

Texan sports fans are never disappointed by Colorado’s offering. There are five professional sports teams in Denver: the Denver Broncos (football), Denver Nuggets (basketball), Colorado Rockies (baseball), Colorado Rapids (soccer) and Colorado Avalanche (hockey), all of which play to sell-out crowds in legendary venues such as the Mile High Stadium and the Pepsi Centre. Visitors can also attend NASCAR races at the Colorado National Speedway or watch PGA tournaments at Castle Rock’s Castle Pines Golf Club, with a line-up that offers year-round fixtures for Texan sports fanatics.

Craft beer

Texan beer lovers couldn’t ask for a better vacation escape than Colorado, which produces more barrels of the stuff every year than any other state. It’s home to almost 200 craft breweries, most of which are located in the Front Range (Fort Collins, Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs) and offer year-round tours and tastings. Denver is also the setting, every October, for the Great American Beer Festival, the largest festival of its kind in the States. In addition to its breweries, Colorado boasts over a hundred wineries, many of which are found in the beautiful Western Slope area.

Delicious food

Increasingly, Colorado is sought out by Texans for its stellar culinary offering. The Mediterranean restaurant Rioja in Denver received the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in 2013, while Telluride’s Alpino Vino offers Italian food 12,000ft (3,658m) in the air, making it the highest fine-dining restaurant in the country. Bruce’s Bar in Severance is said to cook Colorado’s best Rocky Mountain oysters (that’s bull testicles), while statewide Snooze offers breakfasts and brunches beloved by Texan foodies. Colorado was also the setting for Season 15 of the popular TV programme Top Chef.

Mountains and scenery

Texans also head to Colorado to admire some of the USA’s most humbling scenery. Most famous of all is its very own stretch of the Rocky Mountains, which consists of 58 peaks over 14,000ft (4,267m) high and makes it the tallest state in the country. Colorado is also home to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, where you’ll find the highest towers of sand in North America, reaching 750ft (228m) up into the sky. Colorado’s most unforgettable scenery is spread over ten national and 42 state parks.

Pot tourism

Weed is legal in Colorado, making it a popular spot for Texans seeking a pot-themed getaway. The state is home to many companies specialising in 420-friendly holidays (as vacations centring around the herbal relaxant are known), which seek out weed-tolerant accommodations and run pot-orientated classes and events. For a great selection of the latter, check out the Colorado Cannabis Tours, which offers chilled Texans everything from lessons on cooking with cannabis to pot-fuelled painting lessons. The state’s rules and regulations concerning weed are explained here.

Additional reporting by Mark Nayler.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.