Orientation

Getting There

All major carriers fly into Denver International Airport. From there you can puddle-jump to Vail, Aspen, Durango, Montrose and Grand Junction. But the best way to experience the state’s natural splendor is by car. Interstate 70, the main east-west artery, takes you from the airport to Denver in thirty minutes; over Vail Pass and into the Rocky Mountains in ninety minutes; and to western Colorado’s buttes and mesas in four hours. To get to Colorado Springs from Denver, take Interstate 25 south for just over an hour.

Lay of the Land

In addition to the sparsely populated Eastern Plains, Colorado consists of three main regions. The Front Range, the populous north-south corridor along the eastern foothills of the Rockies, stretches from Fort Collins in the north to Pueblo in the south and includes Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs. The Rockies form the state’s snow-capped spine, home to Aspen, Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs and Vail. On the Western Slope sits Grand Junction as well as Durango and Telluride.