Editor’s note: Welcome to the first installment of our 15-week series Colorado 150, marking 150 years of statehood with our favorite Colorado things.
Around my junior year in college at the University of Missouri, I packed a few things into the back seat of my VW bug, topped off the tank at 60 cents a gallon and headed west down Interstate 70, bound for Colorado to visit a high school buddy at the Air Force Academy.
It was a spring break road trip hastily conceived at that point in life when you suddenly realize that you don’t need permission to stretch your boundaries, geographical or otherwise. A little over 700 miles later, it was pitch dark when I wearily veered into the I-25 rest stop that overlooks the Academy, reclined my seat and caught a little shut-eye.
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Just before sunrise, when a stunning alpenglow bathed the landscape, I got my first real view of the campus tucked against the Rocky Mountains. Talk about a roadside attraction.
I’ve driven past that overlook a thousand times since, and the spectacular has grown familiar. But Colorado is a large state, and there are abundant highways and byways — from the first Otto Mears Toll Road in the Sawatch Range to Cañon City’s Skyline Drive to the West Elk Scenic Byway. And the roads wind past all manner of attractions. The iconic Bishop Castle in the Wet Mountains. The Stanley (“Here’s Johnny!”) Hotel in Estes Park.
And perhaps my favorite: The Solid Muldoon — a marker for a fake petrified giant “buried,” as it were, near Beulah. More on that later.
The point is that for the small investment of a Colorado road trip, the payoff can be fantastic. As the author Tom Robbins wrote in “Another Roadside Attraction”: “You should never hesitate to trade your cow for a handful of magic beans.”
Trade that cow.
Kevin Simpson | Writer
MAP: See where in Colorado you can find these gems below.
Otto Mears Toll Road
Long before a turnpike connected Boulder and Denver in 1952 and express lanes opened along the Front Range and into the mountains, Otto Mears was crafting ways to charge for easier travel in Colorado in the late 1800s. Mears’ toll road empire started in the 1870s to connect commerce in the San Luis and Arkansas River valleys.
His 11-mile stretch between Bonanza and the town of Shirley was the first of more than 450 miles of roads he built, earning him the title “Pathfinder of the San Juans.” Now a narrow four-wheel drive road, the Otto Mears Toll Road west of Poncha Pass tops out around 11,230 feet.
Skyline Drive
This will easily become one of the most memorable 2.5-mile stretches of paved road you’ll ever travel. Built in 1905 by prisoners at the nearby state facility, Skyline Drive is another great side trip when you make it to the Cañon City area.
The sheer drop-offs on both sides of the narrow, one-way road will have you squirming toward the middle of the vehicle. And when you need a break, there are spots to take in the views of the area and learn a little dinosaur history. (Check out the 1-mile hike off the road as well.)
Imogene Pass
This 12-mile trek between Telluride and Ouray is a big one for the Jeep community to check off their lists. But the window to enjoy it is small, typically from July to early October before the snow starts to fly at its 13,114-foot summit. And it is certainly a know-before-you-go trip on the steep, four-wheel drive rocky road.
But the scenery is spectacular (plan about four-six hours) as you go past a series of waterfalls on your way to the historic Camp Bird Mine and the mining claims that dot the landscape.
Piney River Road above Vail
This 12-mile, unpaved old forestry road climbs from Vail to the stunning Piney Lake and the historic Piney River Ranch. The road — which does not require all-wheel drive or high clearance — starts as Red Sandstone Road and Forest Service Road No. 700.
The trails that spin off the road — like the Lost Lake Trail, Son of Middle Creek and the scenic Upper Piney River Trail that winds through wildflower-choked meadows and aspen groves beneath stunning views of the Gore Range to a cascading waterfall — are gems for Vail area hikers. This road explodes with color in the fall as the aspens change.
The Silver Thread Scenic and Historic Byway
The 117-mile stretch of Colorado 149 between South Fork through Creede and Lake City to Blue Mesa Reservoir follows a 10,000-year-old route first used by Indigenous tribes. The Silver Thread Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway climbs from the Rio Grande Basin over Slumgullion Pass into the Gunnison River Basin.
The Slumgullion Earthflow at the top of the pass is a geologic wonder that draws scientists from across the world to study one of North America’s most recent major geologic events. Most of those cliffs formed through red-hot volcanic explosions some 25 million years ago, creating gaps that eventually filled with the precious minerals that drew prospectors by the thousands.
West Elk Scenic Byway
You won’t need to pack a lunch for this 205-mile loop on the Western Slope, because there are plenty of great Colorado towns to stop at for a snack, meal, fresh fruits, vegetables and wine and spirits.
Beyond that, the towns of Carbondale, Redstone, Marble, Crested Butte, Gunnison, Crawford, Hotchkiss and Paonia have plenty to offer. The byway meanders past state and national parks, a gorge, Colorado’s largest reservoir, roiling rivers, alpine passes, high desert communities, and a collection of more than a dozen orchards and vineyards.
Fun fact: Colorado has 26 scenic and historic byways, half of which are also federally designated America’s Byways.
Stanley Hotel
Perhaps the most iconic hotel in Colorado, the history and lore continues to write new chapters as more people discover Estes Park. Built in 1909, The Stanley is the inspiration behind Stephen King’s “The Shining” turned blockbuster movie (King lived in Boulder for more than 30 years).
With an infusion of cash for remodeling via a public-private partnership deal in 2025, the start of a partnership with Sundance and the upcoming festival’s move to Boulder, the Stanley is as hip as it’s ever been. Oh and the quirky “Dead Guy Days” festival has relocated to town.
Bishop Castle
A true monument to the “if you dream it you can do it” mantra, the construction marvel is the decadeslong work of the late Jim Bishop. In 1959, the Pueblo kid at age 15 used his savings to buy 2.5 acres in the Wet Mountains at 9,000 feet where he would eventually build the castle.
He started modestly with a rock foundation that friends said kind of looked like a castle. He kicked it into high gear in 1973 and went to work on the castle, which he worked on constantly until 2019. Jim died in 2024, but his son Daniel has carried on as caretaker.
Neon Alley
This back alley begs to be explored at night. Tucked behind downtown Pueblo storefronts, brothers Jim and Joe Koncilja have a collection of roughly 40 neon signs lighting up the dark.
The outdoor display is always open since it connects West B and C streets just north of the Arkansas River, and tucked behind a bakery, a salon and a cigar shop. It feels more like an art installation, than an alley.
In the glow you might spot Mobil’s winged Pegasus, the Michelin Man, some fake Hollywood lettering and a blinking “Jesus Saves” cross (right next to the Corona bottle with a twinkling lime).
The Solid Muldoon
There’s one born every minute, and in the late 19th century a huckster named George Hull played Colorado — and the rest of the country — for suckers. The theory of evolution was news, and Hull capitalized by creating, from ground meat, bones, blood and plaster, an 8-foot creature, the so-called “missing link” that he arranged to be “discovered” on Muldoon Hill, between Pueblo and Beulah.
The Solid Muldoon — the name came from a popular Irish song — toured the country and even Europe, but science did not take it seriously and the ruse fell apart when collaborators denied a share of the profits blew the whistle. Still, the public maintained a healthy sense of humor and, in 1984, held a reburial of the fake remains, complete with a wake.
Find the tombstone on a hill next to Colorado 78, near mile marker 16.
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This will be updated throughout the next several weeks as we continue counting down our 150 favorite Colorado things.