south central

Alamosa
Bailey
Buena Vista
Fairplay
Leadville
Silver Cliff
Westcliffe

Prepare your eyes for a visual feast: South Central Colorado offers up a smorgasbord of pointed peaks, deep canyons and dazzling wildflowers. Streams of sunlight drape aspens in gold and throw sharp shadows across the mountainscape.

In this unpredictable terrain, the scenery greeting visitors is kaleidoscopic. Pristine silver lakes, hillsides covered in thick stands of aspen and pines and line after line of snow-capped mountains stretching across the horizon, a still-life of folded shapes. The ranges are never ending. Cross over one, and another comes instantly into view.

Against these towering, formidable backdrops, hardy towns nestle in wooded valleys. Leadville, the highest city in America, seems to rest on a cloud. The Collegiate Peaks cluster around Buena Vista and the Sangre de Cristos soar over the sweeping Great Sand Dunes. Colorado Springs offers a touch of urban class beneath the eminent heights of Pikes Peak.

In the San Luis Valley the land lies flat, as if to rest from the rolls and headstands it performs elsewhere. Here farmers raise crops in the rich soil and glistening streams snake through marshy meadows. At Royal Gorge the earth slips even lower, nosediving a thousand feet to the Arkansas River. Rafters, kayakers, and fishermen ply their skills here and on dozens of other pristine lakes and streams.

With all the ups and downs in this region, a visitor has to be ready for anything. You never know what you'll run into - but you can be pretty sure you'll like what you find.

Source: colorado.com

Denver Area
Front Range
Northwest - Ski Towns
Southwest - Ski Towns