DENVER, Colo. (September 25, 2025) — 2026 marks Colorado’s 150th birthday, and this winter, the state will kick-off the celebrations in style with exciting new offerings. Skiers and snowboarders will be welcomed with a variety of on-mountain upgrades at the state’s 28 ski areas and resorts from terrain expansions and new lifts to enhanced snowmaking and elevated après offerings. Beyond the slopes, travelers can dive into immersive arts and cultural experiences, embark on scenic hut trips, enjoy nighttime snow-filled adventures and participate in new events. After a day of discovery, there are plenty of opportunities to savor and celebrate with new craft beverage offerings and elevated eats with MICHELIN-recognized dining and James Beard Award-winning chefs. And for ultimate relaxation, travelers can explore various wellness offerings including a variety of rejuvenating hot springs and rest easy in stylish new accommodations.
Visitors to the state are encouraged to “Do Colorado Right” and embrace the state’s interpretation of responsible tourism. Following is a sampling of what’s new this winter in Colorado. For more information and travel ideas, visit www.COLORADO.com.
Where to Go in 2026: Colorado Celebrates 150 Years of Statehood and 250 Years of American Independence:
This dual milestone marks a rare opportunity to highlight Colorado's place within the broader narrative of the United States. Centered on the theme "The View From Here," several signature initiatives, educational programs, exhibits, and community-led events are being designed to inspire connection, community engagement and statewide pride. These include a Digital Passport Program available on Colorado.com; Historic Preservation with a goal to add 150 historic sites by 2026; Statewide Oral History highlighting more than 150 diverse stories; “Moments that Made US” exhibit at the History Colorado Center; a Statewide Anniversary Events Calendar including celebratory drone shows throughout the state, customized for each event and more. Visitors to the Centennial State can experience its rich history in a variety of ways including historic hotels, nine scenic and historic railroads, 30 dude & guest ranches, historic mine tours and gold rush towns, the Colorado Historic Opera Houses Circuit, the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop, four National Parks, nine National Monuments and three National Historic Areas, museums and cultural institutions and more!
Major 2025-26 Ski Resort News:
Winter 2025-26 will be a monumental year at Colorado’s 28 ski areas and resorts. Monarch Mountain will debut its No Name Expansion this season adding 377 acres of intermediate-to-advanced terrain and 10 new runs on both sides of the Continental Divide, boosting skiable terrain by 50 percent. Winter Park Resort’s Mary Jane is celebrating its 50th season. Back for a second season of expanded service, the Winter Park Express Ski Train will offer special holiday runs in December and launch regular four-day-a-week service on January 8, 2026. Keystone’s first luxury hotel, Kindred Resort, debuts this winter with ski-in/ski-out access, multiple new dining concepts, a kids club, spa, and dozens of firepits designed for connection, transforming the base of River Run. Panadero Ski Corporation is revitalizing Cuchara Mountain Park in Southeast Colorado, with Lift 4 set to reopen for the first time in 25 years for the 2025–26 ski season. As Purgatory Resort approaches its 60th anniversary in December 2025, the Southwest Colorado destination is investing more than $6 million in capital improvements including expanded snowmaking, a new fixed-grip triple chairlift with five new trails, a new snowcat, glading and more. This winter, Snowmass welcomes the replacement of the existing Elk Camp quad chair to a new state-of-the-art 6-pack lift, as well as the new Cirque T-bar, one of the highest lifts in North America. A major lift upgrade is underway at Sunlight Mountain Resort with the replacement of two of its three lifts this season- the largest investment for the ski area since it opened in 1966. The town of Nederland is working to purchase Eldora Mountain and turn it into a year-round, community-driven asset. Eagle County joins United’s “7-Hub Club,” meaning the airport hosts direct flights from seven of United’s major hubs around the country: Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco and Washington making it easier than ever before to get to the heart of Colorado’s ski country. This winter, Vail Mountain will redefine alpine music and culture with three signature headline acts, on-mountain pop-ups, and music-forward après events all season long.
Go for the Gold: Olympic Experiences Await in Colorado:
Can’t make it to Italy for the 2026 Winter Games? Colorado offers numerous opportunities for visitors to experience the thrill of the Olympics and connect with Olympic hopefuls both on-and-off the state’s storied slopes. In Colorado Springs, known as “Olympic City U.S.A.,” visitors can experience year-round guided tours of the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, as well as visit the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum–a world-class attraction showcasing the entire journey of the Olympic games. This winter, the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum will offer daily artifact demonstrations, live Games coverage on their 40-foot LED wall, opportunities to meet Team USA athletes and other engaging programming throughout the Games; it will also play host to Downtown Winter Fest on February 7, 2026. Debuting this season, Steamboat will offer a Ski with an Olympian program to explore the resort with a Steamboat Olympian and also Dinner with an Olympian at The Steamboat Grand’s re-envisioned restaurant, The Crooked Antler. The Stifel Copper Cup, an Audi FIS Ski World Cup, will showcase women’s giant slalom and slalom events alongside the men’s super-G and giant slalom races at Copper Mountain November 27-30, 2025. Beaver Creek's legendary Stifel Birds of Prey expands to four men's FIS Alpine World Cup races December 4-7, 2025, featuring two downhills, a super-G, and a giant slalom. Breckenridge Ski Resort will play host to a new signature event, the Rockstar Energy Open, to take place December 19-21, 2025. This three-day festival is free and open to the public, combining world-class snowboarding competitions featuring Olympic athletes such as local hero Red Gerard with live music, art installations and more. Aspen, Buttermilk will host the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, the final stop of the domestic Olympic-qualifying circuit, bringing world-class slopestyle and halfpipe competition to the mountain January 7-10, 2026. Aspen Snowmass will host the official naming of the 2026 U.S. Olympic Ski & Snowboard Team—an iconic, celebratory moment just weeks before the Games.
New Lodging Offerings:
Sweet dreams are sure to be had after a day of winter adventuring with several exciting new lodging offerings across the state. Kindred Resort will open in late 2025 with a 107-room hotel, 95 residences, a private club, three new restaurants and retail that will transform the Keystone base village experience. White Elephant Aspen is set to debut in late fall 2025 bringing its inimitable mix of service, style and hospitality to Aspen. Gravity Haus will open its latest concept, Gravity Haus Denver Hotel in fall 2025 and will be the first Gravity Haus in an urban setting. Limelight Boulder opened in August 2025 as an all-electric community hub featuring 250 guest rooms, a ground-floor restaurant, an outdoor plaza, an event lawn and a second story “viewpoint deck” with unbeatable views of the Flatirons. In Glenwood Springs, Hotel 1888 opened in summer of 2025 as a new 16-room boutique hotel built within the historic sandstone bathhouse of the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort– the world’s largest hot springs pool, Honey Rock Landing, an organic working orchard and agritourism retreat in Dominguez Canyon, opened Luxury Cave Suites in August 2025 where each 400-square-foot suite is etched into sandstone. Kosmos Stargazing Resort and Spa opened with its first villas in spring 2025 near the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve with plans to unveil 20 luxurious 'Telescope-Equipped' Villas to be completed in the coming year and a "Kosmos Stargazing Experience" at the on-site Planetarium & Observatory to open in 2027. The Old Library, a beautifully restored Carnegie Library on the National Historic Registry, is now open for short-term stays in historic downtown Sterling.
Winter Adventures Off-The-Slopes:
Adventure is part of Colorado’s DNA, and 2026 welcomes several new offerings to get the adrenaline pumping. Colorado Adventure Guides introduces new guided ice climbing at Chalk Creek Falls, near Leadville and Copper Mountain. Lake County (Leadville and Twin Lakes) is expanding winter trail access with an improved grooming plan for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking, complementing its existing snowmobile trail network. The Mighty Argo Cable Car, a high-speed year-round gondola in Idaho Springs, will take riders 1.2 miles from the Historic Argo Mill up Rosa Gulch to the mountain top Argo Landing, which will feature pedestrian plazas, viewing decks, an observation trestle, creative food and beverage options, an amphitheater, access to 28+ miles of planned hiking and biking trails in Virginia Canyon Mountain Park and more to partially open in late 2025 and fully open in spring 2026. The Argo Mill & Tunnel is an iconic heritage tourism site, and a landmark of Colorado Gold Rush history. Adrenaline Driven Adventures in Grand Junction is offering new ‘choose your own adventure’ style excursions that allow guests to experience ‘Nature’s Trifecta,’ a combination of three unique geographical landscapes that can't be found anywhere else in the world including Colorado National Monument, the Grand Mesa and Rattlesnake Arches, in a variety of ways including by foot and UTV. Coming in 2026, Sterling invites cyclists to explore wide-open landscapes with the new Gravel Adventure Field Guide. Beyond this, visitors to Colorado can enjoy the state’s snowy terrain, both on and off the slopes via nordic skiing and snowshoeing, winter sleigh rides, fat biking, skijoring, Via Ferrata courses, snowmobiling, heliskiing, dog sledding, ice climbing, winter fly-fishing, snow kiting and more.
Winter Hut and Yurt Experiences:
Colorado’s extensive network of backcountry huts offers the opportunity to get away from it all with limitless adventure. Ski or snowshoe from hut to hut in the European tradition or set up camp in a single location for a more relaxing getaway. Yonder Yurts offers hard-sided yurts in Colorado’s State Forest State Park located in Gould. Full service huts include the luxe Red Mountain Alpine Lodge and Thelma Hut on Red Mountain Pass and the Opus Hut near Silverton. Colorado is home to one of the most extensive backcountry hut systems in North America, with more than 30 huts across 350 miles of U.S. Forest Service trails called the 10th Mountain Division Huts. There is also the San Juan Hut System in southwestern Colorado, Summit Huts offers five easily accessible huts near Breckenridge and Copper Mountain and the Hinsdale Haute Route is Colorado’s highest altitude hut system offering two year-round yurts near Lake City. Other unique hut/yurt experiences include the Broome Hut on Berthoud Pass, Pass Creek Yurt near Pagosa Springs and the High Camp Hut on Lizard Head Pass near Telluride. Several Colorado State Parks also offer winter cabin and yurt camping experiences.
Winter Hot Springs and Wellness Offerings:
In Colorado, wellness isn’t just a trend, it is a lifestyle. Historians estimate that as many as one-third of Colorado’s early settlers moved to the state for reasons associated with health and that focus on wellness and longevity continue to inspire and draw visitors today. Celebrating 10 years, the award-winning Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop offers America’s most relaxing road trip through eight top soaking destinations. The Springs Resort in Pagosa Springs recently underwent an expansion to double the number of hotel rooms and add 20 new hot springs pools along with a new geothermal spa, a geothermal greenhouse and a greenhouse-to-table restaurant. Old Town Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs unveiled a transformative pool expansion in summer 2025, adding four new pools and a spacious deck to the historic hot springs facility. Chipeta Lodge Resort + Spa in Ridgway has been reimagined and features renovated rooms, a re-designed year-round heated pool and community hot tubs, the new White Buffalo Restaurant + Bar and the Chipeta Lodge Spa by ISUN. This winter, Iron Mountain Hot Springs guests can enjoy a family-friendly gemstone mining sluice alongside 32 geothermal, freshwater and inspired pools and two cafes on the property. New in 2026, they will expand with The Summit, a circuit of saunas, steam rooms, salt rooms and cold plunge pools inspired by wellness destinations across the world. This winter, Leadville offers several new wellness experiences including Sunshine Mobile Saunas that bring wood-fired, Finnish-style saunas directly to a guest’s location, Akka Sauna that offers a serene, Scandinavian-inspired space and Swim Squared that adds lap swimming, cold plunges, sauna sessions and showers at 10,000 feet. The Bohemian Bier Spa will open in Glenwood Springs in fall 2025 offering a unique and relaxing experience that combines the benefits of a traditional spa with the therapeutic advantages of beer.
Dark Skies and Colorado Adventures After Dark:
Colorado is now home to 12 International Dark Sky Parks and seven International Dark Sky Communities. Breckenridge received Colorado's most recent Dark Sky Community designation in August 2025 and became the first mountain ski resort community in Colorado to be designated as a Dark Sky Community. Colorado has the most places in the world (over 30, including 12 state parks) that have officially started the process to become a certified International Dark Sky Place. Across Colorado, guests can experience winter adventures by moonlight. Keystone, Granby Ranch and Steamboat all offer night skiing on various runs. New this winter, Keystone is adding a cosmic twist to their World’s Largest Mountaintop Snow Fort with after dark offerings on select evenings. During Ullr Nights at Snowmass, guests can board the gondola to Elk Camp for night time adventures like tubing, riding the alpine coaster, snowbiking and indulging in s'mores and hot chocolate by the bonfire. Beaver Creek Village’s ice-skating rink and surrounding fire pits offer a cozy place for hot cocoa, and ice bike rentals are also available. Snowshoe or cross-country ski to the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse outside of Leadville and enjoy an intimate, candlelit four-course dinner of classic Colorado cuisine. Similarly, Magic Meadows Yurt, a backcountry yurt outside of Crested Butte, provides a truly magical setting for moonlight snowshoe and cross-country ski dinners. Alpino Vino, one of the highest elevation restaurants in North America is a quaint European chalet on the Telluride Ski Resort that offers a prix fixe Northern Italian dinner accessible via a snow coach. Beaver Creek will be bringing back its Alpine Table Signature Dining Events that feature a collaborative multi-course tasting menu with Michelin-recognized Colorado restaurants and the resort’s renowned fine dining cabins. .Aspen’s legendary restaurant, the Pine Creek Cookhouse, is nestled at the base of the Elk Mountains and is accessible via cross-country skis, snowshoes or horse drawn sleigh. Arapahoe Basin's annual Moonlight Dinner Series highlights cuisines from mountain regions of the world and are held at the Black Mountain Lodge at mid-mountain accessible by chairlift or uphill skiing. Copper Mountain’s Aerie Sunset Ski events offer specialty lift access after normal operating hours and include dinners, live music and drinks.
Immersive Arts, History & Cultural Experiences:
History, arts and culture are immersive experiences in Colorado, and there are several new offerings to ignite the senses. “Moments That Made US” will be on display at History Colorado Center November 22, 2025 – October 18, 2026, as part of America's 250 - Colorado's 150 Anniversary. It is a marquee exhibition featuring more than forty artifacts that witnessed the moments that shaped the United States. The Denver Art Museum will welcome "Guest of Honor: Rembrandt" through February 6, 2027, showcasing two of the acclaimed artist's masterpieces. The Leonardo da Vinci Museum of North America will open in early 2026 in Pueblo and aims to offer a unique and immersive experience, featuring life-sized machine replicas based on Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches, STEAM exhibits and interactive displays. The Pueblo Museum will be the only permanent home in the United States for Leonardo da Vinci’s model-based exhibits. Inspired by storied jazz artists and Jazz Aspen Snowmass’ history of presenting musically diverse icons, the new JAS Center will become a vibrant, intimate year-round performance and gathering space opening in December 2025 in Aspen. The Colorado Historic Opera Houses Circuit shines in winter with a full line up of special performances, events and activations. .The City of Loveland recently unveiled its third love lock sculpture featuring 40 steel hearts forming a larger heart, with a grid for placing padlocks—offering travelers another way to experience Loveland’s iconic tradition of locking their love. 2026 will mark the 20th anniversary of Breckenridge History, the nonprofit dedicated to interpreting and preserving the town’s history as a mining town, which was selected to exhibit the Smithsonian’s Americans exhibit from January 17-March 15, 2026.
Colorado For All:
Colorado strives to be a truly welcoming destination and offers experiences and access opportunities for everyone. The Colorado Tourism Office has partnered with Wheel The World on a new Accessible Travel Program to amplify accessible travel across Colorado. This winter, Wheel The World will offer new small group tours, the first of their kind in the U.S., that balance fun, comfort, and adventure and highlight the vibrant city of Denver alongside Colorado’s breathtaking natural beauty. Several ski areas across the state also offer adaptive sports programming including the Crested Butte Adaptive Sports Center, The National Sports Center for the Disabled based out of Winter Park Resort and the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026 and offering a new Day of Inclusion event on January 24, 2026. Keystone Resort will also host a Day of Inclusion, December 19-20, 2025 with a special First Tracks, parade on snow and party at the Mountain House base area. As part of its “Heniiniini: There is Snow on the Ground” public art installation, Winter Park Resort is completing more indigenous trail signs in the Eagle Wind terrain. With the help of an Arapaho linguist, they have translated trail signs into the Arapaho language. The First Peoples Festival will take place January 16-18, 2026 in Estes Park celebrating Indigenous culture, art, music, language, oral traditions and more. Girls rule winter in Colorado with ski areas across the state offering tailored programming to provide women skiers and riders the opportunity to take part in a welcoming, supportive and fun learning environment on the snow. For winter 2025–26, Crested Butte Mountain Resort will offer Women’s Wednesdays–weekly clinics where intermediate and advanced women skiers and riders can grow skills, build confidence, and connect in a supportive setting all led by expert female coaches. Moxie Mountain Guides is a girl-powered guiding service in Ouray that strives to elevate those from marginalized communities so they can experience adventures such as ice climbing, skiing, ski mountaineering and more with pay what you should programming. Also in Ouray is the All In Ice Fest (January 9-11, 2026), a one-of-a-kind event that brings together ice climbers and shines a spotlight on marginalized communities and adaptive athletes. Aspen, Telluride and Keystone roll out some of the liveliest gay ski weeks in the country. The National Brotherhood of Snowsports (NBS), in partnership with Vail Resorts, will return to Keystone Resort for its 2026 Annual Summit (February 28 to March 8, 2026) bringing together 60 member clubs and thousands of supporters from around the world.
New and Notable Events and Anniversaries:
Ice Castles is an award-winning frozen attraction showcasing hundreds of thousands of icicles and breathtaking LED-lit ice sculptures that will take place at a new location in Silverthorne and also returning to Cripple Creek this winter. Ski Cooper, in partnership with 10th Mountain Division Descendants, Inc honors the legendary 10th Mountain Division each February with the 10th Mountain Division Day, which includes ceremonies and on-mountain activities commemorating their historic WWII legacy. Grand Lake Skijoring returns February 28 to March 1, 2026 showcasing an authentic and fast-growing winter sport that teams up a skier, a horse, and a rider against the beautiful backdrop of Grand Lake. Fat Bike Worlds makes its return to Leadville in 2026, bringing high-energy, elite fat biking competition back to Colorado’s high country. Other iconic Colorado winter celebrations include Aspen’s Wintersköl (December 11-14, 2025), Breckenridge’s 35th Annual International Snow Sculpture Championships (January 24-February 3, 2026), Steamboat’s Winter Carnival (February 6-8, 2026), Leadville Skijoring and Crystal Carnival Weekend (March 2026) and more. Additionally, 2026 marks some major anniversaries and milestones. In 2026, Loveland will celebrate 80 years of the nation’s largest Valentine re-mailing program. Each valentine is hand-stamped with the Loveland Cachet—a custom poem and artwork curated annually. Located in Northern Colorado near Fort Collins, Lory State Park will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2025 and in 2026, Horsetooth Reservoir will celebrate its 75th anniversary. Both offer winter hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and winter wildlife viewing.
All-In On Apres:
Colorado’s legendary après-ski and winter adventure scene is vibrant and diverse, offering everything from cozy mountain bars and craft breweries to upscale lounges with scenic alpine or urban city views. At Tavernetta Vail, the newest restaurant from the James Beard Foundation Award-winning Frasca Hospitality Group, guests can experienceAprès-Tivo, an Italian take on Après Ski, at the Tuscan-inspired Spritz Window or Remedy Bar for the beloved Haute Chocolate. Arapahoe Basin will offer DJ sets at Black Mountain Lodge every Saturday in November 2025 and will be opening a new Ice Bar in March 2026. The Crooked Antler, located inside The Steamboat Grand Hotel, revamps the restaurant space previously known as The Cabin, creating a cozy environment. Step into a beautifully restored 1900s boxcar where history meets modern charm—serving local meads, brews and spirits just steps from Leadville’s Main Street at the new Boxcar Bar at FREIGHT – S.L.umber Yard. American Lore will open in late 2025 as a new whiskey and beer bar located on Tennyson Street in Denver, offering a creative fusion of high-end spirits and custom fashion experiences including hat-making by renowned designer Parker Thomas. Colterris Collections in Palisade offers a new, unparalleled experience that goes beyond wine tasting to invite guests on a captivating journey through wine’s influence on history and culture with a stunning new tasting room and courtyard that is home to one of the most distinctive wine museums in the world. Siren will open in Boulder in late fall 2025 as a neighborhood cocktail bar and martini lounge inspired by favorite seaside taverns around the world and offering fun cocktails, an inspired wine list, tinned fish selections and a cozy atmosphere. Adventure Time Bar is Denver’s first immersive rotating themed cocktail bar, opening in fall 2025 in Denver's Baker neighborhood.
Colorado’s Freshest and Award-Winning Culinary Finds:
Colorado has a rich culinary heritage that includes both established, notable chefs and innovative up-and-comers. The 2026 MICHELIN Guide Colorado selection was revealed in September 2025 adding the state’s first-ever Two MICHELIN Star restaurant, The Wolf’s Tailor and welcoming three new One Star establishments in Denver — Kizaki, Margot, and Mezcaleria Alma. This year’s guide now recognizes 50 restaurants across Colorado, including a new Bib Gourmand, Boulder’s Cozobi Fonda Fina. Two Colorado restaurants, Bin 707 Foodbar in Grand Junction and Mezcaleria Alma in Denver, were included on the New York Times “2025 Best Restaurants in America” list. Additionally, chefs across the state are turning out exciting new flavors and concepts, perfect for savoring after a day of adventure. Founded by James Beard and MICHELIN-recognized chefs Tommy Lee and Michael Diaz de Leon, Molino Chido is set to open at the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora this fall as a Mexico City-inspired “taqueria, bebidas y mas” restaurant. In Denver, The Brown Palace Hotel has launched Le Palais Frites – a fresh, French-inspired concept in the historic Palace Arms space. Two-time James Beard Award-winning Chef/Owner Alon Shaya is opening Ceci! Italian Lounge this fall in Denver’s Source Hotel. Cimera, a Pan-Latin restaurant led by internationally renowned Peruvian Chef Diego Muñoz alongside Executive Chef, Geoff Cox, will take over the rooftop space at The Source Hotel + Market Hall. The team behind the MICHELIN-recommended Restaurant Olivia, is opening a second concept also in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood in late 2025, Emilia, which will celebrate the flavors of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs welcomes the return of the newly reimagined Penrose Room featuring a speakeasy, whiskey room and global cuisine by Executive Chef Justin Miller. Petit Trois, the acclaimed French bistro from Chef Ludo Lefebvre, will open its third location within MOLLIE Aspen in December 2025 offering a blend of bistro classics and modern dishes driven by local ingredients. Opening in November 2025, Forage Breckenridge will offer a MICHELIN-level, 12-course tasting journey from acclaimed Chef Ryan Cook, blending Colorado-sourced ingredients with storytelling inspired by local art, history and nature. 2022 James Beard Semifinalist Mawa McQueen—owner of Aspen’s MICHELIN-recommended Mawa’s Kitchen—is bringing Crepe Therapy Café to Boulder this fall offering artisan crêpes crafted with the highest-quality flours.
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ABOUT COLORADO: Colorado is a four-season destination offering unparalleled adventure and recreational pursuits, a thriving arts scene, a rich cultural heritage, flavorful cuisine and 28 renowned ski areas and resorts. The state's breathtaking scenic landscape boasts natural hot springs, the headwaters of seven major rivers, many peaceful lakes and reservoirs, 12 national parks and monuments, 26 scenic and historic byways and 58 mountain peaks that top 14,000 feet. For more information or a copy of the Colorado Official State Vacation Guide, visit www.COLORADO.com or call 1-800 COLORADO. Follow Colorado on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
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