5 Things You Don't Know About Colorado

By Eric Peterson

Colorado is known for many different things: majestic mountains, more than 100 microbreweries, and a baker's two dozen of ski resorts that range from glitzy to grueling. Some visitors come on an annual trip, and for others, it's once in a lifetime. Both groups can easily agree: There is more than first meets the eye in the nooks and crannies of the Centennial State.

Photo caption:Canyons of the Ancients, Colorado.

Vail Resort's Epic Pass (www.epicpass.com) is about $700, and that gets you unlimited skiing at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and A-Basin, as well as Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood near Lake Tahoe, California. Other Vail Resorts passes are under $500. Considering peak lift tickets at Vail are nearing $120 a day at Vail, the serious skier can easily come out ahead during a winter.

Another pass to look at is Monarch Mountain's One World, One Pass (www.skimonarch.com) is $359 and gets you unlimited access to Monarch plus eight other ski areas in Colorado. But that's just the beginning: Passholders also get free tickets and discounts at resorts in New Mexico, California, Michigan, British Columbia, and even Germany.

Photo caption: China Bowl, Vail, Colorado.

Ullr Fest (www.gobreck.com/events/ullr-fest) is Breckenridge's annual January plea to Ullr, the Norse god of snow, for more of the white stuff. It takes place during the week every January when the resort is trying to recover from the holiday hangover, so specials and deals abound. Events include the zany Ullympics, a bonfire, a dating game, and the highlight, the Ullr Fest Parade, on Thursday.

Coming up on the fall equinox, Vinotok (www.gunnisoncrestedbutte.com) is an even zanier event that says goodbye to summer by putting a monstrous effigy known as the Grump on trial, then burning him at a community bonfire that uses slips of paper with "grumps" (written complaints about life in general) as kindling. This is one of those events that must be seen to be believed.

Photo caption: The annual Ullr Fest Parade in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Sure, Mesa Verde National Park (www.nps.gov/meve) is home to the best preserved and most easily accessed Anasazi ruins, but tour buses disgorge horde after horde here all summer long. For a nice primer on Anasazi history, try exploring Canyon of the Ancients National Monument (www.blm.gov/co/st/en/nm/canm.html), located further west. A good place to get away from it all and see Anasazi ruins, try hiking the trails in Salt Canyon, southwest of Cortez.

Photo caption: Canyons of the Ancients, Colorado.

Denver has a good light-rail system that's slated to get better in coming years, and both Boulder and Denver are home to B-Cycle kiosks (www.bcycle.com) that make it easy to jump on a bike for a ride to the next point on your itinerary.

In the high country, Summit County, the Vail Valley, and Aspen-Snowmass have terrific, largely free shuttle systems, and Colorado Mountain Express (www.coloradomountainexpress.com) can get you up and down the Continental Divide for a better price than you if you drove yourself from Denver International Airport.

Photo caption: Boulder B-cycle bikesharing station on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado.

For as long as any of the 90 or so locals can remember, a pet cat or dog has served as the unofficial mayor of Guffey (www.guffeycolorado.com), west of Colorado Springs. The entire funky town is something of a masterpiece of roadside Americana, dotted with oddball sculptures, repurposed historic buildings, and the one and only Guffey Garage.

There are basic cabins for rent, and plenty of recreational opportunities nearby, making this the perfect escape.

Photo caption: Shop in Guffey, Colorado, just outside Colorado Springs.