The 7 Friendliest Little Towns In Colorado

Colorado has no shortage of small mountain towns, but some of them go out of their way to make you feel like a regular. Steamboat Springs has been pulling strangers into conversation at its hot springs since the 1880s. Salida has thrown a whitewater festival every year since 1949. In Gunnison, the July rodeo has been running since 1900. These are towns with long habits of gathering, and visitors tend to get folded in.

Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs holds major records for its sheer number of Winter Olympics athletes who have come from this town. It’s easy to see why, with its variety of challenging ski areas like the Steamboat Ski Resort, sitting on the 10,570-foot Mount Werner. Even cowboys get in on the skiing action, with professional rodeo cowboys coming to the town in January for the Cowboy Downhill competition as they ski in full cowboy gear. Ranching is a major industry in Steamboat Springs, and some operations offer hospitable guest accommodations such as the Vista Verde Guest Ranch. Visitors to this town can find many ways to relax, like the Old Town Hot Springs, with its geothermal pools, waterslides, and saunas. This spring has been a hotspot for residents to chill out and chat since the 1880s.

Salida

Salida gets its name from the Spanish word for exit, specifically where the Arkansas River flows through the Bighorn Sheep Canyon. Despite the name, this town is in the center of the Rockies, at more than 7,000 feet in elevation, surrounded by mountains. The town is noteworthy for its hot springs, such as the Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center, the largest indoor hot springs pool in the United States. Salida is a gateway to all kinds of water activities, like kayaking the Arkansas River via the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area. Whitewater rafting is baked into the culture of Salida, so much so that it’s hosted a Whitewater Festival every year since 1949.

Frisco

Sitting within the Breckenridge micropolitan area, Frisco is close to several skiing resorts, making it a popular basecamp for venturing out to Breckenridge Ski Resort. The town really comes alive on its Main Street, which has earned it the title of the Main Street of the Rockies. Main Street contains the small Frisco Historic Park and Museum, the humorous Bigfoot Sock Co. gift shop, and the friendly Vine Street Social wine bar. Each September, Main Street Frisco hosts the Fall Fest, with an art show and German food and beer. All proceeds from beverages benefit the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District to maintain the trails in the larger Summit County, especially within the White River National Forest.

Gunnison

Named after the explorer and military officer John W. Gunnison, the town calls itself the Base Camp of the Rocky Mountains. This suits it, as the town is close to the more than 3 million-acre Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests. Hikers can find canyons, mountains, mesas, and many other environments in its more than 3,000 miles of trails. In the town itself, visitors can enjoy summer concerts at the Gunnison Arts Center or take part in a historic tradition with the Cattlemen’s Days rodeo in July. This event has been going on since 1900, with a parade, horse show, concessions, and fundraisers for cancer patients through the Tough Enough to Wear Pink event. To learn the town’s Old Western history, there’s the Gunnison County Pioneer & Historical Society, which consists of multiple buildings from an 1876 Post Office to a Red Dairy Barn and Pioneer Museum.

Ouray

Located in southwestern Colorado, Ouray is a tiny community of under 1,000 people that acts as a friendly destination for outdoor recreation. It’s been called the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Colorado due to its central location near mountain trails, valleys, canyons, and hot springs. One of its closest hikes is the Box Cañon Falls Trail, leading to a view of a waterfall flowing down a narrow slot in the canyon. In town, it’s easy to meet up with creative locals such as Cie Hoover, who runs CieGallery featuring wood carvings and nature-inspired works. Ouray has several hot springs areas, like the Ouray Hot Springs Pool, to relax after hiking or exploring the town. Visitors who come in January will especially appreciate the hot springs after experiencing the Ouray Ice Fest, which celebrates ice climbing with demonstrations and climbing competitions.

Superior

Superior sits close to the major metro areas of Boulder and Denver, with the backdrop of the Front Range mountains. It got its name from the high quality of coal found in the region in the late 1800s. Today, the town is known for its easy access to green spaces and to the rugged Eldorado Canyon State Park. Visitors can spend some time hiking around two ponds via Purple Park or get out on a 95-foot zip line at Wildflower Park. Eldorado Canyon State Park also has several challenging biking trails, like the hilly Rattlesnake Gulch.

Telluride

Sitting in the San Juan Mountains, Telluride is an old silver mining town that grew up in the late 1870s and was incorporated in 1887. The town’s rich history is preserved at the Telluride Historical Museum, with artifacts about the Ute people who lived here, the miners, and the town’s later development into a skiing hotspot. Skiing spots are abundant in the San Juan Mountain peaks around Telluride, especially at the Telluride Ski Resort, with one of the largest groups of 14,000-foot peaks on the continent. What really makes this town stand out is its variety of festivals, spread evenly throughout the year. The Telluride Yoga Festival draws yoga fans to town in June. One of the town’s quirkiest events is the Telluride Mushroom Festival held in August, where folks dress up in mushroom-themed outfits and try out mushroom dishes.

All of these small towns are surrounded by strong vistas, whether that’s the San Juan Mountains in Telluride, the canyons around Salida, or the Gunnison National Forest outside Gunnison. Visitors will want to bring hiking boots to see all that these communities have to offer, plus flip-flops for dipping into the hot springs and meeting up with hospitable residents at the many quirky events these towns put on.