15 enjoyable details about Colorado that you could be not know

Think you realize Colorado? As we have a good time its sesquicentennial, we’re dusting off some lesser-known nuggets in regards to the Centennial State. File these 15 details beneath  “Things even longtime Coloradans might not know.” Then maintain them in your again pocket for the following time Colorado comes up in trivia.

Denver was the primary metropolis to show down the Olympics

After being chosen to host the 1976 Winter Games, Denver made historical past when it turned the primary ever metropolis to reject the Olympics. On May 12, 1970, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Denver over bids from Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, Canada. The Mile High City’s Olympic plans have been formidable: Alpine occasions have been slated for Loveland Basin and Mt. Sniktau, situated on Loveland Pass exterior of Dillon, whereas Denver Mountain Parks would host Nordic competitions, bobsled and luge races. Tthe Denver Coliseum was set for determine skating and hockey.

But the Games by no means made it out of the beginning gate in Denver as considerations over funding and prices snowballed, and by late 1972 organizers informed the IOC that Denver couldn’t host. The Winter Olympics have been reassigned to Innsbruck, Austria, which had already hosted the Games in 1964 and had the infrastructure in place.

Even nonetheless, Colorado has robust ties to the Olympics as Colorado Springs is residence to the Colorado Springs Olympic & Paralympic Training Center and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum.

Colorado lit the best way on authorized hashish

California was a pioneer in legalizing medical marijuana again in 1996. Several states, Colorado amongst them, adopted go well with. But in 2014, we became the first to legalize leisure marijuana.

At the University of Colorado, the Business Research Division at Leeds School of Business maintains a dashboard for Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division that tracks plenty of metrics, together with gross sales. In 2021, marijuana gross sales topped $2.2 billion, nevertheless it appears to be like just like the inexperienced rush has slowed some in recent times with gross sales registering at $1.3 billion in 2025.

Our mountain communities are additionally excessive (in elevation)

Alma stakes its declare as the best included city in North America, perched at 10,578 toes. Meanwhile, Leadville is the best included metropolis in North America, hovering at 10,430 toes. Curious how Leadville acquired its identify? The metropolis’s founding fathers have been on the lookout for an alternate as a result of there have been too many locations with “silver” within the identify on the time.

Colorado’s Sand Dunes attain shocking heights

Colorado could also be identified for its mountains, however our state’s Sand Dunes are fairly spectacular, too. Great Sand Dunes National Park, situated in southern Colorado close to Alamosa within the San Luis Valley, is residence to the tallest dunes in North America, based on the National Park Service. Star Dune soars 750 toes from its base to its crest. The park’s High Dune rises 699 toes, however as a result of it begins on increased floor it truly rises increased above sea stage than Star.

Dinger’s story has a prehistoric backstory

Ever marvel why the Rockies mascot is a purple triceratops? When development crews have been excavating Coors Field, they unearthed a dinosaur fossil close to residence plate. When Dinger was launched to followers, he hatched out of a large dino egg on April 16, 1994.

Pikes Peak impressed ‘America the Beautiful’

The summit of Pikes Peak impressed Katharine Lee Bates to write down “America the Beautiful.” Locals and guests can take The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway to the summit of the height for those self same awe-inspiring views.

You could do higher at a Colorado driving vary than one out of state

Home turf benefit? Golf balls fly on common 10% farther in Colorado than they do in different states. Chalk it as much as the altitude. If you’re taking part in at a mountain course, you could discover your ball goes even farther whenever you tee off, because of the upper altitudes.

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Burlington’s vintage carousel is a uncommon piece of Americana

Originally inbuilt 1905 for Denver’s Elitch Gardens, a hand-carved picket carousel migrated to its new residence in Burlington in 1928, when the amusement park upgraded to a more recent mannequin with “jumping” animals that moved up and down. Kit Carson County snapped up the traditional for $1,200, preserving a uncommon piece of Americana. It’s the one vintage carousel in America nonetheless having authentic paint on each the surroundings panels and on the animals. The Kit Carson County Carousel is open from Memorial Day via Labor Day.

Boulder got here near turning into a jail city

Boulder is thought right now as an idyllic faculty city, with the University of Colorado deeply woven into the town’s identification. But the town may have taken a really totally different path.

In the late 1870s, Boulder leaders lobbied state lawmakers to make the town residence to a college, competing with Cañon City for Colorado’s flagship college. There was a twist: The shedding metropolis would obtain a comfort prize: a brand new state jail.

Visitors can discover this alternate-history situation on the Museum of Boulder, the place an interactive exhibit imagines how the town would possibly look if historical past had unfolded in a different way. Onscreen, CU’s acquainted red-tile roofs and campus buildings are changed with barbed-wire fences and stark concrete buildings unfold throughout the foothills.

Today, Cañon City is residence to the Colorado State Penitentiary and several other different correctional amenities, together with the Museum of Colorado Prisons.

Colorado’s first skiers have been mail carriers, not powder chasers

Long earlier than Colorado turned a ski vacation spot, snowboarding right here was all about getting the mail delivered. In the late 1800s, greater than 50 mail carriers traversed snowy mountain terrain on home made picket skis secured with easy toe straps. These rugged couriers battled whiteout situations, avalanches and brutal winter climate to succeed in distant communities. Today, guests can find out about these early ski pioneers on the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame in Vail.

The state capitol has a mile-high marker

Want proof you are precisely a mile above sea stage? Head to the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol. A marker on the fifteenth step designates the famed 5,280-foot elevation. You can even discover a row of purple seats at Coors Field that denote precisely 5,280 toes, and The Mile High Loop at City Park follows a 5k route alongside the town’s mile-high contour line.

The cheeseburger has a meaty historical past in Denver

The origins of the cheeseburger are up for debate, with California and Kentucky each staking claims. But within the battle of the burgers, Denver has bragging rights: Louis Ballast, proprietor of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In, secured a trademark for the phrase “cheeseburger” in 1935, according to Visit Denver. A commemorative marker now stands close to the location of the previous restaurant at Speer Boulevard and Alcott Street, paying tribute to Colorado’s slice of burger historical past. Legend has it that earlier than Ballast experimented with topping burgers with cheese, he tried chocolate and peanut butter, however these accouterments didn’t win over taste-testers.

From Jolly Ranchers and cheeseburgers to teddy bears and tampons, these innovations have been created in Colorado

Colorado has superior scorching springs

Glenwood Springs is residence to the world’s largest pure scorching springs pool, the place multiple million gallons of mineral-rich water fill the Grand Pool, which stretches greater than two blocks lengthy. Meanwhile, Pagosa Springs claims one other geothermal distinction: the Guinness World Records-certified deepest geothermal scorching spring aquifer on the earth. The city’s Mother Spring extends greater than 1,002 toes underground.

Aspen miners as soon as unearthed a record-breaking treasure

Colorado’s mining historical past is crammed with large discoveries, however Aspen delivered one which was particularly large. In 1894, miners pulled the world’s largest silver nugget from Aspen’s Smuggler Mine. The colossal chunk weighed in at a staggering 2,350 kilos, based on the Aspen Chamber Resort Association.

Fort Collins helped encourage Disneyland’s Main Street

Take a stroll via Old Town Fort Collins and you could expertise slightly déjà vu, particularly when you’re a Disney fan. Disneyland’s iconic Main Street U.S.A. was impressed by Fort Collins’ historic downtown district. Before Disneyland was constructed, Walt Disney enlisted Hollywood artwork director Harper Goff to assist design the park. Goff grew up in Fort Collins, and when he sketched ideas for Main Street, he drew from childhood recollections of acquainted native buildings, together with the town corridor, the Old Linden Hotel, Old Firehouse Books and different native storefronts.

Colorado’s Capitol is residence to a one-of-a-kind stone

Inside the Colorado State Capitol, flip your consideration to the pink-hued, marble-like stone that makes up wainscotting and column plinths. Known as Colorado rose onyx, the ultra-rare materials was found close to Beulah in southern Colorado in 1893. Despite being referred to as “Beulah red marble” it’s truly metamorphosed limestone coloured by iron oxide. The Colorado State Capitol used up your complete identified provide throughout development. A reserve stash is stored in underground vaults and solely hardly ever tapped for restoration work.

Brittany Anas is a Denver-based freelance author. 

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