Colorado Winter Vacations

From Festivals to Foliage: When is the Best Time to Visit Colorado?

From majestic mountains to an influential beer scene, and one of the world’s most awe-inspiring music venues, Colorado has a lot of defining features. This is the reason why tourists travel long distances for the best time to visit Colorado.

However, Colorado is known for a lot of things, but most of the world probably thinks of stunning mountain scenery when they think of the state. But in addition to the high country, the Centennial State is famous for important cultural institutions and contributions to legal weed to great weather.

But whatever your purpose is, you’ll need to know the best time to visit Colorado. Today we will disclose some events and the best time of the year to visit Colorado with family and friends in 2025.

Let’s Dive Right In!

3 Major Festivals and Events in Colorado

Wherever you go in Colorado, there’s a state park waiting to welcome you. For your convenience, we have compiled a list of the top 3 major festivals celebrated in Colorado every year.

Colorado Renaissance Festival

Colorado Renaissance Festival

Those with the urge to travel back to the 16th century should make sure to include the Colorado Renaissance Festival in their summer festival lineup. Taking place annually in Larkspur, the festival is normally held on Saturday and Sunday from mid-June to early August.

A great event for the family, there will be plenty of turkey legs, mead, wine, and sweets to go around. The Colorado Renaissance Festival spans acres of land and runs rain or shine. Guests are encouraged to dress up and there are outfit rentals on-site.

College Summer Music Festival

The event was founded in 1984, the Colorado College Summer Music Festival is the best time to visit Colorado Springs tradition. Because the school has been around before Colorado even became a state, the music history is long and storied, making this festival one of the best of its kind.

Perhaps, the 41ST annual Colorado College Summer Music Festival will be held from Sunday through Friday, It is expected to be held in 2025, with multiple concerts held at various performance halls and art centers on the Colorado College campus. Tickets are typically available to purchase on May 1 for the general public.

Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival is held annually in late September or early October at the Colorado Convention Center. Hosted by the American Brewers Association, hundreds of breweries from across the country attend to pour samples of thousands of beers.

However, the best part of the festival, also known as GABF, is the competition aspect. Breweries can submit a beer for professional judging and a chance to win a gold, silver, or bronze award. Besides sampling beer, people can check out the silent disco, and various tap rooms, and grab a bite at one of the food trucks.

What is The Best Time To Visit Colorado?

Colorado is famous for many things. But we have selected some popular events that have a high tourist demand each year. For instance skiing, hiking, spotting wildflowers, fall foliage, and sunny weather. Let’s discuss each season and event  in detail: 

Skiing and Snowboarding

skiing

Colorado’s ski season typically runs from late November through early April but varies greatly by area. Some ski spots, like Breckenridge and Keystone, welcome visitors as early as late October and remain open through mid-June or even early July. During any given year, the specifics depend on snowfall, elevation, and snowmaking.

That said, arguably the best months to ski in Colorado are January and February. The snow tends to be nice and deep (and still falling), and there’s lots of off-mountain fun on offer, too: Aspen Gay Ski Week and the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival, among other events.

Besides this, March is another best time to visit Colorado for a ski trip if you prefer less-frigid temperatures and (slightly) lower hotel prices than you’ll find at the winter peak.

Hiking Treks

If you have the right equipment, you can trek Colorado’s many trails year-round, but peak hiking season runs from June through October, when most trails are snow-free and most high-mountain passes are open. In July and August, you’ll want to pack rain gear along with those high SPFs, as surprise showers aren’t uncommon.

Other packing needs you may not anticipate? Microspikes for snow-covered trails in May and June, and layers for potential flurries in late autumn.

Fall Colors & Aspen Viewing

Just like wildflower season, Colorado’s fall foliage varies by elevation and moisture levels. Lower-elevation trees tend to change later, while those high in the mountains transform earlier — sometimes before fall has even technically begun. In general, though, fall colors reach their peak between mid-September and mid-October.

Your best bet is to start in a place with a lot of aspens such as, well, Aspen for the full effect of their trademark gold. Then travel up or down in elevation to find more dazzling displays in progress.

Blooming Wildflowers

With variables that include snowmelt and elevation, nailing down exact dates for the wildflower season is almost impossible. In general, though, lower elevations tend to see flowers emerge in either late spring or early summer. At higher elevations, the season starts later, often in July or even August.

But even if wildflower season is hard to predict, you can almost always find blooms somewhere between May and August. You just have to be willing to make the journey to see them.

Pleasant Weather

Colorado weather can change quickly and vary from year to year. Typically, however, you’ll find a warm-weather window between May and October, when snowfall is unlikely but not impossible and the sun is almost always shining.

If you feel hot, you may want to skip July and August, which are usually the warmest months, and plan a trip instead for the spring or fall. Just keep in mind that conditions vary by region, The weather is always cooler in the mountains. 

Therefore, an October trip may be mild in some places and snowy in the mountains, and, conversely, a July visit could be scorching in the capital but bearable in Breckenridge.

Final Thoughts

Whether you are planning to commute in winter, summer, autumn, or spring we have made it easy for you to find the best time to visit Colorado. Every season brings a bunch of excitement to Colorado. But again it solely depends on your likes and dislikes what type of event you like the most and when you are heading to it. 

FAQs

How To Know The Best Time To Visit Colorado?

There are multiple options online such as traveling websites as well as airport shuttle company schedules to check the best time for visiting Colorado. 

What is the Cheapest Time To Visit Colorado?

Normally it happens whenever crowds get smaller, the prices go down as well. For instance, if you are traveling to a Breckenridge resort during ski season, the accommodation and stay will be highly expensive. Therefore it’s recommended to travel during the ff-season.

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