Colorado is a state in the western part of the USA, surrounded by Rocky Mountains, but with lowlands as well
My grandma and I went to Colorado on our own, as it’s become a tradition for us in the past few years and we both had great experience in this part of the world. We took a rental car and went from one attraction of the land to the next. We only looked up the main attraction of the state before heading to the land that was unknown for us. We rented a car online and naturally bought air fare beforehand, and finally headed off into the unknown. All the time we were improvising as we went along. We expected a country with a lot of nature, some mountains and plains, but got surprised by much more that was offered. The whole trip was more than perfect, even though we never knew beforehand, where we’ll spend the night. We only started worrying about that when the evening came and we were getting ready to hit the bed.
The easiest way to reach Colorado is undoubtedly by airplane. The ticket costs around 600€ and the rented car is around 200€ for two weeks. Fuel cost is 1/3 of what we’re used to back home and the food and sleeping arrangements are cheaper than back in Europe.
The whole state above the elevation of 1000m
For those of you, who haven’t heard about Colorado before, have probably heard about the recent wildfires that will become part of the US history as one of the biggest fires in the history of the US and the news was spread around the globe. Huge parts of the territory were on fire and tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated. Many homes were destroyed and With fires destroying many square kilometres of forests, there were also many resources needed to extinguish the fire.
Otherwise, Colorado is a state that in parts even resembles Slovenia. This is especially the case with the mountains, hills and some plains with farmland, and there’s some similarity in climate also. There are many natural parks, vivid mountains, canyons, deserts, flatlands, caves and neat cities. The capital is Denver, which is the most populated city in the state. It is also known as the US city with most sunny days in the year. Among the mountains, the Rockies are the best known and also feature the tallest peak of the state, with over 4000m tall. Along with the three neighbouring states (Arizona, New Mexico and Utah) it forms the so called Four Corners, where all four states meet in one spot. The special feature of Colorado is also the fact, that at no point the elevation goes below 1000m above sea level.
The name of the state is also given to one of the longest rivers of northern America – Colorado, with its 2330 km. It covers the area of 629 square kilometres, which testifies to its grandness. It flows through various states: Arizona, Colorado, California, Nevada and Mexico. On its way it carved many natural canyons, the most famous of them being in the neighbouring state of Arizona – the Grand Canyon.
National parks
Few people would think that a state like Colorado, with its mountain and rivers, also has a desert. These are the highest laying dunes in North America. We can find them in the natioanl park adequately names – Sand Dunes. They stretch across the Rocky Mountains and the desert was created here after some major environmental changes. The river was constantly flushing the sand away, but the winds have turned and started blowing the sand back. Due to high mountains the winds could not take the sand far, so it started depositing at the foot of the mountains, where the desert formed. If the river washed some sand of, the wind always brought it back. There are also other beautiful national parks within the Rocky Mountains, where you can observe wildlife, many lakes, rivers, mountains, and diverse flora. The mountains of Colorado are especially beautiful in winter, also because they feature world renowned ski resorts – most notably Aspen. A special place is also the land, where they found and are still excavating dinosaurs. Here you can see real fossils, some skeletons and even reconstructions of dinosaurs held in a museum. It’s really fascinating to see their real life scale models.
Unusually shaped rocks are present all over the land, from red stone to black canyon. The mixture of various stone shapes also presents many tourist attractions.
From native tribes, silver and gold fever and up to modern farming
The native tribes were living here over 13.000 years ago. Colorado was on the main migration route of the tribes. The old Pueblo tribe lived in the area of Mesa Verde, where there are still many remains that are also a famous tourist attraction today. The tribes of the era were mostly farming the land, especially the men, while women were taking care of the household. Many years later, when civilization was far advanced, the people started taking up metal workings and mining. There are still today silver and gold deposits in Colorado, but extensive farming has surpassed them. Corn, soya and oath are the most typical part of their agriculture, especially in the eastern part of the state, as the territory is better suited than the western mountainous part.
This is a land where nobody can get bored. From the flatlands with endlessly long roads, to snow covered mountains and deep canyons and also the skyscrapers of Denver and much more, this land can offer something for everybody. It’s a state that is attractive all year around. To us, an odd travelling couple, the state left a deep impression. We both love nature and have a desire to be as far from mass tourism as possible and Colorado tended to our needs in the best possible way.
