There’s a gorgeous, foamy little fishing hole on the Arkansas River just north of U.S. 285 before you get to Buena Vista. At about 11,700 feet in elevation, at a small bend in the trail that leads up 14,012-foot Huron Peak, a spectacular vista of the Three Apostles comes into view. And in the American Basin, bunched along the east side of the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, is a patch of blue columbines so immense that you can’t see where the blossoms end. These mental snapshots immediately popped into my mind when 5280 senior editor Nicholas Hunt asked me to describe some of Colorado’s exceptional locales.

Although the Centennial State is known the world over for its sweeping panoramas of skyscraping peaks, it’s rarely those big, blown-open, made-for-a-postcard settings that Coloradans conjure when asked about their most beloved outdoor spaces. Instead, they wax poetic about microsites: the sensation of skiing untracked powder on a certain portion of a gladed run, the smell of sun-warmed pine needles on a wooded path in the foothills, the Monet-like quality of an alpine meadow painted with wildflowers. With that truism in mind, Hunt asked local writers and outdoor recreation pros to disclose—without giving away exact locations, in many cases—their personal Shangri-las around the state. The result is this month’s “14 Perfect Spots That Make Colorado an Outdoorsy Person’s Dream Come True”, an ode to the magical spots you won’t find marked on Google Maps. “This story was really an excuse to fill out my own bucket list of Colorado’s must-see spots,” Hunt says, “but turnabout is fair play, so I contributed an ode to my favorite few dozen feet of mountain bike trail as well.”

5280 August 2024
5280 August 2024
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While you might be able to pinpoint these locations if you look for them in real life, that’s not really the point. As Hunt said to me, “These are objectively amazing places, but one person’s perfect place may not be another’s.” In other words, to each their own. We just hope this story encourages you to get outside this month and find the special places that speak to you.

Aaron Colussi
Freelance photographer

Aaron Colussi
Photo courtesy of Aaron Colussi

For more than 10 years, Fort Collins–based photographer Aaron Colussi has been taking beautiful photographs for the pages of 5280. Colussi has captured everything from stunning mountain homes to the charcoal-smudged faces of wildland firefighters to a Mexican-inspired feast celebrating fall’s bounty.

For this issue, Colussi pulled triple duty: Not only did he provide images for “14 Perfect Spots That Make Colorado an Outdoorsy Person’s Dream Come True” and contribute a piece about rock climbing for that feature, but he also headed about 45 minutes east of his home to photograph portraits for “The Charming, Eccentric, Blessed Life Of Lee Maxwell,” a profile of the 94-year-old owner of the world’s largest collection of antique washing machines. The piece is about more than a museum full of Maytags, though, and Colussi used his candid style of photography to illuminate personalities, hint at the article’s subtler story lines, and deliver some visual soul to a poignant narrative.

Of course, that’s not always easy, even when the subject is compelling. “The challenge was which of the many backdrops to use,” Colussi says. “Lee’s museum has so many little nooks that are amazing locations. I was just trying to pick the right one.”