10 Jun 2025
Tags: Colorado, Colorado Tourism Office, what's new in 2025
With new MICHELIN Guide entries, a stargazing resort and the new home for one of the world’s most famous independent film festivals, Colorado continues to impress. The Centennial State adds an incredible line-up of new openings, events, accommodation and improvements for international visitors in 2025 and beyond.
NEW ATTRACTIONS & INITIATIVES
Leonardo da Vinci Museum of North America – Late 2025
This incredible museum in Pueblo aims to offer a unique and immersive experience, featuring life-sized machine replicas based on Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches, STEAM exhibits, and interactive displays.
Accessible Travel Program
The Colorado Tourism Office has partnered with Wheel The World on a new Accessible Travel Program to amplify accessible travel across Colorado. By June 2025, over 100 accessible tourism sites across five destinations in Colorado will be promoted to travellers with disabilities, including accommodation, attractions and experiences.
Hot Springs and Spa Updates
Old Town Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs, will unveil a transformative pool expansion in summer 2025, adding four new pools and a spacious deck to the historic hot springs facility. The Bohemian Bier Spa of Glenwood Springs will open in June 2025 offering a unique and relaxing experience that combines the benefits of a traditional spa with the therapeutic advantages of beer.
More information, Old Town Hot Springs
More information, Bohemian Bier Spa
EVENTS
Snowmass Free Concert Series – 12 June - 21 August 2025
Celebrating 33 years of free live music, the Snowmass Free Concert Series is the community’s favourite summer tradition. It will return to Fanny Hill every Thursday evening this June.
Aspen’s Inaugural Up in the Sky Festival – 8 - 9 August 2025
Aspen’s newest summer music event will bring two days of live performances to the base of Buttermilk. The inaugural Up in the Sky Festival will feature headliners Rüfüs Du Sol, Kacey Musgraves, Glass Animals, SG Lewis Live, Suki Waterhouse, Role Model, Nessa Barrett and more.
Telluride Mushroom Festival, 13 August - 17 August 2025
Since 1981, the Telluride Mushroom Festival has been celebrating all things mycological, from the newest advancements in mushroom science to the festival’s famous wild foods dinner demo. Held annually in Telluride, the event also covers psychedelic research in a truly foraging fest.
Snowmass Balloon Festival Celebrates 50 Years – 12 - 14 September 2025
Snowmass celebrates 50 years of the iconic Snowmass Balloon Festival in 2025. Complete with morning launches at sunrise and a night glow under the stars, the 50th anniversary will make the Snowmass event the biggest mountain balloon festival in the state.
Alpine Ski World Cup – 27 - 30 November 2025
The historic Alpine World Cup event debuts at Copper Mountain later this year, featuring both women’s and men’s events. It will showcase women’s giant slalom and slalom events alongside the men’s super-G and giant slalom races at Beaver Creek.
150 years of Statehood in 2026
In 2026, Colorado is gearing up for twin anniversaries: the U.S. is turning 250, its semi quincentennial; and the Centennial State, Colorado is turning 150, its sesquicentennial. The America 250 – Colorado 150 Commission has launched the campaign, “The View From Here.” This landmark initiative will recognise Colorado’s legacy as the only state founded on the nation’s 100th birthday in 1876.
Sundance Film Festival, 2027
The Sundance Institute recently named Boulder as the new host of Sundance Film Festival, starting in 2027. The 2024 festival attracted 24,000 out-of-state visitors who spent an average of US$735 a day, and the move to Colorado is expected to boost tourism and jobs into the local area. With its world-renowned Rocky Mountain landscapes, well-established creative communities, strong hotel bed base, and robust domestic and international connectivity through Denver International Airport, Colorado is the perfect stage for the Sundance Film Festival’s next act.
HOTELS & RESORTS – NEW
Urban Cowboy, opened late 2024
This fun addition to Denver’s accommodation scene combines sustainability, history and creativity with its cowboy classiness. Built in the 1880s by famed architect Fred Edbrooke, this historic gem boasts gargoyles, Bavarian swans, and a dome that’s a local legend.
Hotel Alpenrock Breckenridge
The 205-room Curio Collection by Hilton debuted in early 2025 along the base of Peak 9 in Breckenridge with two distinct dining experiences, gear valet, concierge services and more.
Kosmos Stargazing Resort and Spa, Mosca, San Luis Valley, first stage opened (U.S.) Spring 2025
Kosmos is the ultimate escape in Colorado and recently opened its first villas, just 15-minutes away from the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. Guests can stay at one of 20 luxurious 'Telescope-Equipped' Villas and enjoy the "Kosmos Stargazing Experience" at the on-site Planetarium & Observatory set to open in 2027.
Kindred Resort, Keystone, opening Fall 2025
Excitement continues to build in Keystone with a recent terrain expansion, a new town and now the construction of a new luxury base area development, Kindred Resort. Kindred will open in summer 2025 with 95 residences, a private club, three new restaurants, retail and a 107-room hotel. Located just steps from the world-class ski slopes of Keystone Resort, this ski-in, ski-out hotel features a spa, salon, private club, pool and hot tubs, retail shops, a new ski school area and restaurants.
Limelight Boulder, opening Fall 2025
Aspen Hospitality and the University of Colorado Boulder will unveil the Limelight Boulder hotel, an all-electric community hub set to be the town’s largest meeting and events facility of its kind. It will feature
250 guest rooms, a ground-floor restaurant, an outdoor plaza, an event lawn and a second story “viewpoint deck” with unbeatable views of the Flatirons.
White Elephant Aspen, opening late 2025
Departing from the town’s prevailing architecture, White Elephant Resorts will inject a dose of modernity into the mountain town with the 54-room White Elephant Aspen. Families and large parties will have plenty of space to spread out in the 730-square-foot two-bedroom suite or the 1,660-square-foot Penthouse Suite.
Hotel 1888, Glenwood Hot Springs Resort, opening mid 2025
After successfully launching the new Yampah Mineral Baths at the world’s largest hot springs pool in May 2024, the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort announced a planned renovation of all 107 guest rooms in the Lodge and a new boutique hotel, Hotel 1888 to be completed in mid-2025.
The poolside Hotel 1888 will feature 14 luxury guest rooms and two high-end suites that are ideal for couples and small groups of three or four travellers. Stays at Hotel 1888 will include unlimited access to the hot spring pools during business hours, complimentary breakfast served at the hotel, and admission to the resort’s award-winning Athletic Club.
HOTELS & RESORTS – RE-IMAGININGS
Tumbling River Ranch, Pike National Forest, opening mid 2025
This historic luxury retreat high in Pike National Forest will re-open in (U.S.) summer 2025 following a $7+ million renovation and joining Collective Retreats.
The Springs Resort, Pagosa Springs, opening late 2025
The Springs Resort is undergoing an expansion to double the number of hotel rooms and add 20 new hot springs pools along with a new geothermal spa, a geothermal greenhouse and a greenhouse-to-table restaurant.
Hotel St. Cloud, opened May 2025
Cañon City's historic Hotel St. Cloud offers 36 renovated guest rooms in a fusion of contemporary, classic and luxe aesthetics. It’s among the ten oldest hotels in Colorado but also one of the most recently reimagined.
RAIL & AIR
Highline Express
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has officially added the Highline Express to its 2025 schedule following a successful trial run last year. This 3.5-hour evening, round-trip excursion offers iconic scenery, including the Highline – a dramatic section of track perched 400 feet above the Animas River.
The Mighty Argo Cable Car, opening late 2025/early 2026
The Mighty Argo Cable Car in Idaho Springs will take riders 1.2 miles from the Argo Mill up Rosa Gulch to the mountain top Argo Landing, which will feature pedestrian plazas, viewing decks, an observation trestle, an amphitheatre and more.
Rocky Mountaineer
Renowned rail company, Rocky Mountaineer, launched two new brands in March 2025: Armstrong Collective and Canyon Spirit. In 2026, guests will have the opportunity to travel on the extended three-day Rockies to the Red Rocks route option between Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The train will depart from Denver’s historic Union Station, centrally located to enable passengers an ideal opportunity to explore the Mile High City for a few days before boarding.
WINING & DINING
The Arboretum
EsoTerra Ciderworks opened their latest venture, The Arboretum, in March 2025. Located outside Durango, Colorado, at 6,830’ in elevation, The Arboretum is America's highest estate winery. The sprawling 73-acre Southwest estate touts exclusive vineyard tours, and hands-on wine/cider-making experiences.
American Single Malt Whiskey of the Year
The London Spirits Competition awarded Root Shoot Spirits the American Single Malt Whiskey of the year in May 2025. From farm to bottle, Loveland-based Root Shoot Spirits distils the whiskey just a few miles from where it grows the grains.
MICHELIN Guide
The 2024 MICHELIN Guide Colorado revealed its selection in September 2024, adding Denver’s Alma Fonda Fina to the exclusive list of MICHELIN-Starred restaurants and Denver’s MAKfam as a new Bib Gourmand. The full selection, including Green Stars and Recommended eateries, totals 46 restaurants with 15 cuisine types represented.
SNOW & SKI
Snowmass
Snowmass Ski Area will unveil two new major investment projects for the 25/26 season. Improvements include the replacement of the existing Elk Camp quad chair to a new state-of-the-art 6-pack lift. The new Cirque T-bar replaces the existing platter lift, reducing wait times at one of the highest lifts in North America, which accesses some of Snowmass’ best extreme high-alpine terrain.
Purgatory Resort
Expanded terrain for the 2025–26 winter season will be a drawcard for Purgatory Resort. The project will expand frontside terrain and enhance skier access to the top of the mountain. The new, fixed-grip triple chairlift represents a significant investment in the resort’s on-mountain infrastructure. The addition will also expand advanced and expert-level terrain on the mountain’s front side.
Monarch Mountain
Monarch Mountain will unveil a major expansion into the No Name Basin. The development will add 377 acres of skiable terrain on the west side of the Continental Divide in winter 2025-26.
Ikon unlimited access
New for the 2025/26 season, Ikon Pass Holders will have unlimited access to Arapahoe Basin, while Ikon Base Pass holders will remain at five days of access.
ENDS
Images are available to download in Google Drive here.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Christina Koullas – Colorado Tourism Office AU/NZ PR Manager
+61 425 670 110
About Colorado Tourism Office:
Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) is the official travel and tourism office for the state of Colorado. CTO’s mission is to generate traveller spending by promoting Colorado as a four-season, four-corner, world-class travel destination and to develop compelling, sustainable travel experiences.
Colorado is a year-round destination offering unparalleled adventure and recreational activities, an abundant arts scene, Western heritage, distinctive cuisine and 30+ renowned ski resort areas. The state's diverse landscape boasts natural hot springs, the headwaters of four major rivers, numerous peaceful lakes and reservoirs, 12 national parks and monuments and 58 mountain peaks that top 14,000 feet, known as ‘Fourteeners’. www.colorado.com
