This is the Boulder & Around chapter from Lonely Planet’s Colorado guide-book.

Twenty-five square miles surrounded by reality. That’s the joke about Boulder that never goes away. The weather is perfect, the surroundings – stone Flatirons, gurgling creek, ponderosa trails and manicured college campus – beg idling.

• coast on two wheels from one end of town to the other on the leafy Boulder Creek Bike Path
• maps
• hike Chautauqua Park’s scenic trails alongside the iconic Flatirons and taking in a concert afterward
• transport
• tube through town on a hot summer day along Boulder Creek
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Boulder, Nederland.

This is the Denver & Around chapter from Lonely Planet’s Colorado guide-book.

The Intermountain West’s cosmopolitan capital now delights in a growing culinary and arts scene, plus plenty of brewpubs, great parks and cycling trails, and close proximity to spectacular hiking, skiing and camping in the Rocky Mountains.

• grab a drink or meal in the gorgeously renovated Union Station
• maps
• delve into one of the richest art collections in the state at Denver Art Museum
• transport
• bar-hop in Denver’s hottest neighborhood, RiNo, at happening spots like the Infinite Mon-key Theorum
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Denver, Golden, Morrison.

This is the Mesa Verde & Southwest Colorado chapter from Lonely Planet’s Colorado guidebook.

Southwestern Colorado can be a heady place to play. Some of the finest powder skiing in the world melts to reveal winding singletrack and hiking trails in summer. Vineyards are sprouting up on the western slope.

• carve turns on the world-class slopes of Telluride Ski Resort
• maps
• climb aboard a vintage steam locomotive for jaw-dropping scenery on the Durango & Sil-verton Narrow Gauge Railroad
• transport
• retrace the steps of Ancestral Puebloans at Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Mesa Verde National Park, Mancos, Cortez & the Four Corners, Dolores, Rico, Telluride, Ridgway, Ouray & the Million Dollar Hwy, Silverton, Durango, Pagosa Springs, South Fork, Creede, Lake City, Crested Butte, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Curecanti National Recreation Area, Gunnison, Montrose, Delta, Paonia, Colora-do National Monument, Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade.

This chapter contains the Welcome to Colorado, Colorado’s Top 25, Need to Know, If You Like…, Month by Month, Itineraries, Outdoors, Rocky Mountains Road Trips & Scenic Drives, Eat & Drink Like a Local, Travel with Children, and Regions at a Glance chapters from Lonely Plan-et’s Colorado guidebook.

Your journey to Colorado starts here. You’ll find the tools to plan your adventure: where to go and when, how much to budget, plus in-depth info on the best outdoor activities.

• tailor-made itineraries, arranged by region, themes and events
• list of highlights and best experiences
• everything you need to know about the region’s classic road trips and scenic drives
• user-friendly country overview ensures you won’t miss a thing

Coverage includes: Welcome to Colorado, Colorado’s Top 25, Need to Know, If You Like: Hiking, Old West Sites, Snow Sports, Beer & Microbreweries, Distilleries, Wild-life, Hot Springs, Museums, Month by Month, Itineraries, Outdoors, Rocky Mountains Road Trips & Scenic Drives, Eat & Drink Like a Local, Travel with Children, and Regions at a Glance.

This is the Rocky Mountain National Park & Northern Colorado chapter from Lonely Planet’s Colorado guidebook.

Wherever you go in Northern Colorado, hiking, biking, skiing and rafting adventures await. Head down forgotten roads to visit mining ghost towns, or hike out into the wilderness for back-country adventures that can stretch as far as your imagination.

• laze in hot springs, and hike and bike until your lungs hurt, in Steamboat Springs
• maps
• hop from brewery to brewery in Fort Collins before a day of exploration in the nearby foot-hills
• transport
• summit one of Colorado’s most iconic 14,000ft peaks, Longs Peak
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Fort Col-lins, Sterling, Cache la Poudre River, Red Feather Lakes, Walden, Grand Lake, Granby, Hot Sulphur Springs, Kremmling, Steamboat Springs, Oak Creek, Craig, Dinosaur National Monu-ment, Dinosaur, Meeker.

This is the Southeast Colorado & the San Luis Valley chapter from Lonely Planet’s Colorado guidebook.

Colorado’s arid southeast is a place of high desert landscapes backed by craggy peaks and flat-topped mesas, where silvery sage and scraggly juniper morphs into the great aspens and pines of the central mountains.

• work out how all this sand got here in Great Sand Dunes National Park
• maps
• marvel at the majesty of the heavenly Garden of the Gods
• transport
• try not to pretend you’re a rally driver as you navigate twisty Phantom Canyon to Cripple Creek
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Southern Front Range, Colorado Springs, Cañon City, Florence, Cripple Creek, Manitou Springs, The Santa Fe Trail, Pueblo, La Veta, Trinidad, The San Luis Valley, Fort Garland, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Alamosa, San Luis, Anto-nito, Conejos River & the South San Juans, Penitente Canyon, Del Norte, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Westcliffe, Crestone.

This chapter contains the Understand Colorado, Colorado Today, History, The Arts, Wildlife & the Land, Directory A–Z, and Transportation chapters from Lonely Planet’s Colorado guidebook.

All the info you need on everything from history, food and drink, wildlife and the arts, to flights, public transport, climate, money, the internet... you name it. Get tips for women travellers, gay and lesbian travellers, travellers with disabilities, and travellers with kids. And get the most out of your conversations with a handy language guide and glossary.

• a rundown on how Coloradans live today, from the influence of the pioneers to sustainabil-ity and the legalisation of mariuana
• info on dinosaurs, geology, flora and fauna
• full coverage of the lively arts scene encompassing Native American art and handicrafts and a program of outdoor summer festivals
• details on farm-to-table cuisine and the flourishing microbrewery movement

Coverage includes: Understand Colorado, Colorado Today, History, The Arts, Wildlife & the Land, Directory A–Z, and Transportation.

This is the Vail, Aspen & Central Colorado chapter from Lonely Planet’s Colorado guidebook.

Central Colorado is where you can find the most trillion-dollar sights, run the gnarliest rivers and charge the sickest runs, and where you can make one hike that is sure to save your citified soul within a single afternoon.

• ski from the tip-top of Peak 8 all the way down into the historic mining town of Breckenridge
• maps
• hike to the Maroon Bells, hobnob with the stars and revel in that Rocky Mountain magic in Aspen
• transport
• toast the powder in the legendary back bowls of Vail
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Denver to Summit County, Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Winter Park, Loveland Pass, Summit County, Dillon, Frisco, Keystone Resort, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, Breckenridge, Fairplay, Copper Mountain, Vail & the Holy Cross Wil-derness, Vail, Minturn, Beaver Creek, Aspen & the Maroon Bells, Glenwood Springs, Carbon-dale, Basalt, Aspen, Redstone, Salida & the Collegiate Peaks, Salida, Buena Vista, Twin Lakes, Leadville.