There has been a great deal of buzz around REI’s #OptOutside Campaign. If you haven’t heard, REI is closing their stores on Thanksgiving and Black Friday and is encouraging customers to enjoy an outdoor activity instead of fighting the shopping crowds.
Here in Colorado there are lots of ways to #OptOutside, so I thought I’d shed light on some of the ways you can #OptOutside in Colorado on Black Friday or any other day of the year.
42 State Parks in Colorado
Believe it or not Colorado has 42 state parks; there’s probably one very close to where you are sitting right now. Use this Park Finder to find the one nearest to you.
You can do a lot in Colorado’s state parks. There are miles of trails to explore whether you hike or snowshoe or cross country ski. Fishing and camping are other popular activity in our state’s many parks.
An activity you may not have considered is staying in a cabin or a yurt in a Colorado state park. During the cold Colorado months a cabin or yurt stay may be more appealing than camping. This page can help you plan that type of trip. Many of these accommodations are big enough for you and several friends.
If you are considering to #OptOutside at one of Colorado’s State Parks make sure your park’s pass is up-to-date. You can purchase a parks pass here.
Four National Parks in Colorado
Coloradans are lucky to have four National Parks in the state. We recently did several hikes in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park – read that post here. See a list of all of Colorado’s National Parks, National Heritage Areas and National Historic Sites.
28 Ski Resorts in Colorado
In addition to skiing at Colorado’s numerous ski resorts, there are other outdoor activities available. Many resorts have installed tubing hills such as the Coca-Cola Tubing Hill at Winter Park Resort. At Copper Mountain you can zip line year round on the Alpine Rush Zip Line.
And in Telluride, take a guided (or unguided) snowshoe trek on top of the mountain.
Trails, trails everywhere trails in Colorado
Colorado is covered in thousands of miles of maintained hiking trails. From the canyons of Southeast Colorado to seventy different hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park, if you love to hike, Colorado is the place to be.
AllTrails.com, a National Geographic site, is a great place to find a Colorado hike near you.
Whether you #OptOutside in Colorado on Black Friday or some other day this fall or winter, I guarantee you’ll have a great time.