Colorado

The Centennial State is the perfect place for  conventions and meeting facilities because of its wide variety of destinations and venues, according to Kim McNulty, director of the Colorado Tourism Office. 

"There is truly something for everyone, from rustic mountain retreats to chic city hotels and convention centers," she says. "Plus, you’re surrounded by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains, which provide endless opportunities for off-site activities and team-building exercises."

One-of-a-kind agendas are a given in this type of atmosphere. Following are 10 Colorado experiences that group attendees will remember long after the meeting has adjourned.  

 1. Mountain Resorts: Colorado is practically synonymous with winter recreational pursuits, including skiing and snowboarding at its numerous world-renowned ski resorts. What many people don’t realize is that these same destinations—Aspen, Snowmass, Vail, Beaver Creek, Steamboat Springs, Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Durango and Telluride—are just as incredible to visit during the summer.

Katie Coakley, spokesperson for Vail Valley Partnership, says anything a planner can imagine is available in Vail and Beaver Creek for groups during both winter and summer, including horseback riding from Beaver Creek Stables (www.vailhorses.com), which offers trips ranging from one-hour rides to all-day excursions or sunset dinner rides, and year-round scenic hot air balloon rides via outfitter Camelot Balloons (www.camelotballoons.com).

At resorts throughout the state planners will often find festivals to coincide with a meeting. In Steamboat Springs this summer, according to Sandy Evans Hall, executive vice president of the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association, is the 30th Annual Hot Air Balloon Rodeo (July 9-11) and the Steamboat Wine Festival (Aug. 5-8).

"These are great times to meet in the summer," she says, adding the 98th Annual Winter Carnival (Feb. 3-6, 2011) is another fabulous time to convene in Steamboat Springs.  

Since not everyone in the group will feel comfortable out on the slopes with their experienced skiing and snowboarding colleagues, resort destinations are prepared with alternative wintertime activities.

In Snowmass, says JoAnna Eisler, national sales manager for Aspen Groups, Krabloonik Fine Dining and Dogsledding (www.krabloonik.com) is popular with attendees.

"The typical experience involves a thrilling dogsled ride through aspen groves and wide snow fields, all with the 13,600-foot Mt. Daly in the background," she says, adding that after dogsledding, guests can enjoy lunch or dinner at the fine-dining restaurant housed in a rustic log cabin.

Eisler adds that snowmobiling is also a group favorite, and one outfitter, Aspen’s T-Lazy-7 Ranch takes guests to the stunning Maroon Bells, North America’s most photographed peaks, which cannot be accessed by car during winter months.

"T-Lazy-7 also offers private event space, so it’s feasible to have an event before or after snowmobiling," she says.

2. White-Water Rafting: Colorado’s white-water rafting opportunities are second to none, and groups that get to enjoy a river outing won’t soon forget it. According to Colorado Tourism, there are 68 white-water rafting outfitters in the state, many of which combine the outing with an F&B option, from a simple snack to a gourmet lunch.

Situated in West Canon City about 1.5 hours from Aspen, one hour from Colorado Springs and two hours from Denver, is Echo Canyon River Expeditions (www.raftecho.com). The outfitter plans half- and full-day outings on the Arkansas River, as well as multiday trips through the Royal Gorge. Depending on the time of day, groups can enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner right on the river.

Situated just a few minutes from Telluride is the San Miguel River, one of the last free-flowing, untamed rivers in Colorado. Telluride Outside (www.tellurideoutside.com) is one standby outfitter that gets attendees out on the water.

According to spokesperson Tom Craddock, half-day trips are recommended for groups.

"We cover approximately nine miles of class II to III white water in about two hours in the beautiful Norwood Canyon of the San Miguel," he says, adding that capacity for most rafting trips is 30 guests, but with advance notice that arrangements can be made to accommodate 60 guests. 

 3. Dude Ranches: The Colorado Dude & Guest Ranch Association (www.coloradoranch.com) is a terrific place for interested planners to find a suitable ranch for everything from intimate board retreats to larger corporate meetings.

Ninety miles from Denver in Granby, located in Northcentral Colorado, is the circa-1919 C Lazy U Ranch (www.clazyu.com), which accommodates groups of up to 80 attendees. The ranch prides itself on providing groups plenty of interaction, whether it’s during a business meeting in the Patio House, a cookout, horseback riding or fishing. The C Lazy U is also open during winter, when guests enjoy activities including cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, tubing and sleigh rides.

In southwest Colorado near Durango is the 40-year-old Wilderness Trails Ranch (www.wildernesstrails.com), a small property with nine two- and three-bedroom cabins that is set up to be all-inclusive, providing meals, accommodations, horseback riding, fishing, water skiing and other activities in the Lake Vallecito area. 

"Based on our size, it is perfect for a company with nine executives needing to meet in such a location as ours," says the ranch’s spokesperson Sandy Asmussen, adding that the ranch has two meeting rooms in its lodge. "There is a great deal of Colorado history at the ranch, not to mention being like the poster child for the ‘Western way of life’ in the Colorado mountains."

4. Goldmine Tours: Colorado history extends to gold mining, and groups enjoy learning about how the old mines operated. Several outfitters provide tours and gold-panning activities.

Among them is southwest Colorado’s Old Hundred Gold Mine Tour (www.minetour.com) in Silverton, about 50 miles north of Durango. Open May through October, the one-hour guided tour takes visitors one-third of a mile via the Mine Tram into Galena Mountain. In the tunnels, groups watch how mining occurs with drills and hand picks, and outside they learn how to pan for gold and silver by hand.

The Country Boy Mine (www.countryboymine.com) in Breckenridge offers a similar experience. According to owner Paul Hintgen, Country Boy can also accommodate groups of up to 100 for a sit-down barbecue in an on-site tent or more than 200 people over the entire grounds.

"The mine site is a unique and fun place for office parties, banquets and club events, and a nice break from those corporate conferences," he says, adding that the large fire pit can be used year-round. "During the winter, our heated blacksmith shop seats up to 40 guests. Any event can be catered."

5. Wine and Beer: With some 99 craft brewers, including popular breweries in Fort Collins and Boulder, and Grand Junction being known as the Napa of Colorado, the state isn’t short on spirits.

Fort Collins is home to five breweries, including Anheuser-Busch (www.budweiser.com) and New Belgium Brewing (www.newbelgium.com), which are both well-suited for group tours and tastings. By the end of 2010, Fort Collins Brewery (www.fortcollinsbrewery.com) will have moved to a bigger location and feature a restaurant, according to Katy Schneider, tourism and communications manager at the Fort Collins CVB.

"Groups can experience the breweries in several ways," she says, citing tours via bicycle, bus or car and beer-pairing dinners at local restaurants. "We encourage folks to participate in a bike/beer tour. Obviously, the tour can be tailored for the group, and although it’s geared to a biking audience, it is absolutely doable any other way." 

Among the wineries that host group tours and do events in the burgeoning wine colony that is Grand Junction are Two Rivers Winery & Chateau (www.tworiverswinery.com) and Varaison Vineyards & Winery (www.varaisonvineyards.com) in nearby Palisade.

 According to Jennifer Grossheim Harris, spokesperson for the Grand Junction Visitor and Convention Bureau, the VCB often assists in setting up wine tours and tastings.

"An alternate location that does a great job of preparing wine-maker dinners is the Doubletree Hotel Grand Junction," she adds.

With nine breweries and five wineries, Boulder is a must-stop on any wine or beer connoisseur’s visit to the West. According to Mary Ann Mahoney, executive director of the Boulder CVB, a number of the facilities work with groups, including Boulder Creek Winery (www.bouldercreekwine.com), BookCliff Vineyards (www.bookcliffvineyards.com), the Boulder Draft House (www.boulderdrafthouse.com), Avery Brewing Company (www.averybrewing.com) and Boulder Beer (www.boulderbeer.com).

"Boulder Beer is the state’s oldest and original microbrewery," Mahoney says, adding that Boulder Beer can now also be found at Denver International Airport in the Main Terminal. "Planners could make the Boulder Beer Taphouse at DIA their designated meeting spot for attendees coming in from all around the country. Might be a fun kick-off party."

6. LoDo and Larimer Square: The Mile High City’s LoDo (www.lodo.org), short for Lower Downtown, is a 26-square-block historic district that runs roughly from Coors Field, home of MLB’s Colorado Rockies, to the 16th Street Mall, Denver’s mile-long pedestrian main street that is lined with 28 outdoor cafes and 50,000 flowers. 

According to Rich Grant, director of communications at Visit Denver, there are many noteworthy LoDo attractions for groups to explore. Among them are El Chapultepec, a hole-in-the-wall jazz club where Frank Sinatra sang and President Clinton played sax, and LoDo’s Bar & Grill (www.lodosbarandgrill.com), which has a rooftop cafe and shares the building that was once Mattie Silks, the most infamous brothel in Denver’s history. Everyone from Elvis Presley to Bruce Springsteen has worn a shirt from Rockmount Ranch Wear (www.rockmount.com), where the snap-button Western shirt was invented in 1949. And Denver’s Union Station (www.denverunionstation.org) will be the center of the city’s new 124-mile light rail system, which will include a rail line to and from Denver International Airport, expected to be completed in 2015.

Adjacent to LoDo is Larimer Square (www.larimersquare.com).

"It’s a restored section of Denver’s oldest street that is lined with gorgeous Victorian buildings that now house some of the city’s most chic restaurants, shops, nightclubs and galleries," Grant says. "Larimer Square has been closed to traffic for convention groups and special events."

7. Zip Line Adventures: An adrenaline-pumping way to enjoy Colorado’s gorgeous surroundings is to get the group out for a day of ziplining.

Open May 1 through Dec. 1 is Vail’s Zip Adventures (www.zipadventures.com), offering a 2.5-hour outing featuring six zip lines ranging from 150 to 1,000 feet in length above Alkali Canyon.

Another popular outfitter is Durango’s Soaring Tree Top Adventures (www.soaringcolorado.com), with a zip line course consisting of 24 spans traversing through old-growth Ponderosa pine forest, Aspen glens and across the mighty Animas River. The all-day outing, according to spokesperson Dionne Wenke, is a perfect team-building opportunity. 

"Team building is an important mission for many business groups, and Soaring definitely delivers in this arena," she says. "As nervous guests prepare to step off the first platform, colleagues are empathizing and sharing their fears, laughing and joking, and encouraging each other. They go back to their jobs with fresh, fun-filled stories and memories."

The Soaring course takes about five-and-a-half hours to complete and includes a four-course gourmet lunch served in the trees on an elevated platform overlooking the Animas River. Since there are no roads to Soaring, guests either arrive by helicopter or the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a memorable attraction on its own.

8. Scenic Train Routes: There are nine picturesque train routes in Colorado that follow the paths forged by miners, cowboys and adventurers of the past, including the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (www.durangotrain.com).

"Our train leaves every day from the heart of our historic downtown," says Carrie Whitley, group and international sales manager at the Durango Area Tourism Office. "We have an authentic old-fashioned Train Depot, like in the Western movies, where passengers step back in time and onto passenger train cars that carry them 46 miles through the San Juan National Mountains to Silverton."

Built in 1880, the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad (www.cumbrestoltec.com), which travels between Antonito, Colo., and Chama, N.M., runs May 22 through Oct. 17 this year. According to a railroad spokesperson, discounts are available for groups of 15 or more people on most dates, and lunch is included with all tickets. The railroad often hosts corporate outings, but advance booking is recommended.

The Georgetown Loop Railroad (www.georgetownlooprr.com), which connects two old mining towns, Georgetown and Silver Plume, offers visitors a wonderful way to see the Clear Creek Valley. According to reservation manager Susan Edge, daily discounts are available for groups of 20 or more. 

"We can also arrange for box lunch delivery at the stations," she says. "We also offer chartered day or evening trains. We specialize in elegant moonlight dinner trains, cowboy barbecue buffets, and wine and hors d’oeuvres trains. We are happy to create a train to accommodate any special needs."

 According to Betty Jo Cardona, domestic group sales manager at Experience Colorado Springs, taking a ride up 14,110-foot Pikes Peak on the Manitou Springs and Pikes Peak Cog Railway (www.cograilway.com) is a favorite group activity.

"Since 1891, visitors have enjoyed riding up the Cog," she says. "Groups will have 45 minutes on top to enjoy the Summit House, gift shop and experience the great taste of a donut made daily on top of the Peak."

9. Natural Sights: Colorado is downright abundant in scenic beauty and fun sightseeing outings for groups.

When meeting in Colorado Springs, groups like checking out Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center (www.gardenofgods.com). According to Experience Colorado Springs’ Cardona, groups can spend an hour or all day enjoying its spectacular scenery.

"Groups might choose to stop in various places in the park and take a short hike on sidewalk or dirt trails among the red rocks," she says, adding that groups have also been known to take a guided bus tour, bike or horseback ride, and enjoy a picnic. "They can also see the movie How Did Those Red Rocks Get There?, explore nature exhibits, visit with a naturalist, shop in the gift shops, and have a box lunch or buffet in the cafe."

Telluride’s Bridal Veil Falls (www.amazingcolorado.com/bridalveilfalls.htm), the longest free-falling waterfall in the state, with views from both below and up top, is well worth a group visit. Telluride Outside (www.tellurideoutside.com) offers half-day four-wheel-drive tours to the mining ghost town of Tomboy, including a stop at the falls.

Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the most stunning parks in the country, is often visited by groups meeting in Estes Park. According to Suzy Blackhurst, spokesperson for the Estes Park CVB, all park activities are customized to meet the needs of the specific group. Depending on the size of the gathering, there are 11- and 28-passenger vans and full-size coaches, and large groups looking for more economical transportation have chosen school buses for their outings.

"In all cases, the Estes Park CVB can arrange for a step-on guide who will enhance the trip where elk are likely to be seen," Blackhurst says. "Groups might also consider a guided nature walk on a handicapped-accessible trail, a nighttime stargazing experience or an outing with a photographer who will provide tips and tricks for using your own camera. A delightful experience that’s especially fun is arranging for boxed lunches to be delivered directly to a picnic area."

10. Historic Hotels: Colorado is altogether rich in history, including a number of its group-friendly properties.

The Stanley Hotel (www.stanleyhotel.com) in Estes Park has ties to The Shining, one of Stephen King’s most popular novels. As the story goes, King was inspired to write his best-selling book when he was staying at The Stanley, which opened its doors in 1909.

 According to Blackhurst, the 138-room property, with more than 16,000 square feet of meeting space, is open all year and is a major host to groups with up to 300 attendees.

"Those convening in one of the town’s other 24 meeting venues frequently have meals, cocktails and other social gatherings at the hotel, where the ambience is perfect for such things as ghost-hunting tours and murder mysteries," she adds.

Another storied Colorado property is Denver’s circa-1892 Brown Palace Hotel (www.brownpalace.com), which has lodged every president since Teddy Roosevelt. To this day, in the Eisenhower Suite, there is a dent in the fireplace mantel made by a wayward golf ball President Eisenhower hit while practicing in the room. Situated six blocks from the Colorado Convention Center, the hotel has more than 13,000 square feet of meeting facilities space.

 And in Colorado Springs is the venerable Broadmoor (www.broadmoor.com), which began its story in 1918. Situated on 3,000 acres at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain, the 700-room property offers 185,000 square feet of function space. On-site activities range from golfing and tennis to horseback riding, fly-fishing and time at the spa.