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Colorado Guides Great Breakfast and Brunch Places in Downtown...
Great Breakfast and Brunch Places in Downtown...

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Date of Statehood:
August 1, 1876

State Capital:
Denver

State Bird:
Lark Bunting

State Flower:
Rocky Mountain Columbine

State Tree:
Colorado Blue Spruce
Nickname:
Centennial State
State Population:
4,301,261
Largest City:
Denver
Land Area:
104,100 sq. mi.
Highest Point:
Mt. Elbert, 14,433 ft.
Lowest Point:
Arkansas River
3,350 ft
.
Population Growth 1990-00: 30%

Top Colorado Attractions

Colorado State Capitol

(303) 866-4747

Denver, CO  80203

Garden of the Gods

(719) 634-6666

Colorado Springs, CO  80904

Mesa Verde National Park

(970) 529-4465

Mesa Verde, CO  81330

Pearl Street Mall

Boulder, CO  80302

Pikes Peak America's Mountain

(719) 684-9383

Cascade, CO  80809

Information and Events

Colorado is a very diverse state with mountains, plateaus, canyons and plains. The eastern half of the state has flat, high plains and rolling prairies gradually rising westward to the front range foothills and the higher ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This is where you'll find Denver, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. The Continental Divide runs from north to south through west central Colorado and bisects the state into the eastern and western slopes. The western half of the state consists of alpine terrain interspersed with wide valleys, rugged canyons, high plateaus and deep basins. This is where you will find towns like Grand Junction, Crested Butte, Aspen, Durango and Telluride.

Colorado's altitude is one of its distinctive geographical features making it on average, the nation's highest state. The average elevation is 6,800 feet. The lowest elevation in Colorado is 3,350 feet at the Arkansas River near the town of Holly. Colorado's highest peak is Mt. Elbert at 14,431 feet high, or 2.72 miles above sea level. In towns such as Durango, you can go from 6,500 feet up to 11,000-12,000 feet in less than an hour and see the landcape change right before your eyes.

Mt. Elbert is the 14th highest peak in the United States, including mountain peaks in the state of Alaska. In addition, there are 54 mountain peaks in Colorado over 14,000 feet high and more than a thousand peaks over 10,000 feet high.

The Continental Divide runs north to south along the top of the Rocky Mountains and this is where you'll find the headwaters for six major rivers.. It was named the Continental Divide because waters west of the divide flow toward the Pacific ocean and those east of the divide flow toward the Atlantic ocean. West of the Continental Divide, the Colorado River, for which our state was named, flows southwest from high in the Rocky Mountains in north central Colorado toward the Gulf of California. East of the Continental Divide, the North Platte, the South Platte, the Arkansas, the Republican and the Rio Grande rivers all originate in Colorado's mountains or plains and flow east toward the Missouri River, southeast to the Mississippi River and then south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Historically, the economy of Colorado was based on mining. The discovery of gold in 1858 began much of the westward migration to the state. Later, production of silver, uranium, coal, molybdenum and petroleum all contributed to the state's boom and bust economy. Much of the economy now centers around high technology and the service industry.

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