From its majestic mountains to its spacious plains, Colorado seemingly has it all. However, our state is missing one thing: the ocean.

But while Colorado isn't a coastal state, that hasn't stopped residents and tourists alike from hitting the beach. According to Uncover Colorado, our state is home to over 4,000 lakes and reservoirs — many of which are open for recreating.

A lot of these lakes and reservoirs are right here in Northern Colorado. In fact, Stacker and Wallethub recently ranked Loveland as the 20th best lake town in the U.S., thanks to Lake Loveland and Boyd Lake State Park.

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However, lakes weren't the only part of the ranking. The websites also looked at factors like affordability, weather, safety, economics, education, health, and quality of life, which might explain why our state didn't make a second appearance on the list (I'd argue that we're pretty good with all of those things...but I'm not a statistician).

Still, this got me thinking — what are the best lake towns in Colorado?

There may not be a fancy ranking for all of them, but I did a quick Google search, and travel and real estate websites had plenty of suggestions.

Of course, I've sprinkled in some of my own opinions for good measure, but I wanted to include a ~diverse~ set of perspectives (my high school English teacher would be so proud...maybe).

Without further adieu, based on a mishmash of personal and Internet opinions, here are some of the best lake towns in Colorado:

Lakeside Leisure: These Are Some of Colorado's Best Lake Towns

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