These 5 Great Colorado Towns Made the List of ‘9 Most Gorgeous in the Rockies’

When a travel site puts together a list of only nine places they determine as gorgeous, you hope Colorado will be included. With this list, Colorado is included more than any other state.

It's a list that may include towns that you've visited; it may include places that are on your "wish list," it may include a place or two that you've not heard of yet.

These five towns showcase Colorado's beauty and majesty, well worthy of any Coloradan visiting them, maybe before too many people get word off the list.

Considering that this list is about towns within the Rocky Mountain region, which stretches from New Mexico up into Canada, for five of them to be in Colorado is amazing.

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WHAT 5 COLORADO TOWNS MADE WORLD ATLAS' LIST OF '9 GORGEOUS?'

• MEEKER, COLORADO

Two hundred twenty-five miles west of Denver in Rio Blanco County in eastern Colorado, Meeker is a small town; it has a population of less than 3,000 people. It's known for all the year-round adventures you can take in the area, like the Flat Tops Wilderness Area and the Wagon Wheel OHV (off-highway vehicle) Trail.

• OURAY, COLORADO

At an elevation of 7,800 feet, Ouray is a beautiful mountain town. They tout their "Three W's - Wildlife, wildflowers, and waterfalls." That's not to mention their great hot springs and the charm of Main Street. Anyone who has visited Ouray can attest that it belongs on every "must" list regarding Colorado.

• PAGOSA SPRINGS, COLORADO

Located just a bit north of the New Mexico border in southcentral Colorado, Pagosa Springs should be on every Coloradan's list of places to visit—winter activities, summer activities, the hot springs, waterfalls, great food, and microbreweries.

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• SILVERTON, COLORADO

A National Historic Landmark District, Silverton represents much of Colorado: the state's mining history, Colorado's beauty, and available adventures. Whether you're going to ski, jeep, or ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, you gotta visit.

• WESTCLIFFE, COLORADO

Westcliffe is about 50 miles west of Pueblo. Established in the late 1800s when the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad made its way there, Westcliffe is very pretty during the day; it's the nighttime that the small town is now known for.

Due to the town being in the middle of two mountain ranges, it doesn't get any "light pollution;" because of that, Westcliffe has been certified as a "Dark Sky" area by the Dark Sky Association, and they have a great observatory.

Colorado has five of the nine gorgeous Rocky Mountain towns; get the other four from World Atlas.