Looking east over Granby and the Continental Divide.

Like any treasure, you need to rub the surface and walk the trails of Grand County to see its true beauty. The Colorado River, as it meanders through the Middle Park region and today’s Grand County, was once dubbed the “Grand River”. And from the River the County took its name as the home of the mighty river’s headwaters. Grand County was officially born February 2, 1874, carved out of then-Summit County, and originally reached to Colorado’s western border, containing land that became Moffat and Routt counties in 1877. Grand County also held claim to one of the State’s highest metropolitan communities at Teller City.

The miners’ mecca at Teller supported a short-lived land struggle at the county’s northern boundary, as valuable minerals in North Park prompted the county to claim the area. Larimer County, coincidentally, also alleged a claim to North Park and it took intersession by the Colorado Supreme Court in 1886 to finally declare North Park part of Larimer County. With that decision, Grand County’s four corner boundaries were set.

Grand County today is still very much a portrait of the Colorado high county, where nature’s hand is little tempered by man’s presence. Over seventy percent of the land within the County is public, hosting Rocky Mountain National Park and hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest. Its history is steeped in tales of hard-won accomplishments as miners and ranchers sought to eek out an existence amid the verdant valley at the Colorado headwaters.

The crowds and bustle of everyday city life fall away as you enter Grand County, where nature and wide open spaces replace the urban mania with a peaceful contemplative pace. This community of small towns, chiseled from the landscape by countless pioneer spirits, has settled into a laid-back culture where you’re more likely to run into your local banker and rancher wearing blue jeans and comfortable shoes, than a suit or coat. The natural course of things is visible from the snow and wind sculpted skyline to the weathered fence posts standing sentinel watch over the countless miles of unpaved county roads.

Distant perhaps in style and culture, Grand County is not all that far from the commercial centers of the Front Range. Easily reached by a scenic drive, the County is only 87 miles from downtown Denver and DIA. Year-round activities, in addition to skiing, bring visitors in flocks for music, art, and vintage vehicle events. As should be expected in Colorado as well, wilderness abounds in the County, from lapping streams awaiting bare feet to pristine alpine tundra where the rising currents never shake winter’s breath.

Among the seemingly endless miles of forests, Rocky Mountain National Park is only one launching point for backpacking and hiking enthusiasts. Trails weave through myriad microclimates throughout the County, as the terrain moving west through descends from alpine forests into arid valleys and alluvial buttes, before rising again in Routt County to alpine terrain once more. Intrepid hikers will discover subtle treasures along the eastern shores of Grand Lake, the internal bowl of the Vasquez wilderness below Berthoud Pass, and countless other regions within the County’s forests, many connecting with the meandering Continental Divide Trail.

Cyclists looking for back country roads and trails will likely find more routes in Grand County than can be explored in one lifetime, and too many favorites to count on two hands. Less than ten percent of the County hosts paved roads, leaving at least 3,000 additional miles of unpaved roads and trials open for fat-tire exploration. In addition to solo adventures, Grand County is the site for many warm-weather cycling series, and local clubs lead bike rides throughout the summer and fall.

For those more interested in water sports, kayakers, canoeists, sailors, and motor boat enthusiasts alike have found the County’s numerous reservoirs and lakes truly remarkable. In addition to the unobstructed views of the azure sky, the icy waters melting from the snowy peaks produce crystal clear pools and streams, bursting with fish ready to challenge anglers of all skill levels.

Golf, horseback riding, hunting, and, of course, every class of snow riding from downhill alpine, to Nordic skating and classic touring, as well as backcountry tours, skjoring, sledding, tubing, horse-drawn carriages, snowshoeing tours and guides, and every snow-related sport filling the gaps between, all await the adventurous soul, and are all right outside every doorstep in Grand County.

Six principal towns uniquely season the rural landscape, and tales of many past towns echo in the rolling hills of Grand County. In the County’s southeastern corner are found the recreational centers of Winter Park (originally the old railroad town of Hideaway Park) and Fraser. The Winter Park Ski Resort and competition center are within easy reach of the Town of Winter Park through a public bus system that takes visitors to the resort and back, including stops in the neighboring town of Fraser to the north. Fraser is home to the County’s largest public sports fields and the gateway to the James Peak and Indian Peaks Wilderness areas. North of Fraser lays the unincorporated village of Tabernash, where the County’s first community school once stood and today offers travelers a chance to visit the few unique retail spots in town, including antiques, a thrit store and the County’s largest flower greenhouse.

Central in the county is the Town of Granby, the staging hub for adventurers of all kinds, providing services and equipment to get a boat on the water or another tankful of gas for cruising the Colorado River Headwaters Scenic Byway. Outside Granby, US 40 is met by US 34, which connects with Larimer County by way of Rocky Mountain National Park and the burg of Grand Lake, nestled at the headwaters of the Colorado River. One of the county’s many jewels and the State’s principal attractions, the town’s namesake Grand Lake, is also the deepest natural body of water in the nation. Originally named Spirit Lake by the Ute Indians, it was once believed the Lake's cold waters were the dwelling place of departed souls. What the Ute avoided though has long been “the place” to sail and spend the summer for Denver’s elite.

Beyond Grand Lake is the National Park, where undiscovered bounties of riches are found, both natural and sylvan, and the mineral kind, as the ghost towns peppering the Park area recount. Back on US 40, west of Granby lies the county seat, Hot Sulphur Springs, where the Ute also found a special place. Ute for generations, and Greek immigrants in the mid-twentieth century flocked to the small enclave tucked into a bend in the Colorado River. Here, geothermal vents heat ground water, forcing it through miles of rock to gurgle up and mix with the cold river waters at the Hot Sulphur Springs Resort. Descendants of the original Greek herders who also discovered the spot return annually in June for a Greek heritage celebration, with frequent visits to the local hot springs, of course.

Beyond the winding Byers Canyon west of Hot Sulphur Springs lies open pastures and hay meadows, fertile from Colorado River sedimentation. The landscape is broken by the unincorporated community of Parshall, self-dubbed the center of nowhere. Twenty miles further, hemmed in by bookcliff buttes, the Town of Kremmling lies as the frontier entrance to the arid Gore Canyon of the Colorado River and the steppes leading to the infamous Rabbit Ear’s Pass, dividing Grand from Routt County.

The Colorado River and its Ute mysticism make Grand County a land rich in tradition and heritage, a truly Colorado community, whose treasures lie just beneath the dusty surface, awaiting exploration.