Colorado

 

Rocky Mountain National Park

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

C.R.S. 2019  §§16-13-901 through 16-13-906

C.R.S. §§16-22-101 through 16-22-115

C.R.S. §§18-3-412.5 through 18-3-412.6; 8 C.R.R. 1507-24

AWA Compliant

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Initial registration and updates within 5 business days.  “Residence” means 14 consecutive days in any 30 day period. §16-22-105.

“Temporary Resident” includes present in Colorado more than 14 consecutive business days or 30 days per calendar year. §16-22-102(8)(c).

Transient registrants subject to annual registration must report every 3 mo. Transient registrants subject to quarterly registration must report monthly. §§16-22-105 through 16-22-108.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

No statewide restrictions.

Duration & updates:

Lifetime. Petition: 5 years. Quarterly registration for SVPs & out-of-state who register quarterly in state of convictions. Others register annually. §16-22-108

Colorado scenic train rides: July 2023

 

Durango & Silverton Scenic RR

Enjoy your Colorado vacation but don’t get the idea that it’s a state where you might want to live permanently.  Registration is lifetime no matter your tier or equivalent. The only good news is that for Tier 1 or equivalent you can petition for removal after five years.  But as with most other states, there’s never any guarantee of approval.

But for visitors, Colorado has some of the least punitive requirements of any state. Yes, it’s 14 consecutive business days (or 30 per year) to establish a temporary residence. With 2 weekends included that means at least 18 days total; more if there’s a holiday.

Colorado also has no statewide presence or residency restrictions, although you should still be careful because local restrictions are allowed under state law.

If you have been reading my blogs you may know I’m a sucker for a scenic train ride.  The problem is that each one takes most of a day, so if I encounter one while traveling I have to decide between the train ride and anything else I may have intended to do that day.  So the entire purpose of this trip was to go on five Colorado scenic train rides in seven days and get it all out of my system (at least for this year).  Naturally I had to do advance research and make train reservations ahead of time.

I should also say here that when I showed up to report travel at my local sheriff’s department with all my reservations in hand they let me get away with using those train dates and locations as my travel destinations instead of motels and campgrounds.  Of course, whether your local sheriff would be that accommodating is a separate question.

So here are a few comments on the scenic train rides:

Georgetown Loop Scenic Railroad

++ Lots of scenery packed into shortest least expensive ride. Get the mine tour (costs extra).

-- Too “family friendly” – themed playground, toy-heavy gift shop etc. made me paranoid.

Leadville Scenic Railroad

++ Lots of scenery packed into a “relatively inexpensive” ride.

-- Goes through a crappy part of Leadville going and returning; ride is “one-sided” i.e. all the scenery is on the left (downhill) side as your facing the front of the train.

Durango & Silverton Scenic Railroad

++ Most scenic, and the entire train turns around so anything you didn't see on the way up from your assigned seat you will see on the way back.

-- Expensive, box lunch was extra, tracks run alongside US 550 for about an hour each way, tracks poorly maintained so the train rocks a lot.

Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

++ Very scenic and you are allowed to move around so you can see out of both sides of the train, price includes buffet lunch, tracks well-maintained.

-- Expensive, not as close to the scenery as others, goes through flat scrub for an hour after leaving town.

Pikes Peak Cog Railroad

++ Unique attraction and technology that takes you to the top of Pikes Peak.

-- Less scenery except from the top of Pikes Peak, assigned seating means you only get one view, buffet lunch at the top costs extra.

In between the train rides I also visited a few other places, including: Rocky Mountain National Park (spectacular and one day only just scratched the surface); Mesa Verde National Park (lots of ancient pueblos, cliff dwellings and petroglyphs – a real hidden gem of the National Park system); Great Sand Dunes National Park (a disappointment); Garden of the Gods (wow you’ve got to go!).

Cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park

Previous visit: October 2021

In October 2021 I entered Colorado from Utah on I-70 in mid-afternoon.  My first destination was Colorado National Monument. I had been there once before but it was a decades ago.  I remembered that it was beautiful, not far from the interstate, and has a scenic drive that only takes an hour or two depending on how much time you want to devote to it.  On all these counts, Colorado National Monument did not disappoint. On the minus side, it was pretty darned cold that day in late October.

My plan was to go south from the interstate and sort of slow-walk my way through Colorado mainly following U.S. 50.  On that route the next national park was Black Canyon of the Gunnison which, like most of you I’m sure, I’d never even heard of.  It was late enough in the season that I worried whether the campgrounds there would be closed. They weren’t, but wow, that was the coldest night of camping on my entire trip!

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Here’s the good news:  When I explored Black Canyon a bit the next morning, in spite of the freezing temperatures I could see this is really one of the hidden jewels of the national park system. Very impressive!  When I come back that way in better weather and with more time, this is a definite stop.