Colorado
From the 50 State Visitors Guide :
C.R.S. 2025 §§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
Most recent visit - September 2026
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.
I have passed through Colorado on my way to somewhere else several times, and each time I try to slow myself down to see some new part of the state. This time I entered from Nebraska on I-76 but soon got off on SR 14 which took me through Pawnee National Grassland. Yes a lot of the shortgrass prairie is preserved, but only by allowing a bunch of oil rigs to blot the view. Further west, this retired city planner thinks Fort Collins is “so well planned you can’t find anything.”
Continuing west, SR 14 passes through Cache la Poudre Canyon in Roosevelt National Forest, where I camped for the night. This is north of Rocky Mountain National Park. The next morning I continued on SR 14 through the canyon and on to Arapaho National Forest and Wildlife Refuge, where the high meadows were in fall color – see photos:
I continued west as far as Steamboat Springs but then south to I-70 so I could to Utah by nightfall – but remembering to stop for supplies in Grand Junction because one thing is for sure, once you enter Utah on I-70 there’s nothin’.
I have stopped at Colorado National Monument on previous trips through Colorado. 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.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
I have visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison twice in recent years. This is a truly stunning canyon, really one of the hidden jewels of the national park system. Gazing into it is like staring into the abyss. Very impressive! One thing I have to admit, however, is that because of the high altitude it’s a very cold place to camp!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Colorado scenic train rides: July 2023
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.
Durango & Silverton Scenic RR
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.
++ 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.
++ 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!).
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