Colorado

Celebrate Colorado's birthday with free entry to any state park, including Lake Pueblo

Published

2 years ago

August 4, 2024

Celebrate Colorado's birthday with free entry to any state park, including Lake Pueblo

To celebrate the Centennial State’s 148^th birthday, all Colorado state parks — including Lake Pueblo, the state’s most visited park each year — will be free to enter Aug. 5, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Every year on Aug. 1, the state recognizes its 1876 founding with Colorado Day. CPW does its part to provide picturesque backdrops for the festivities, albeit a few days after the fact, by offering free entry to all state parks on the first Monday of each August.

“This free entry day is an opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves in the beauty of Colorado state parks and their diverse landscapes,” CPW officials said in a July 31 news release.

While park admission is free, all other park fees — including camping reservations, boat and off-highway vehicle registrations, and hunting and fishing licenses — remain in effect.

Here are some things to know about Colorado Day and what to know before you head to a Colorado state park to celebrate.

What is Colorado Day?

Colorado Day marks the anniversary of Colorado joining the United States.

It officially became the 38^th state in the Union on Aug. 1, 1876, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed the proclamation granting its statehood.

How did Colorado get its name? And why is it the Centennial State?

Colorado’s state name originates from the Spanish word for “colored red.” The name was chosen for Colorado as a Territory in 1861 by Congress, according to the Colorado Encyclopedia.

The state got its moniker as the Centennial State because it became a state in 1876, 100 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Another name often associated with the state is “Colorful Colorado,” likely due to its picturesque combination of mountains, rivers and plains, according to the Colorado Encyclopedia.

Heading to a state park on Aug. 5? Here’s what to know before you go

Colorado is well known for its natural beauty, and CPW officials urge Coloradans to protect its exquisite outdoor amenities and “act as stewards of the state’s land, wildlife, and water.”

“By balancing outdoor recreation with mindful conservation, we can all protect Colorado’s natural beauty,” CPW officials said in the release.

What to know before you go

River the Labrador retriever plays fetch while wearing a life jacket at Lake Pueblo on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.

Be safe on the water

As of July 15, Colorado was on track to surpass its record high for water-related fatalities, when 42 such deaths occurred on Colorado water bodies. CPW officials urge all water recreators to remember that life jackets save lives, and the majority of water-related deaths occur because people do not wear them.

Be careful with fire

Colorado is currently experiencing wildfires across multiple Front Range and Western Slope counties. Fire safety is a state-wide effort, and CPW encourages state park visitors to always practice fire safety.

Check fire restrictions or bans at coemergency.com
Download the free Colorado Trail Explorer (COTREX) app for wildfire alerts
Drown fires out with water until you can touch the embers
Never leave a fire unattended
Avoid parking or driving on dry grass
Check your tire pressure, exhaust pipes, and whether chains or exposed wheel rims are dragging from your vehicle, which may create sparks.

Keep wildlife wild

More on Lake Pueblo: Your 2024 guide of things to do at Lake Pueblo State Park this spring and summer

Chieftain Editor Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@gannett.com or on X, at @ZachHillstrom. Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Lake Pueblo State Park is free to enter Aug. 5. Here’s why

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Colorado

Skier killed in avalanche in Colorado’s Boss Basin, first ski death of the season

Published

11 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Skier killed in avalanche in Colorado’s Boss Basin, first ski death of the season

Updated on: March 8, 2026 / 3:01 PM MDT
/ CBS Colorado

Early Sunday morning, Colorado rescue crews found the body of a missing skier who was killed in a recent avalanche.

The skier was reported missing in the Boss Basin area in the upper portion of Resolution Creek on March 7.

Colorado Avalanche Information Center

Summit County Rescue Group, Vail Mountain Rescue and the Summit and Eagle County Sheriff’s Offices began searching the area and discovered the site of the avalanche. They noticed that nearby ski and snowmobile tracks led up to where it occurred.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says Flight for Life helped with the search. They found the body of the missing skier in the avalanche debris on Sunday, around sunrise.

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Colorado Avalanche Information Center

CAIC staff said the avalanche started near the treeline on a northeast-facing slope and was about two feet deep. The slope angles ranged from 33 to 36 degrees.

According to CAIC data, this is the first person killed in an avalanche during the 2025-2026 ski season.

Colorado Avalanche Information Center
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Avalanche danger in some parts of the high country is considerable, particularly on north- and east-facing slopes and on large open slopes just below ridgelines.

The CAIC Forecast for Sunday says:

“The avalanche danger will stay at CONSIDERABLE (3of5) on Sunday for the places that picked up the most snow in this last storm (Elk and Sawatch Ranges). Areas that received less than 8 inches will go back to MODERATE danger, but this may vary significantly from drainage to drainage and with elevation. Assume a higher danger if you find a foot or more of new snow. Across the region, wind-drifted slopes will remain the most dangerous regardless of the danger. In the shallower areas (Elks and Sawatch), we’re more concerned about avalanches in motion breaking deeper, failing in buried facet layers.
On Sunday, as the sun pops out, remember that a strong spring sun can make sunny slopes unstable rather quickly. Keep an eye out for roller balls as an indication of a forthcoming shed cycle of loose avalanches.”

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Colorado

Arizona men’s basketball shakes off poor start to win at Colorado in regular season finale

Published

23 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Arizona men’s basketball shakes off poor start to win at Colorado in regular season finale

Will this be the team that gets Arizona back to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years, and maybe go further? Who knows. But one thing is for certain, no Wildcats squad has had a better regular season than this one.

Second-ranked Arizona rallied from down 11 late in the first half to win 89-79 at Colorado on Saturday night, putting the finishing touches on its first Big 12 title. The 29 victories are the most in school history during the regular season, breaking a mark done four previous times including in 2021-22 in Tommy Lloyd’s first year running the program.

Brayden Burries had a career-high 31 points, 22 coming in the second half, while Koa Peat scored 19 of his 25 in the first half. The freshmen combined to make 21 of 31 shots and Burries added an 11-of-12 performance at the foul line, and Burries added seven rebounds, five steals and an assist.

Tobe Awaka, Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas each had 10 for Arizona, which shot 70.4 percent in the second half and 55.9 percent for the game. The Wildcats had a 54-26 edge on points in the paint and finished plus-5 on the boards after being down four at the half.

Jaden Bradley went scoreless for the first time this season, missing all three of his shots, but he made up for it with six of the UA’s 22 assists.

Colorado (17-14) got 28 points from Isaiah Johnson, who set the school freshman season scoring record. The Buffaloes shot 40.6 percent and made 7 of 22 from 3 but only hit one triple after halftime.

The UA trailed 38-36 at halftime, only the fourth time this season it has been down after 20 minutes, after being down 11 late in the first half. A Burries 3 tied it at 44, thenKharchenkov gave the Wildcats their first lead at 48-46 with 16:59 remaining.

Arizona got the lead up to five before Colorado fought back. Six straight by Bangot Dak put the Buffaloes ahead 54-52 but then Dak picked up his fourth foul and had to sit.

That began a 4-minute stretch with 10 lead changes before Arizona got a stop and Burries drained a 3 on the other end to put the UA up 66-62 with 9:17 left. The Wildcats made six straight shots, including back-to-back baskets inside byAwaka to make it 73-64 with 7:15 remaining.

A 3 from Kharchenkov put Arizona up 10 with 5:48 to go. The Buffaloes got within six before Peat dunked through a zone defense, and a Burries layup again got the lead to double digits.

Peat had 12 of Arizona’s first 14 points in the first seven minutes, but none put the Wildcats in the lead. The Buffaloes never trailed in the first half, jumping out to an 8-point edge with 8:08 left before halftime and extending that to 36-25 with 4:21 to go in the half, both on 3s by Johnson.

Colorado hit six 3-pointers in the first half, three by Johnson, while Arizona was 0 for 6 from deep

A 9-0 run, capped by a 3-point play by Burries, got the UA within two in the final minute, setting the stage for the second half.

Arizona now gets a few days off before heading to the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. As the No. 1 seed it has a double bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals, where it will face either No. 8 UCF, No. 9 Cincinnati or No. 16 Utah. They beat those teams this season by seven, 26 and 19 points, respectively.

2026 Big 12 Tournament schedule

No. 12 ASU (16-15) vs. No. 13 Baylor (16-15), 9:30 a.m. (ESPN+)

No. 9 Cincinnati (17-14) vs. No. 16 Utah (10-21), 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

No. 10 BYU (21-10) vs. No. 15 Kansas State (12-19), 4 p.m. (ESPN+)

No. 11 Colorado (17-14) vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State (18-13), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

ASU/Baylor winner vs. No. 5 Iowa State (25-6), 9:30 a.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Cincinnati/Utah winner vs. No. 8 UCF (20-10), 12 p.m. (ESPNU)

BYU/Kansas State winner vs. No. 7 West Virginia (18-13), 4 p.m. (ESPNU)

Colorado/Oklahoma State winner vs. No. 6 TCU (21-10), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)

ASU/Baylor-Iowa State winner vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (22-9), 9:30 a.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Cincinnati/Utah-UCF winner vs. No. 1 Arizona (29-2), 12 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

BYU/Kansas State-West Virginia winner vs. No. 2 Houston (26-5), 4 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Colorado/Oklahoma State-TCU winner vs. No. 3 Kansas (22-9), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Quarterfinal 1 winner vs. Quarterfinal 2 winner, 4 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Quarterfinal 3 winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 winner, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Semifinal winners, 3 p.m. (ESPN)

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Colorado

Upscale steakhouse Eddie Merlot’s offers delicious prix-fixe menu for Denver Restaurant Week

Published

2 days ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Upscale steakhouse Eddie Merlot’s offers delicious prix-fixe menu for Denver Restaurant Week

Denver Restaurant Week is underway, and for the next eight days, diners can visit more than 270 restaurants to try multi-course meals at a range of prices. Eddie Merlot’s Managing General Partner, Keith Miller, joined CBS Colorado in the studio on Saturday morning to share their restaurant week specials.

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