Colorado
The business of Bigfoot: Sasquatch tourism brings cryptid-curious to Colorado
For $650 a head, Jim Myers leads cryptid-curious folks from around the world into the wilderness of Colorado’s Park County for a three-day camping expedition in search of the elusive Bigfoot.
Myers’s business, Rabbit Hole Adventures, provides tents, meals, guides, first aid kits and satellite phones as part of the quest. He also brings night-vision binoculars, thermal imagers and cameras.
To tackle the trek on horseback, Myers charges $1,400 a person. For a Sasquatch search easier on the wallet, the lifelong Bigfoot devotee hosts $125 night hikes with the hopes of catching a glimpse of the hairy creature. On expeditions he’s deemed successful, Myers said trekkers have witnessed a pair of uniquely glowing eyes through the trees or large, expertly woven branches forming a Sasquatch nest as evidence the mythical forest-dweller walks among us.
“Bigfoot is a lot more mainstream than it used to be,” Myers said “The number of people openly interested in the topic as opposed to not wanting people to know they’re interested for fear of being considered a nutcase has definitely increased. America is infatuated with Bigfoot.”
Bigfoot can mean big business for Colorado’s rural and mountain towns. The National Paranormal Network hosts annual Bigfoot Adventure Weekends in Colorado to gather Sasquatch lovers to search for the creature, an activity often referred to as Squatchin’. Bigfoot-hunting professionals host private forest tours to show off their Sasquatch know-how and sighting spots. And businesses across the state rent out shuttles, cars or bikes for Bigfoot hunts.
Myers has been a Bigfoot aficionado since he was a kid after laying eyes on the famed Patterson-Gimlin film, footage captured in 1967 depicting a large, hairy creature walking on two legs through a Northern California forest.
The cryptid consumed Myers’ life so wholly that when he and his wife were rebuilding a 150-year-old grocery store in Bailey in 2012, they ditched the groceries and dedicated the store to Bigfoot instead.
Now the Sasquatch Outpost — a souvenir shop and museum dedicated to all things Bigfoot — is one of the more well-visited attractions in Bailey, Myers said.
“For a little town like Bailey, it’s a very popular destination,” Myers said. “We send people to the local restaurants, the gift stores and things just because once they’re in Bailey, then they want to do other things. We try to help everybody else along, as well.
Bigfoot travellers
It’s not easy to gauge Sasquatch’s economic footprint in Colorado. Believe it or not, the state doesn’t track the financial impact of Bigfoot tourism.
The Denver Post emailed the state tourism office requesting an interview to discuss the impact that unusual tourist attractions have on smaller, rural communities. The message was forwarded to an outside public relations firm, which declined to set up an interview.
“I actually do not know that much about Bigfoot tourism in Colorado,” a representative of Handlebar Public Relations conceded.
But Kevin McDonald, the special events coordinator for the town Estes Park, was game for a cryptid conversation.
The Larimer County town that serves as the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park has hosted the Bigfoot Days Festival since 2019, luring Sasquatch enthusiasts from near and far.
“We celebrate all things Squatchy,” McDonald said.
About 5,000 people attend the festival, which features Bigfoot-themed vendors, Sasquatch celebrities from reality television shows like “Finding Bigfoot,” live music by the likes of Denver-based band That Damn Sasquatch, a contest to see who can do the best Bigfoot call and more.
The night before the event — Estes Park already Squatched it up in 2024, but the 2025 festival is set for April 26 — is the Bigfoot BBQ, where 150 people purchase tickets for an intimate dining experience with their favorite Sasquatch celebrities. This year, the dinner attracted people from eight states, McDonald said.
“It’s a very engaged crowd, and people do travel for their Bigfoot,” he said.
Nearly 75% of surveyed festival attendees said they came to Estes Park specifically for Bigfoot Days, McDonald said, according to a 2024 economic development survey of the event. More than 72% of people surveyed said they stayed in Estes Park and 88.2% said they spent the night in commercial lodging for an average of two nights.
According to the most recent state tourism report, visitors who stayed in a Colorado hotel, motel, or short-term vacation rental spent a combined $17.3 billion in 2022. Travel spending in Colorado increased 25.2% from $22.1 billion in 2021 to $27.7 billion in 2022, the state tourism report found.
Estes Park and its surrounding forests are ripe with Bigfoot lore.
That’s why Andy Hitch, owner of Estes Park ATV and Jeep rental shop Backbone Adventures, said he wrote a blog post advertising an ATV travel guide for spotting Bigfoot.
Initially, Hitch was reticent to share his own Sasquatch encounters, having grown up in the mountains around Estes Park.
“I’m not huge into it,” he told The Post, admitting there was “a rumor mill” about spotting the creature.
Later, Hitch admitted to an experience of his own while dirt-biking through the mountains 14 years ago.
“Something ran in front of me,” he said. “It was tall and had dark-colored hair. I can’t say exactly what it was, but I don’t get riled about anything, and this made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I’m not saying I saw something, but I’m not saying I didn’t.”
Hitch figured others might be looking to have a similar encounter. He was right.
Since writing his post, folks come to his business looking for an ATV or Jeep to get further back into the forest, he said, in the hopes of spying Bigfoot.
“Get out there and keep your eyes open,” Hitch said. “Who knows what you’re going to see out there? You might find antlers. You might just see Bigfoot.”
“The wonder and mystery of what we don’t know”
The Bigfoot hunting expeditions don’t generate enough income for Myers to make a living. His bread and butter is the Sasquatch Outpost store and museum, while the expeditions are more of a hobby to continue fueling his passion, he said.
What keeps Myers and other Squatchers hooked?
“It’s the magic of the whole paranormal cryptid world,” Myers said. “Bigfoot is just one of the many unidentified, uncategorized species in the world. If Bigfoot are real — and they are — what else could be real? Are fairies real? Dogmen? Mothmen? It’s the wonder and mystery of what we don’t know and understand.”
Last year, a Bigfoot sighting in southwest Colorado went viral after photos and video taken from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad showed a Bigfoot-esque creature traipsing through nature. Debates ensued about whether the sighting was a marketing campaign or prank.
The Post reached out to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to see whether the sighting sparked more Bigfoot believers to come aboard, but the train folks were tightlipped.
Bigfoot has a number of talents most don’t know about, Myers said, including mind-reading and the ability to put thoughts into people’s brains.
Another skill? The ability to draw a crowd.
People from all over the globe have ventured out for Myers’ expeditions, he said, but even more have visited the museum and store to gaze upon the wonders of a 6-foot-tall fiberglass Bigfoot replica and a 7-foot-3-inch animatronic Sasquatch. Around 90,000 people have braved the cryptid models, plaster footprints, video footage and educational information in the museum over the years, he said.
Myers houses the merchandise — Bigfoot and Yeti salt-and-pepper shakers, plush toys, boxer briefs, Bigfoot foot-shaped soap and more — among 27 real trees he brought inside. He built a cave system for kids to run through and a small theater where Myers gives “cave talks” — his version of TED talks.
“You won’t find any store like it in the world,” Myers said.
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The Colorado State Patrol is investigating a crash east of Boulder that injured a pedestrian on Saturday afternoon.
According to CSP, a Mercury Mountaineer SUV broke down in the center lane of westbound Highway 36 near milepost 41 around 3:45 p.m. Pedestrians on both shoulders began walking toward the vehicle. That’s when CSP says a Honda CR-V traveling west on the highway attempted to avoid the Mountaineer and lost control. The CR-V swerved into the inside shoulder and struck a male pedestrian.
Authorities say the man was taken to an area hospital for treatment, but the severity of his injuries is not yet known.
CSP temporarily closed Highway 36 westbound and diverted traffic to McCaslin Boulevard while they worked to investigate the scene. The Colorado Department of Transportation announced that the roadway reopened around 7 p.m.
Investigators asked anyone who witnessed the crash and has not yet spoken to them to contact (303) 239-4501 and reference case number 1D262443.
Colorado
What’s really killing a lot of cattle in Colorado? Hint: wolves aren’t the culprit (Opinion)
The livestock industry has been running a smear campaign against wolves for years.
It intensified when the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association joined forces with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Colorado Farm Bureau, the National Rifle Association’s electioneering arm, and the Colorado Woolgrowers’ Association to oppose Proposition 114 — a 2020 citizens’ ballot initiative requiring Colorado to reintroduce wolves to the western part of the state.
Fearmongering was a big part of the campaign to prevent the restoration of wolves to their native Colorado habitats: The hunting groups peddled the narrative that wolves would kill all the elk. The ranching interests claimed that wolves would drive cattle and sheep operations out of business.
Notably, neither outcome has materialized since the 1995 wolf reintroductions in Yellowstone and Idaho, and indeed elk populations and cattle and sheep ranches there remain abundant three decades after wolves returned. In 2020, the Stop the Wolf Coalition lost the election, 51% to 49%. But the hysteria over livestock losses from wolves was only beginning.
So it makes sense to put these fears, and the livestock industry messaging that amplifies them, into perspective.
Weather events can kill a lot of cattle. In 2007, a single blizzard caused an estimated 15,000 cattle deaths in Colorado, according to the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. In 2024, a single lightning strike knocked 100 cattle off their feet, killing 32 of them as well as a rancher, who was engaged in branding the calves. That’s more than Colorado wolves have killed in an entire year. The weather slaughters far more livestock than predators in the state.
Then there is cattle rustling. In late 2025, 23 cattle disappeared in a single incident on the High Plains of northeastern Colorado, and law enforcement characterized the incident as unlikely to be random chance and likely meant they had been stolen. In 2024, 187 cattle went missing on the Uncompahgre Plateau in Western Colorado. Fifteen of them eventually turned up, demonstrating that missing cattle are sometimes simply lost by inattentive ranchers. The Colorado brand inspector estimated in mid-December of that year that about 500 cattle were expected to be reported missing for the year in the state.
Mystery deaths and sickness also plague Colorado’s cattle herd. In May of 2025, 15 cattle in south-central Colorado keeled over from brain swelling and seizures in a single day. Was it eating poisonous plants? An abandoned oil well on the property? Water contamination? While some sort of toxin was suspected, there have been no definitive answers. A 2010 USDA report calculated that 38.9% of all cattle lost in 2007 died from sickness, injury, or poisoning. Only 0.1% of the losses were attributable to predators of any kind.
In Colorado, the number of cattle killed in slaughterhouses in 2025 was 2,269,600, according to the USDA’s Livestock Slaughter Report. The number of calves slaughtered in the state was “[w]ithheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations,” but would presumably add to that total.
The most important predator of cattle in Colorado, by a vast margin, was humans. Specifically, the livestock industry has raised such a hue and cry over a comparatively tiny number of wolf-caused mortalities. We have met the enemy (of cattle, at least), and he is us.
It’s hard to tell how many cattle and sheep have been killed by wolves, because Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Confirmed Depredation Reports lump together livestock that are killed with livestock that are injured, but recover.
There were 13 cattle killed or injured by wolves in the two years prior to the wolf reintroduction, or an average of 6.5 cattle per year. In the slightly more than three years since reintroduction, there have been 44 cattle killed or injured by wolves, 37 sheep and one llama. That’s an average of 15 cattle and 12 sheep confirmed killed or injured per year.
The fraction of Colorado’s livestock losses attributable to wolves is minuscule, and some of the state’s news outlets are starting to get it. The general public, and lawmakers in particular, need to be aware of the tiny proportion of Colorado’s 2.6 million cattle that are falling prey to wolves, and we can all rest easy in the knowledge that when a livestock loss is reported, and wolves are suspected, there is a full investigation.
And when a wolf kill is confirmed, the rancher in question gets a payment from the state that not only covers his losses, but might also cover up to seven times the value of the animal(s). That’s an excessive level of generosity, which creates a perverse incentive to blame wolves.
But when ranchers are getting paid – in fact, paid far more than the fair-market value they deserve – when beef is what’s for dinner for one of Colorado’s new population of wolves, who really cares whether the diner is wildlife or human?
Erik Molvar is a wildlife biologist and the executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a nonprofit conservation group working to reduce the harmful effects of livestock grazing on public lands to protect and restore wildlife and watersheds throughout the American West.
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There are lots of cities and towns in the Denver area that are hosting professional fireworks shows on the Fourth of July this year.
Here are the shows taking place on July 4 in the Denver metro area:
Arvada
The City of Arvada’s annual fireworks display is scheduled to take place at Stenger Soccer Complex.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:15 p.m.
Location: Stenger Soccer Complex
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Aurora
The “4th of July Spectacular” takes place at the Aurora Municipal Center, located at 15151 E. Alameda Parkway.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Location: Aurora Municipal Center
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Brighton
Brighton’s Fourth of July festival takes place in Carmichael Park at 650 East Southern Street. Fireworks will be set off after the band Thumpin’ performs.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: After concert
Location: Carmichael Park
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Broomfield
Broomfield’s Great American Picnic takes place at Broomfield County Commons Park, which is located at 13200 Sheridan Boulevard.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:15
Location: Broomfield County Commons Park
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Castle Rock
The Town of Castle Rock is planning to launch their Independence Day fireworks display from Miller’s Landing. The town is hosting a Independence Day Celebration at Festival Park, and the fireworks can be viewed from there, or several other locations in town.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Location: Former Acme Brick facility
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Commerce City
Fireworks will be set off outside Dick’s Sporting Goods Park as part of Commerce City’s 4thFEST celebration. They will be launched after the third of three rugby matches in the stadium.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: At the conclusion of the World Rugby Nations Cup
Location: Outside DICK’s Sporting Goods Park
Admission: 4thFEST is free, paid tickets required to see the rugby games
Link: More Info
Denver – Colorado Rockies games
Fans attending the July 4 Colorado Rockies home game at Coors Field will be treated to fireworks at the conclusion of the baseball game. There will also be fireworks for the game the night before — July 3.
Date: July 3 & 4 (against the San Francisco Giants)
Time: The fireworks are usually launched 20 to 30 minutes after the final out.
Location: Coors Field
Admission: Tickets required
Link: More Info
Englewood
In addition to all of its residents, the city of Englewood invites residents of Littleton, Sheridan, Arapahoe County and the South Suburban Parks & Recreation to their Independence Day Celebration.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:15 p.m.
Location: Cornerstone Park and Belleview Park
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Lone Tree
Lone Tree’s city fireworks display will be launched from Prairie Sky Park, and they’ll be viewable from many different locations in the city.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Location: Prairie Sky Park
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Longmont
You can watch a fireworks show in Longmont at 9:30 p.m. There will also be a drone show right before then.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Location: Fireworks can be viewed “from many vantage points across the city.”
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Louisville
The city of Louisville launches their annual fireworks show from Coal Creek Golf Course.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Location: Coal Creek Golf Course
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Northglenn
Fireworks are part of the July 4th Festival in Northglenn at E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:15 p.m.
Location: E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Parker
Fireworks on July Fourth will be visible from many parts of the town of Parker.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Location: Fireworks launch northeast of Salisbury Park, although town officials encourage watching the fireworks from other areas, too
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
Thornton
Thornton’s fireworks display is called “Red, White & BOOM!” Fantabulous Fireworks.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Location: Carpenter Park Fields
Admission: Free
Link:
More Info
Westminster
Date: Saturday, July 4
Location: Westminster City Park
Admission: Free
Link: More Info
There are other fireworks displays taking place in the Denver area on days other than July 4, including Lafayette (June 27), Glendale (June 2), Erie (July 3) and Littleton (July 3).
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