11 Crazy Adventures You Didn’t Know You Could Have in Colorado

Everyone comes to Colorado for the beauty and the mountains. A typical visitor will ski, hike, and then hit up the breweries. But if you’re looking for more memorable attractions, there are plenty of weird, wacky, and WTF experiences to make your vacation and Instagram feed one for the ages. If you’re looking for the out-of-the-ordinary, extreme, “are we really going to do this?” adventures in Colorado, read on and plan your weekend getaway or day trip today.

Hike with Llamas

Everyone knows that a visit to Colorado usually includes beautiful hikes. But why not do it with a furry friend? Spruce Ridge Llamas in Salida and Wildland Trekking in Rocky Mountain National Park are two companies specializing in “Llama Treks,” which have day trips or overnighters. Technically the llamas are there to lug your gear, but they make good trail companions too. If you’d rather just hang out for the day, Paragon Guides in Breckenridge has a “Take a Llama to Lunch” hike, which is short, sweet, and perfect for photos or kiddos.

Plumet over a Cliff

Discovered accidentally by two young boys in the late 1800s, Cave of the Winds in Colorado Springs is a 500-million-year-old underground world with 10,765 feet of surveyed passages that are mostly open to the public. Above ground is an amusement park built into the natural beauty of the cliffside. There are many crazy adventures to be had here, but one of the biggest adrenaline rushes comes from the “Terror-Dactyl,” which is essentially a bungee jump meets a giant swing over a 200-foot cliffside. While you may not be able to digest the views flying 100 mph, you can certainly take them in from the top. Other attractions include zip lines, obstacle courses, and cave tours, guaranteeing some kind of thrill.

Check Heli-Skiing Off Your Bucket List

Colorado is undoubtedly one of the best destinations in America for a ski trip. But once you’ve hit all the resorts and feel like you’ve mastered all the groomed runs, there’s still room for snowy fun. Heli-Skiing is about as extreme as a winter
sport can get, and there are plenty of companies making it happen here. Usually with options for a day or multiday pass, Telluride Helitrax offers the chance of a single drop if you feel like it’s something you need to check off your bucket list…once. A helicopter will pick you and your group up from the resort and takes you above treeline for some of the “gnarliest shredding” possible. The adventure is not suited for beginners, but you don’t need to be a hardcore shredder to enjoy the fresh pow.

Traverse the Via Ferrata

Via Ferrata translates to “Iron Road,” which originated in Europe as a way to get good positioning atop a mountain during wartime. Its popularity has since expanded around the world as an adventurous alternative to rock climbing. In Telluride, it one of the most thrilling adventures a traveler can do as your hoisted 500 feet up and secured only by only a thin cable as you circumvent a mountain and waterfall. The attraction does require going with a licensed guide, and while beginners can do it, it is definitely favored by experienced climbers.

Camp on the Side of a Cliff

Cliff camping started as a way for big wall climbers to rest on multiday treks but has since become approachable to just about anyone. Run by Kent Mountain Adventure Center in Estes Park, cliff camping is just like it sounds – a tent pitched on a portaledge suspended hundreds of feet off the ground. Guides will assist either hiking up or rappelling down to your overnight accommodations. If an entire night on the mountain sounds intimidating, they also offer “cliffnicks” for a quick picnic in the sky. If you’re thinking, “What if I roll over in the middle of the night?” guides assure you that you are always clipped in and will sleep shockingly well.

Wrestle Alligators

If you grew up idolizing Steve Irwin, this one’s for you. At the Colorado Gators Reptile Park right behind Great Sand Dunes National Park, you can pay $100 to learn how to wrestle alligators. This is no activity for the faint-hearted, as wrestlers have been known to lose fingers due to some gnarly chompers (check out the gift shop where they’re on display). If you’re not willing to sacrifice appendages for adventure, there are plenty of other activities in the park, such as fishing for your own dinner and meeting the alligator that starred in Happy Gilmore.

Learn The Art of Ice Climbing

Ouray is the ice climbing capital of the world and one of the best places to learn the art of ascending frozen walls, waterfalls, or in Ouray’s case, a man-made ice wall at the Ouray Ice Park. San Juan Mountain Guides is the only year-round guide service, so even in summer, you can find some frozen fun and learn about the art of ascending the frozen tundra. For a more memorable experience, plan a visit in January during the Ouray Ice Festival to learn all about the sport and watch some of the best around race to the top of Mount Aphrodite.

Watch Donkey Racing

“What would get people to come to Cripple Creek?” was a question posed by the locals in 1930. What they came up with was donkey racing, and they weren’t wrong. For more than 80 years, people have flocked to the tiny gold rush town outside Colorado Springs to watch the local donkey herd duke it out on a racetrack. The Donkey Derby Days (say that five times fast) summer festival also features food, games, and live music, but the real entertainment comes on the tracks.

Go Dog Sledding – Year-Round

We’ve all seen the movies Snow Buddies and Eight Below, but if you haven’t lived out your Frozen fantasies yet, head to Colorado. You’ll have your own team of Siberian Huskies take you around the beautiful backcountry. These adorable dogs are ready to run on a fun-filled romp through the trails. Check out Good Times Adventures outside Breckenridge or Krabloonik Dogsledding in Aspen and get ready to yell, “mush.” Even in the warmer months, you can go on a different form of a dog sledding tour. At Good Times, you can head out with the dogs on their “exercise runs” being pulled in a cart or scooter. There’s also the option of simply hanging out at the kennel where over 150 Siberian Huskies await your pets.

Attend Frozen Dead Guy Days

The story behind this festival is almost as bizarre as what goes on at it. Frozen Dead Guy Days is a festival dedicated to Grandpa Bredo, a cryogenically frozen man stored in a shed in Nederland, Boulder’s quirky, hippie neighbor. Once a year in February/March, he’s brought out for the town to celebrate in a festival dedicated to the “Ice Man.” There are coffin races, “the Blue Ball,” frozen t-shirt contests, polar plunges, human foosball, icy turkey bowling, and more bizarrely dead-themed activities.

Full Moon Wolf Tours

Wolves howling at a full moon is a tale as old as time. But what most people only see in stories and movies, you can experience in Divide, a small town outside of Canon City. At the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center, the most popular experience is the Full Moon Tour they offer once a month. A guide will take you on a short hike at dusk before performing a group howl where you will hear the wolves call back over the inky moonlight. If you can’t make the nighttime adventure, anytime you visit, you can meet the coyotes, feed the animals, and get an intimate VIP encounter with the wolves.

Adventures in Colorado are Truly Wild

Colorado isn’t just a state—it’s a full-on playground for the bold, the curious, and the slightly unhinged (in the best way). Whether you’re cliff camping in Estes Park, heli-skiing in Telluride, or taking a llama to lunch in Breckenridge, the Centennial State offers adventures outside the ordinary (often with an animal in tow) for epic vacation memories that’ll last a lifetime.

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