Outdoor Project

To sum up this location, the Travel Channel listed Ipanema Beach as the sexiest beach in the world.

Colorado is a playground for outdoor enthusiasts year round.  Snowshoeing or cross-country skiing in the Colorado backcountry in the winter is fantastic, and a great setting to explore is the hut system located in the mountains between Vail and Leadville. Connected by hundreds of miles of trails, the 34 huts offer comfortable accommodations in the winter, and some are open to the public in the summer as well.

There are a number of iconic sunrise views in our beautiful country--Haleakala Crater on Maui, Mesa Arch in Canyonlands, Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon to name a few. Colorado’s prime contribution to that group has to be the Maroon Bells reflected in Maroon Lake when the fall color is at its peak. While this location is usually crowded, there is a feeling of shared appreciation for nature’s beauty and a camaraderie between people who are willing to get up early, drive a long way in the dark, brave the cold, and wait patiently for a fleeting moment in time.

The Colorado River near Moab, Utah, is a journey through whitewater, red rock, and blue mountains--a prismatic panorama that only the American West can create. Towering cliffs, monumental rock towers, snow-capped peaks, and desert vistas characterize this iconic landscape, and the river's swift water is an exciting avenue to tour it all. It makes a great beginner- to intermediate-level run with options for half day, full day, or overnight trips.

With its beauty, short distance, and easy access, Cecret (pronounced Secret) Lake has become one of the most popular hikes in all of the Wasatch Mountains. Located at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, it is near the Catherine's Pass Trail and just next door to the Albion Basin Campground. The ski lifts of Alta hang overhead as you head up the short, steady hike.

This hike to Mount Peale's summit provides fantastic views of the La Sal Mountain Range, which towers proudly and inexplicably over Utah's desert canyon country. They are some of the most isolated peaks in the Southwest, with the closest peaks of equal elevation nearly 100 miles away in Colorado's San Juans. With Mount Peale at 12,721 feet and several other peaks breaking into the 12,000-foot realm, this range is the second highest in Utah, taller than the Wasatch and surpassed only by the Uintas.

A Colorado classic, the hike from East Vail to Frisco can be done in one push or as an overnight endeavor. Offering spectacular views of the Gore Range and opportunities for primitive camping, the journey from East Vail to Frisco is well worth the 13.1 miles over Red Buffalo and Eccles Passes. Leave a car in Frisco, as this is a one-way hike that takes backpackers into neighboring Summit County.

From fast, flowing singletrack, to steep, technical rocky sections, there is something for everyone on the 13-mile out-and-back mountain bike ride on the Turquoise Lake Trail near Leadville. Located at 10,000-feet in the San Isabel National Forest and covering half the distance around the 780-acre lake, the ride starts at the Turquoise Lake dam and turns around at May Queen Campground.

Sully's Hangout is a small rock climbing crag that few people have heard of and fewer know how to reach. Tucked away from site in the Lynn Headwaters Park, the trail up to the crag diverts off of an official park trail (Lynn Peak Trail). There are no official signs, but local climbers have built cairns (rock piles) to signify the trailhead. 

This beautiful hike leads up to the summit of 1,716-meter Golden Ears, the eponymous peak in Golden Ears Provincial Park just west of Vancouver. Golden Ears sits at the south end of the park leading into the Fraser Valley. Most of these mountains are hidden by long, tree-covered slopes, but from the backside it is a different story; in fact, what is now Golden Ears Provincial Park began as a section of the much larger Garibaldi Park, which was later split off as its own entity due to the steep and inaccessible terrain that separates this landscape.