Founded in 1993, 5280 is the largest local magazine in Colorado. The magazine's stories often make national headlines, and since 2005 5280 has been nominated for four National Magazine Awards. Get 5280 Magazine digital subscription today.
There’s a gorgeous, foamy little fishing hole on the Arkansas River just north of U.S. 285 before you get to Buena Vista. At about 11,700 feet in elevation, at a small bend in the trail that leads up 14,012-foot Huron Peak, a spectacular vista of theThree Apostles comes into view. And in the American Basin, bunched along the east side of the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, is a patch of blue columbines so immense that you can’t see where the blossoms end. These mental snapshots immediately popped into my mind when 5280 senior editor Nicholas Hunt asked me to describe some of Colorado’s exceptional locales. Although the Centennial State is known the world over for its sweeping panoramas of skyscraping peaks, it’s rarely those big, blown-open, made for-a-postcard…
As one of the country’s only Olympic-size, banked-oval cycling racetracks, the Boulder Valley Velodrome (BVV) should have cemented the Front Range’s status as a cycling destination in 2013, when it was slated to host its first riders. Instead, the south Erie venue suffered a string of setbacks, including a windstorm and flood that all but destroyed the place before construction was finished. Then, just three years after the track finally opened in 2015, the owners put the venue up for sale. After several buyers fell through, the velodrome closed for the season in fall 2019 and never reopened because of the pandemic. Boards rotted, paint flaked, and by 2023, the BVV looked more like an abandoned amusement park ride than a world-class sports venue. That’s when local cyclist Todd Stevenson…
1 The Arvada Tavern 5707 OLDE WADSWORTH BLVD. On April 7, 1933, just months after the repeal of Prohibition in the state, the Arvada Tavern received the city’s first-ever alcohol license. The local watering hole has since transformed into an upscale bar with elevated pub fare such as walnut-crusted salmon and a mother lode of craft cocktails like the Smoke & Mirrors (rye and peated whiskeys, Cardamaro, bénédictine, honey syrup, and cocoa and Angostura bitters). If you crave Prohibition-style boozing, however, step through the indoor telephone booth to enter Bernard’s Tiki Room, a rum-soaked speakeasy that opened in 2023. 2 Outside The Box / Outside The Box Too! 5760 OLDE WADSWORTH BLVD., UNITS A AND E Co-founded in 2022 by former CBS4 meteorologist Chris Spears, Outside the Box is an…
After witnessing her parents suffer from addiction, Felicia Gonsalez swore she’d never touch drugs. But when her 18-year-long marriage ended in a difficult divorce, Gonsalez began dating a man who struggled with substance use and soon found herself using opioids. Within a matter of months, she lost her job, her house, and her car to her addiction. The then Pueblo resident tried to recover dozens of times over the next three and a half years, but it wasn’t until after Gonsalez gave birth to her third child in 2021 that she admitted herself into a rehabilitation program. She’s been sober ever since. Other expectant and new moms have had a more difficult time overcoming addiction. According to a 2023 Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment report, accidental overdoses are…
A public service announcement to defensive backs this fall: If you spy wide receiver Sara Walker running a short curl route, don’t bite. She’s probably going long. The fake-out is one of Arvada West High School quarterback Saylor Swanson’s favorite plays. “It pretty much gets the defender every time,” says the reigning female Colorado High School Football Player of the Year. “Also, it’s always fun to throw a deep ball.” In fall 2022, the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) launched a two-year flag football pilot program that saw nearly 1,400 girls from 52 schools participate last year. Despite that competition, Swanson led the Wildcats to a 25-0 campaign and a state title in 2023, and starting this month, she’ll have the chance to repeat after the CH-SAA fully sanctioned…
“A lot of people don’t even know where Sudan is,” says Sara Hamid, a dietitian turned chef who moved to the United States from the northeast African country in 2009. Even fewer, then, are familiar with the vibrant cuisine of her homeland. To remedy that problem in Denver, Hamid launched a catering business in 2019 and in May fulfilled her dream of opening a brick and-mortar restaurant. The centerpiece of Platt Park’s Sawa Mediterranean Restaurant & Buffet—a casual eatery housed in a bright space filled with plants and dark wood—is a buffet table loaded with Sudanese, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern dishes. The diversity of the flavors at Sawa—which means “together” in Arabic—showcases the myriad cultures that influence the food in Sudan. Choose the all-you-can-eat option for $25 to try a…
