303 Day Celebration of 50 Reasons Why Colorado Is the Best State

It's March 3 — celebrated in Colorado as 303 day.

And what better way to mark the occasion than to count down fifty reasons Colorado in the best state in the U.S. of A.

What follows is an updating of a post first published in 2014 (we also assembled top-fifty lists in 2011, 2012 and 2013). But surprisingly few changes were necessary — proof that the best stuff in Colorado is no passing fancy.

See what we mean below. And happy 303 day!

Number 50: A bad day skiing still beats a good day working.

Number 49: We can make beer out of just about anything.

Number 48: There's only one place in the word where you can find Champagne powder. And it's trademarked.

Number 47: Red Rocks Amphitheatre doubles as the most gorgeous gym in the world during the day, when people run the steps or practice yoga.

Number 46: Casa Bonita still hasn't jumped off a cliff.

Number 45: The Royal Gorge Bridge remains the most terrifying, acrophobic bridge-to-nowhere ever built.

Number 44: And at night, Red Rocks will get you high with or without additional help.

Number 43: Competition between dozens of ski areas means sweet multi-resort season-pass deals for Colorado skiers and snowboarders.

Number 42: Our college mascots are the real thing: CU has a team to wrangle its buff, and CSU has an old lamb.

Number 41: You don't have to worry about walking down the street with a small bag of herb in your pocket — and you don't have to stash it here, either.

Continue to keep counting down our 303 Day celebration of fifty reasons why Colorado is the best state.


Number 40: We got lit a century ago, when Denver debuted the first outdoor Christmas tree.

Number 39: You can trace the footsteps of dinosaurs both in the Morrison Fossil Area and at Dinosaur National Monument, most of which is in Colorado.

Number 38: Our public art is full of bees and honey.

Number 37: The Gunnison Sage Grouse, discovered in 2000 and officially listed as endangered in November 2014, was the first new bird species to be recognized in the USA in more than 100 years.

Number 36: If you start early enough, you can summit two 14ers in one day without ever getting out of your car.

Number 35: Just about every food store and restaurant has vegetarian options — something that's rarer in other states than you might expect.

Number 34: Ovaries are respected here.

Number 33: We're such a pet-friendly state that in a lot of places, water bowls for dogs practically outnumber water fountains for people.

Number 32: Our local musicians actually care about the music community here.

Number 31: If it wasn't for a certain Colorado company, your iPhone would have been destroyed long ago.

Number 30: Your favorite band probably plays here more than they do in their hometown.

Number 29: Our governor is not afraid to apologize for a past wrong, even if it took place 150 years ago.

Number 28: We have the meatiest "oysters" in the country.

Number 27: The Broadmoor: the gold standard for high-country luxury.

Number 26: Eighty degrees to snow in one day = random jacket sales at thrift stores!

Number 25: There are even cool things in the suburbs here.

Number 24:

We've got some of the liveliest dead around.

Number 23: Riding bikes isn't only about getting exercise.

Number 22: With the new transit hub at Union Station, Uber service to DIA, expanding bike lanes (and B-Cycle availability) and pedicabs downtown, and commuter rail on the way, getting around the Denver metro area without a car is getting easier all the time.

Number 21: Why bother with a Winter Olympics bid when nearly every major pro snowboarding and free-skiing competition is already held annually in Colorado?

Number 20:
Superheroes look a little different around here.

Number 19 It's super-easy to tell how high you are here.

Number 18: Choo-choos. As in the Georgetown Loop, the Royal Gorge Route, the Pikes Peak Cog, the Cumbres & Toltec, the Durango & Silverton — all great ways to see some of the best of the West.

Number 17: We're laid back, but not so much as in California....

Number 16: You can still have fun even when your favorite baseball team is getting its ass kicked.

Number 15: There are so many transplants here that there's someone who can relate around just about every corner.

Number 14: Nearly a dozen geeky conventions come through the Mile High City every year.

Number 13: In Colorado, being called a beer nerd is a compliment.

Number 12: Colorado is the home of Rocky Mountain National Park, which doesn't look a day over 101.

Number 11: We just keep coming up with new tourist attractions.

Number 10: Glenwood Springs. Good enough for Doc Holliday's last days, and starring quite possibly the most popular, amenity-laden hot springs pool in the hemisphere.

Number 9: We look really good in pink.

Number 8: You can do any outdoor sport here, at a world-class level, as long as it doesn't require an ocean.

Number 7: When we invite our friends over, they all show up.

Number 6: There's no football team more super.

Number 5: You're never very far from a bowl of green chile or a smothered burrito.

Number 4:
Around these parts, there's hockey inside and out.

Number 3: Denver has more live music venues than Austin.

Number 2: Between our microbreweries and our dispensaries offering boutique cannabis strains, we are a state of intoxicant connoisseurs.

Number 1: We're not Utah.