Colorado's Regional Division

Colorado’s cities and towns range from gleeful bastions of nightlife and big-city attractions to laidback affairs with tucked-away vistas and history-laden vacation destinations. Graced with a diversity of terrain – from the sun-bathed fissures of western Colorado to the sky-grabbing peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the swaying grass prairie of the Eastern Plains – every corner of Colorado provides a new adventure. Consider a lakeside stay in towns like Grand Lake and Gunnison, or indulge in the raucous downtown exploits of Denver and Colorado Springs. For a slower pace, stroll the thoroughfares of mountain towns like Telluride and Estes Park or visit our array of historic small towns, including Burlington, Pueblo and Julesburg...

Colorado has seven main regions that it is divided into. They are as follows:

Denver Metro Area

The Denver metropolitan area consists of eight counties including all of Denver and Broomfield Counties and parts of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas, Elbert, and Jefferson Counties. The metro area stretches over 4,500 square miles from Golden to the west to Watkins to the east. The northernmost city is Longmont and the southernmost location is Castle Rock.

Foothills

Generally the foothills are considered the higher terrain between 6,000 and 9,000 feet west of Denver that parallel the Front Range Mountains. The foothills stretch from Roxborough State Park north to the west side of Fort Collins. Evergreen, Morrison, Genesee, Nederland, and Red Feather Lakes are all examples of foothill locations.

Palmer Divide

The Palmer Divide is a ridge of higher terrain that extends from the Front Range of the Rockies in central Colorado, eastward toward the city of Limon on the Eastern Plains. It separates the Arkansas and Missouri River basins. Cities along the Palmer Divide include Monument, Castle Rock, Parker, Kiowa, and Elbert. It is named after William Jackson Palmer who founded Colorado Springs in 1871.

Urban Corridor

The Front Range urban corridor is the area immediately east and west of Interstate 25 from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Pueblo. More than 85 percent of Colorado’s population lives along the urban corridor within the Fort Collins, Greeley, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo metropolitan areas.

Eastern Plains

The Eastern Plains (or just “Plains”) is considered all areas of Colorado east of Interstate 25. Sterling, Limon, Burlington, Lamar, La Junta, and Springfield are examples of Eastern Plains locations.

Front Range

Specifically the Front Range in Colorado is the eastern most mountain range of the Rocky Mountains stretching from Pikes Peak to the Colorado/Wyoming state line. However, the term “Front Range” is used to loosely describe any area from the urban corridor west to the Continental Divide.

Mountains

Any location above 9,000 feet in elevation is generally considered a mountain area. There are three mountain regions in Colorado.