Colorado Life Magazine

At Greeley Hat Works, Western tradition is shaped by hand, steam and a century-old set of tools. Trent Johnson, the shop’s fourth owner, begins each custom hat by mapping a customer’s head with a vintage conformateur, then wets, steams, blocks and shapes the felt over hours of careful work.

The Garden City shop dates to 1909 and still builds hats around fit, function and the person who will wear them, whether that customer is a rancher, horsewoman, feedlot cowboy, actor or president. Johnson’s hats have reached Yellowstone, Wind River and George W. Bush, but the work remains rooted in the same promise: a hat made to fit a life, not a costume.

Read the full story: https://na2.hubs.ly/H05D7LV0

PC: David Sands

Eldorado Canyon State Park packs a wide range of Colorado outdoor life into its sandstone walls and creekside corridors. Climbers come for more than 500 technical routes, hikers and mountain bikers follow trails to canyon overlooks, and visitors gather along South Boulder Creek for picnicking, fishing, wildlife watching, fall color, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

The canyon’s history adds another layer to the landscape. Ute people once used the canyon for shelter, early visitors were drawn to the area’s warm springs and daredevil Ivy Baldwin crossed a steel cable between Bastille and Wind Tower more than 400 feet above the creek. Today, the park remains one of the Front Range’s most varied outdoor escapes, close enough for a quick trip from Boulder but layered enough to reward a full day.

Read the full story: https://na2.hubs.ly/H05D5WZ0

PC: Joshua Hardin, Eldorado Springs Historical Society/Boulder Carnegie Library

In Pueblo, artist Rick Espinoza builds portraits layer by layer, using colored pencil to create Indigenous figures, cowboys and Southwestern scenes shaped by faith, identity and culture.

Self-taught and drawing since childhood, Espinoza says art gave him peace, purpose and a place to belong. Today, his work continues to grow from the city he's always called home.

Read the full story in the March/April 2026 issue of Colorado Life.
PC: Olivia George, Catie Blickhahn-Waldrep

Rising above Westminster, a green water tower shaped like a giant mushroom can is one of Colorado’s strangest roadside landmarks.

The tower is the last remnant of Savery Savory Mushrooms, a once-booming operation that grew mushrooms in Colorado’s dry climate through improvised humidity systems, dark growing rooms and a company town north of Denver.

Read the full story in the March/April 2026 issue of Colorado Life.
PC: City of Westminster

At a Kebler Pass overlook, photographers Steven and Sylvia Oboler had spent hours photographing the landscape before packing up their camera equipment. As they were leaving, they spotted a stand of red aspens brightening a storm-dark mountainside and used their phones in the rain to capture one last image, a layered view that went on to win Colorado Life’s Colorado Nature award in the 2025 Share the View International Nature Photography Contest.

Read the full story in the March/April 2026 issue of Colorado Life.
PC: Steven and Sylvia Oboler

Our March/April 2026 issue highlights a mix of landscape, wildlife and history through Eldorado Canyon, the return of the mountain bluebird, hat making in Greeley and the story of astronaut Jack Swigert.

Colorado Life immerses readers in the character of the state through striking photography and place-based storytelling in a glossy keepsake print magazine. Each issue explores Colorado’s landscapes, history, culture and communities.

Subscribe at https://na2.hubs.ly/H05l-f70 and bring the spirit of Colorado into your home all year long.

PC: Dawn Wilson

A Colorado license plate can signal everything from a favorite team to an inside joke. With more than 200 designs and about 78,000 personalized tags on the road, each one says something about who’s behind the wheel.

Produced in Cañon City by prison inmates, the plates range from the classic green-and-white mountain design to newer black and specialty options that reflect identity and history across the state.

Read the full story in the July/August 2025 issue of Colorado Life.

PC: Colorado Correctional Industries

At Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary in Erie, a potbelly pig named Mississippi flops over for a belly scratch while Maui races across the barnyard at the sound of a familiar caretaker’s footsteps. Each animal responds in its own way, with routines and behaviors tied to daily care.

Founded in 2015, the nonprofit is now home to 153 residents and has rescued more than 800 farm animals, offering tours, field trips and programs designed to connect visitors to each animal’s individual story.

Read the full story in the September/October 2025 issue of Colorado Life.

PC: Johnny Nunez, Ariella Nardizzi

Working plein air with a palette knife, R.E. Reynolds paints fast and sure, building mountains, rivers and light in bold strokes. Shaped by a childhood spent around ponds and waterways in Colorado, his work reflects a lifelong connection to the outdoors.

Read the full story in the September/October 2025 issue of Colorado Life.
https://na2.hubs.ly/H054Ps00

A night in a backcountry yurt, a quiet clearing and the slow reward of spotting moose in the wild – State Forest State Park is as much about waiting as it is exploring. With more than 600 moose roaming its willow-filled meadows, the park invites visitors to slow down, settle in and let the experience unfold on its own terms.

Read the full story in the November/December 2025 issue of Colorado Life.
https://na2.hubs.ly/H050R3L0

PC: Dan Leeth