How Do Colorado’s Tourist Destinations Compare to Other States?

For vacationing families, Colorado has always been a destination of sorts, and there are numerous landmarks in the Centennial State that are particularly popular for tourists.

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This is no different in 2025, as two of the state’s National Parks have been named the most popular destinations for tourists in the state.

What Are the Most Popular Tourist Destinations in Colorado?

According to World Population Review, the most popular tourist destination in Colorado in 2025 is Mesa Verde National Park. In case you’re not familiar, Mesa Verde is home to ruins from the ancestral Pueblo people that inhabited the area thousands of years ago.
The research shows that the second-most popular tourist destination in Colorado is currently the Great Sand Dunes National Park, a massive plot of land filled with, as the name of the park suggests, sand dunes.

How Do Tourist Destinations in Colorado’s Neighboring States Compare?

In states just outside of Colorado, we have popular tourist destinations like Temple Square and Zion National Park in Utah, Santa Fe Plaza and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Grand Tetons National Park and Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, Monument Rocks and Exploration Place in Kansas, and Chimney Park National Historic Site and Henry Dourly Zoo in Nebraska listed as the most popular in each of the aforementioned states.

Other states that technically border Colorado but are not as close as those listed above include Arizona, with the most popular tourist destinations listed as Antelope Canyon and Grand Canyon National Park, and Oklahoma, a state that boasts its most popular tourist stops in 2025 as Wichita Mountains and Turner Falls.

Check out the full list here.

Take a Rare Tour of an Eerily Abandoned Colorado State Park

WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter this property. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property.

Bonny Lake State Park was once Colorado’s easternmost state park. However, after being abandoned in 2011, the old park carries a much more ominous feel than it did in its heyday.

Gallery Credit: Nate Wilde

Exploring Colorado's National Parks: A Summer Bucket List

Plan a summer road trip through all of Colorado’s magnificent National Parks.

Gallery Credit: Nate Wilde

Former Colorado Homestead Turned State Park is a Hiker’s Paradise

Take a look around Staunton State Park, a former homestead that was donated to the state of Colorado.

Gallery Credit: Nate Wilde

Source: New Report Names the #1 Tourist Attraction in Colorado for 2025

Filed Under: Colorado National Parks

Categories: Articles, Colorado News, Colorado Local