Lyons is known for its historic role as a quarry town and renowned for its beautiful red rock. Visit the Lyons Redstone Museum if you'd like to see historic artifacts displayed in a former schoolhouse. The city also has many antiques stores, boutiques, and locally owned restaurants. Lyons has also fostered significant musical talent and has become a hub for the bluegrass and Americana music scenes. Planet Bluegrass is headquartered in Lyons, an organization which produces the nation's best bluegrass festivals, including the Lyons RockyGrass Festival.
The friendly residents of Lyons cherish the natural beauty all around them, and they are happy to point you in the right direction for the best places for mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, and fishing.
Strap your mountain bike to the roof of your car and head out to Hall Ranch or Heil Valley Ranch, Rabbit Mountain, Lions Gulch, and Picture Rock Trail. The city also offers the Lyons Dirt Jump Bike Skills Park for those who prefer a track. The same trails, along with Button Rock Preserve, also offer excellent hiking. Check out the Meadow Park whitewater course for river sports or head to the St. Vrain River for tubing.
When it's time to eat, you'll certainly have plenty of options. Julie's Thai Kitchen, Oskar Blues Brewery, Mojo Taqueria, and Pizza Bar 66 are a few of the local favorites. Bella Ice Cream will satisfy your sweet tooth after dinner. Spirit Hound Distillers also offers a fun tasting experience with flights of whiskey, gin, sambuca, rum, and coffee liqueur, each made using local ingredients.
When you want to get away to the Rocky Mountains, you need a good base camp. Lyons, Colorado, delivers that experience and more, including good food and excellent shopping, arts, and culture.
When should you visit Lyons, CO?
Although its full-time residential population of Lyons is small, the town nevertheless welcomes thousands each year for its music festivals.
Visit in August for the Colorado Burning Can Fest at the Lyons Outdoor Games. This beer fest takes place at the base of the Rocky Mountains and draws in adventure lovers and craft brew enthusiasts who sip on beers from nearly 100 breweries while enjoying concerts, playing cornhole, and watching dirt bike riders compete. Participate in the disc golf tournament, set out on the La Sportiva Trail Run Relay or the beer relay, engage in some outlaw yoga, or take on the rapids at the kayak slalom. Even dogs can get into the competition with the Dock Dogs category.
Planet Bluegrass takes over Lyons each July for the Annual RockyGrass festival. Mark your calendars to be there and hear generations of bluegrass legends pick, strum, and sing as they take the stage at the Planet Bluegrass Ranch, set against a red cliff backdrop next to the St. Vrain River. The festival is a family-friendly affair. Kids can listen in or head to the family tent for crafts. Musicians can get in on the action and join a jam circle along the river or take a workshop to fine-tune their skills.
If you prefer smaller crowds, join the locals at the annual free Sandstone Summer Concert series, held on Thursdays at the Raul Vasquez Community Stage in Sandstone Park from June through August each year.
Fishing in Lyons is excellent, although you will need to plan your trip with weather conditions in mind. Due to high elevation, freezing temperatures, and snowpack, the river often freezes from November to March. July is the best month to fish the upper sections of the St. Vrain and its tributaries, the South, North, and Middle St. Vrain.
If you're looking for a distinctive dining experience, book a farm dinner at the Lyons Farmette from July through September. The outdoor farm-to-table dinners are cooked by guest chefs from the Denver and Boulder area and served beneath a string of lights on a long farm-style table. Each dinner also serves as a fundraiser for various community nonprofits. If you're planning a summer wedding or special event near Lyons, you'll want to host your special event here.
Visit in December for the Lyons Parade of Lights. The event starts with a town parade, followed by a show choir performance and fireworks after sunset. Throughout the day, you can peruse the local craft bazaar.
Below is a chart of the current pricing seasonality of hotels and motels in Lyons, CO:
Lyons, CO: Prices by Star Rating Class
Below are 3 charts illustrating avg. rate trends by star rating class in Lyons, CO. Browse these charts to evaluate the least expensive seasons to book a room in Lyons for any future trips.
Can you find luxury hotels near Lyons, CO?
4 Star Average Prices: $258.27
Guests who stay at the St. Julien Hotel and Spa in Boulder enjoy a luxurious stay only 14 miles outside of Lyons. Everything about this 4 1/2-star property exudes luxury, from the dark wood finishes and four-poster beds to the elegant meeting spaces and beautifully plated restaurant dishes. Enjoy a craft cocktail at the on-site bar and lounge or visit the spa to enjoy pampering self-care treatments. Visit the indoor pool and fitness center at your convenience.
Rooms feature pillowtop beds, premium bedding, and 37-inch LCD televisions with satellite programming. Wireless internet is complimentary, and a minibar is available if you'd like to indulge away from the crowd. Call for room service 24 hours a day, request a town car or limo, or take the complimentary shuttle, which operates within a 2-mile radius of the hotel.
What budget hotels are there in Lyons, Colorado?
3 Star Average Prices: $151.96
When you're considering options for budget hotels in Lyons, the Best Western Plus Plaza Hotel is a pet-friendly, eco-conscious hotel in the Lyons area. The hotel is decorated in warm neutral tones that reflect the red cliffs and quarries of Lyons only 9 miles down the road.
During your stay at the Best Western Plus Plaza Hotel, you'll enjoy satellite programming, complimentary wireless internet access, and an opportunity to visit the on-site restaurant, steam room, fitness center, and bar and lounge. Each day you can wake up to free breakfast served in the bar area. Business travelers appreciate the Best Western's concierge services, laptop-compatible safes, desks, meeting space, business center, free local phone calls, and express check-in service.
