In no particular order! Here are some location ideas for your elopement. I’ve organized things by towns or exact locations. So feel free to decided on a town and then we can get more specific as we continue planning, or if a particular spot speaks to you right away, that works too! If nothing here is to your liking or you want more options, I’m happy to come up with more.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Black Canyon is BREATHTAKING. This is such a unique spot and an absolutely amazing place for an elopement, as long as you aren’t afraid of heights! This is less hiking and more driving around from viewpoint to viewpoint but you can walk at the viewpoints and explore a bit, some more than others. I don’t normally recommend national parks because they’re usually really busy and there are places just as beautiful all around the state of Colorado, but Black Canyon is not a very busy park at all and it’s so unique, you won’t find any place like this in Colorado. The closest town is Montrose. This is all in the Western Slope of Colorado, which abounds in wineries interestingly enough! Here’s a blog post with the first half of the photos being from Black Canyon.

Silverton

Silverton truly feels like going back in time. It’s a western town through and through. It’s tucked into the San Juan Mountains, some of the most jaw-dropping mountains in Colorado, in my opinion! Silverton has so many gorgeous spots for photos. This would be a good place for smaller hikes/short walks and possibly driving to multiple locations. There’s a bunch of winding mountain passes to drive and explore. Some require 4x4, so renting a Jeep or something of the sort would be a great option to get as much out of the area, but it’s not absolutely necessary. The Wyman Hotel is a really neat boutique hotel in town that I think you’d really like!

Here are a few hikes/locations of note:

South Mineral Creek Falls
Clear Lake (blue waters that don’t take a big hike to get to! Rare!)

And some phone photos/video I’ve taken to give you a better idea of Silverton and its surrounding area:

Crested Butte

Crested Butte is such a dreamy mountain town. This is the first place I think of if I want to wow out-of-staters. The town is lovely with its colorful western storefronts and homes. Everywhere you look is a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape. There are plenty of hikes to choose from in Crested Butte. And like I’ve previously mentioned, the town does in fact have a tattoo parlor or two! Here’s a beautiful little boutique hotel I recommend.

And some hikes, though there’s plenty more!:

And that blog post I shared above also contains images from Crested Butte, that’s the second half of this post.

Ridgway

Another San Juan Mountains town. Less old town western-y but still has charm. The biggest draw to this town is the Blue Lakes Hike. This is a popular hike that takes you to a beautiful alpine lake. It is on the more strenuous side and I debated even mentioning it, but it’s one of the most accessible blue water lakes (I think you mentioned Chris liking those?) as most are much longer hikes. I would say we’d only need to hike to the lowest lake, or a little further for the view of the lowest lake, which would be 3.8 miles up. And that would be an elevation gain of 2,000 ft. So, definitely strenuous and not for the faint of heart, especially as people coming from only a couple hundred feet above sea level. But worth mentioning, I think!

Vail Valley

For some options a little closer to Denver, Vail would be a great place to be. There are two hikes (below) in particular that I really love that aren’t too long or difficult that take you up over tree line to stunning meadow views and the surrounding peaks. There’s also Piney Lake, which can be reached via a long 4x4 road. It’s a stunning lake in the mountains, doesn’t require much strenuous hiking at all. It would require permission from Piney River Ranch, a wedding venue near the lake, and a fee to use the area for photos. Then Vail is of course a beautiful mountain resort town, definitely on the luxury side.

Corral Creek (videos from top of hike below)
This is a lovely hike that isn’t terribly crowded. It’s very peaceful, goes through a meadow or two, and isn’t too difficult or long.

Shrine Ridge (video from the top of hike below)
This is similar to the above hike and very nearby. It’s a little shorter though and more popular. Ends in a beautiful meadow overlook of the surrounding peaks.

Buena Vista

BV is a very fun mountain town in a valley surrounded by gorgeous mountain peaks. My favorite place to stay in Buena Vista is the Surf Hotel. There’s a lot of beautiful hikes near BV but my favorite areas to explore Twin Lakes and Independence Pass. Twin Lakes a tiny little western town and two large lakes that sit right nearby for lots of fun summer recreation. The town sits right at the start of Independence Pass, a mountain road that reaches to 12,000 ft of elevation and takes you to Aspen, CO. Here’s a session that gives you a glimpse of both Twin Lakes and Independence Pass. Not much hiking required at all, just exploring via car and walking around and taking it all in!

Nederland

Another town fairly close to Denver, even closer to Boulder. Nederland is a funky little Front Range mountain town. There are a quite a few options to explore in this area but there are two that immediately jump to mind.

Lake Isabelle
The description in the link above is a little deceptive. This hike isn’t terribly difficult if you stop at Lake Isabelle and don’t go too much further up. It’s a beautiful area, quite stunning, but it is a very popular trail, even on weekdays. It can also get VERY windy at the lake. But it definitely brings the wow factor!

Diamond Lake
This hike near Nederland is popular as well but another really beautiful one that ends at an alpine lake. It’s not too long, though the elevation gain can be a little bit of a kicker and the road leading to the trailhead is very bumpy! Lots of beautiful streams and wildflowers along the way.

State Forest State Park

This option is very specific. Its Lake Agnes inside State Forest State Park. This hike isn’t very difficult at all and not long, which is why it’s so great that it offers a very cool payoff in the form of this lake with a tiny little island in the middle. It’s a very rocky lake though and not much greenery surrounds the area. It’s also a hike that isn’t close to any great towns of any kind. AKA it’s basically in the middle of nowhere. But there are some cool yurt and cabin rentals if roughing it is your thing! And the rest of the park has some really beautiful scenery.