Lyons, Colorado events, festivals and things to do for 2023 visitors

You have to zoom in pretty close on a map of Colorado before Lyons even shows up. The town, with a population that hovers around 2,000 people, isn’t exactly a tourist hot spot or an epicenter of, well, anything. But we know better.

We know that Lyons is worthy of a stop on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park, or as a destination on its own. We know that 97% of the 85 businesses are locally owned (the only ones that aren’t are two gas stations), making it one of the most unique towns in which to browse, eat and drink. We know that its setting at the edge of the Rockies, with its mix of forests, valleys and sandstone cliffs, is absolutely stunning. And we know that come summertime the music is roaring, with major festivals drawing bluegrass-loving crowds.

Here are five reasons to spend time in Lyons this summer:

The food is some of the best in the state

It may seem strange that one of the most delicious fine dining restaurants in Colorado resides in such a small town, but hey, we don’t make the rules. Marigold is a beautiful, unexpected restaurant serving beautiful, unexpected food, and it alone is worth the drive.

The menu is a constantly changing mix of European/new American dishes that is pretty much whatever chef/owner Theo Adley fancies that day. At this point it’s almost unnecessary to say that a restaurant plucks its produce and meat from local farms and ranches, and it’s the flavor combinations and techniques that make Marigold, which opened last summer, so notable.

Take the staple Caesar salad, a deceptively simple title for what is actually a hand-held take on the classic. We get two chunks of little gem lettuce topped with the familiar dressing, but large bonito flakes stand in for anchovies and crunchy puffed rice for croutons. The three pastas are handmade and extruded each day. (If the bucatini with prawns, lobster stock, white wine and chile crisp is on the menu, order it.) Of the proteins, the half chicken under a brick with yogurt and herb-packed salsa verde is always available, along with usually something else from the land and something from the sea.

And the drinks aren’t so bad either

Oskar Blues put Lyons on the national beer map in 2002 when it decided to pour its craft brews into aluminum cans instead of glass bottles. Popping the top of a crushable red-white-and-blue can is almost a Colorado rite of passage, and the original brewpub still stands on Main Street in the center of town. But there’s more to sip in Lyons than Dale’s Pale Ale.

When you likely first enter Lyons driving west on Colorado 36, you’ll see an Old West-style distillery advertising “Whisky From Colorful Colorado.” But there is so much more than whiskey at Spirit Hound Distillers. This ace distillery also makes small batch gin, rum, vodka, moonshine, sambuca and coffee- and chocolate-flavored liqueurs. You’ll want to take home a bottle of course (or five; we know life ain’t easy), but you should also stick around for a cocktail.

The lengthy menu features tasty blends made with Spirit Hounds booze, like the Call the Sheriff with gin, house amaro, orange liqueur, a tart cherry infusion and orange peel bitters. Or the Robert Burns, whose mix of cask-strength whiskey, vermouth, cacao bitters and walnut extract is so strong that you’re limited to just one. These cocktails are reason enough to book an overnight stay at a nearby Airbnb.

The concerts and festivals in Lyons are legendary