Glenwood Canyon is the dramatic gorge where the Colorado River has carved through layers of rock just east of Glenwood Springs, leaving walls that tower as high as 1,300 feet. Millions see it from I-70 every year, but the best way to experience it is to pull off, walk the riverside path and look up.

The canyon runs roughly 12.5 miles between Dotsero and Glenwood Springs, and it has carried railroads and highways for well over a century. Its most famous chapter came in 1992, when the final link of Interstate 70 opened here. Rather than blast a conventional four-lane highway through, engineers stacked the lanes on elevated viaducts, tunnels and cantilevered decks that hug the canyon wall, and built rest areas and a recreation path so travelers could still reach the river. Today Amtrak’s California Zephyr and Union Pacific freight trains share the canyon floor, and you’ll often see them roll past across the water.

The star attraction for visitors is the Glenwood Canyon Recreation Path, a mostly flat paved trail that follows the Colorado River 16.3 miles from Glenwood Springs to Dotsero. You can join it in town near the Yampah Vapor Caves or at the canyon’s rest areas: No Name (Exit 119), Grizzly Creek (Exit 121) and Bair Ranch (Exit 129), each with parking, restrooms, picnic tables and interpretive displays. Local shops rent bikes and run shuttles so you can ride one way, mostly downhill, back to town. Grizzly Creek is also the canyon’s busiest boat launch, the jumping-off point for rafting and kayaking trips on the Colorado.

The canyon has a few side trips worth planning for. The Hanging Lake trail climbs from its own rest area at Exit 125, which is open only to hikers with a reservation. Just east of Grizzly Creek you’ll pass the historic Shoshone hydroelectric plant on the river, and you may still notice burn scars from the 2020 Grizzly Creek Fire on the slopes above. Insider tip: end your day in Glenwood Springs with a soak at Glenwood Hot Springs Resort or a ride up to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, which overlooks the mouth of the canyon.

The Glenwood Canyon Recreation Path is seasonal: CDOT closes it in late fall and typically reopens it in late May, so in November and winter plan on viewing the canyon from the rest areas and I-70. CDOT is designing upgrades for the No Name, Grizzly Creek and Bair Ranch rest areas, with construction expected to begin in 2027. Check COtrip.org for real-time road and rest area status before you go.