LYONS, Colorado

Where two rivers meet the red rocks.

20 min from Boulder30 min from Estes Park1 hr from Denver

Tube the North St. Vrain, ride or hike Hall Ranch, walk six blocks of sandstone storefronts, and catch a bluegrass pick at the brewery. Everything is inside a mile of the confluence, and the trailheads are five minutes further.

Things to do This weekend

Main Street in Lyons looking west, with parked cars, the stone drug-store building on the right and the red sandstone hogback rising behind the town — Main Street, looking west toward the hogback

Go straight to

Things to doMain Street, the river, the trails, the music Eat & drinkKitchens, breweries, the distillery, coffee Stay the nightTiny homes, a lodge, cabins, the campground Trails & riverLive river level, tubing, Hall Ranch and the rest

Plan the days

This weekend in Lyons

Friday to Sunday, from the calendar

River now St. Vrain at Lyons Today’s level, and what it means for tubing From the state gauge below the confluence.

Thu, September 17 · 5–8 pm

Lyons Urban Renewal Authority

Lyons Town Hall, board room

Town of Lyons

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Thu, September 17 · 6–9 pm

Open Bluegrass Pick'n

MainStage Brewing Company

MainStage Brewing · Free

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Fri, September 18 · 2–6 pm

St. Vrain Invitational (cross country)

Lyons Middle/Senior High School and Bohn Park

St. Vrain Valley School District

View details

Fri, September 18 · 7–9 pm

Comedy Night

Spirit Hound Distillers

Spirit Hound Distillers · Free

View details

Sat, September 19 · 7 am–1 pm

St. Vrain Invitational (cross country)

Lyons Middle/Senior High School and Bohn Park

St. Vrain Valley School District

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Sat, September 19 · 12:30–2 pm

Art-4-Art Trading Cards

Lyons Regional Library

Lyons Regional Library · Free

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Sat, September 19 · 3–8 pm

Women's Pinball Tournament

Lyons Classic Pinball

Lyons Classic Pinball · Free entry for first-timers

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Sun, September 20 · 5–7 pm

Sunday Serenade

Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

Oskar Blues · No cover

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Mon, September 21 · 6–9 pm

Open Mic

The Rock Garden

The Rock Garden · Free

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Mon, September 21 · 7 pm

Board of Trustees meeting

Lyons Town Hall, Shirley F. Johnson Council Chamber

Town of Lyons

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Tue, September 22 · 4:30–5:45 pm

Historic Preservation Commission

Lyons Regional Library, Effie Banta Room

Town of Lyons

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Tue, September 22 · 6–8:30 pm

Bluegrass Pick

Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

Oskar Blues · Free

View details

Tue, September 22 · 6:30–8:30 pm

Trivia Night

MainStage Brewing Company

MainStage Brewing · Free

View details

Thu, September 24 · 6–9 pm

Open Bluegrass Pick'n

MainStage Brewing Company

MainStage Brewing · Free

View details

Sun, September 27 · 5–7 pm

Sunday Serenade

Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

Oskar Blues · No cover

View details

Mon, September 28 · 6–9 pm

Open Mic

The Rock Garden

The Rock Garden · Free

View details

Tue, September 29 · 6–8:30 pm

Bluegrass Pick

Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

Oskar Blues · Free

View details

Tue, September 29 · 6:30–8 pm

Colorado Death Care: a panel discussion

Lyons Regional Library

Lyons Regional Library · Free

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The full calendar Trails and river conditions

Right now

September: low water, best walking, elk bugling

The river is down to wading and fishing water, the days are clear and the nights cold. The artisan market in Bohn Park, the last concerts, and the elk bugling on the Hall Ranch meadows at dusk. Cottonwoods start to turn along the river at the end of the month. The best month for the trails.

A day in Lyons The trails

Plan the day

Five ways to spend it

All the itineraries

Main Street in Lyons looking west toward the red sandstone hogback

The first visit

A day in Lyons

Coffee on High Street, the stone blocks, the river to the whitewater park, a short trail, and a beer where the craft-can movement started.

The wooden arch of the Apple Valley Road bridge over the North St. Vrain

Water, rocks, soft-serve, pinball

Half a day with kids

The splash pad and the whitewater rocks, a float if the level is right, ice cream at the walk-up window, and pinball for the last hour.

A hiker on the red-dirt Bitterbrush trail at Hall Ranch

Two rides, one town

The bike weekend

Hall Ranch on Saturday, Picture Rock to Heil Valley Ranch on Sunday, both from a bed in town and both finishing at a taproom.

A red sandstone cliff rising straight out of the St. Vrain at the Planet Bluegrass ranch

RockyGrass and the Folks Festival

Festival weekend without a car

Camp on the ranch or sleep on West Main, walk to the gate, float the river in the morning, and never look for parking.

The rusticated red sandstone 1881 schoolhouse that houses the Lyons Redstone Museum

Indoors, or dry and sunny

A rainy afternoon, or a winter day

The museum and the galleries, the gift shops on the 400 block, a whisky tasting up the highway, pinball, trivia.

More events

Coming up

Full events calendar

Thu, September 17 · 5–8 pm

Lyons Urban Renewal Authority

Lyons Town Hall, board room

Town of Lyons

View details

Thu, September 17 · 6–9 pm

Open Bluegrass Pick'n

MainStage Brewing Company

MainStage Brewing · Free

View details

Fri, September 18 · 2–6 pm

St. Vrain Invitational (cross country)

Lyons Middle/Senior High School and Bohn Park

St. Vrain Valley School District

View details

Fri, September 18 · 7–9 pm

Comedy Night

Spirit Hound Distillers

Spirit Hound Distillers · Free

View details

Sat, September 19 · 7 am–1 pm

St. Vrain Invitational (cross country)

Lyons Middle/Senior High School and Bohn Park

St. Vrain Valley School District

View details

Sat, September 19 · 12:30–2 pm

Art-4-Art Trading Cards

Lyons Regional Library

Lyons Regional Library · Free

View details

Sat, September 19 · 3–8 pm

Women's Pinball Tournament

Lyons Classic Pinball

Lyons Classic Pinball · Free entry for first-timers

View details

Sun, September 20 · 5–7 pm

Sunday Serenade

Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

Oskar Blues · No cover

View details

Mon, September 21 · 6–9 pm

Open Mic

The Rock Garden

The Rock Garden · Free

View details

Mon, September 21 · 7 pm

Board of Trustees meeting

Lyons Town Hall, Shirley F. Johnson Council Chamber

Town of Lyons

View details

Tue, September 22 · 4:30–5:45 pm

Historic Preservation Commission

Lyons Regional Library, Effie Banta Room

Town of Lyons

View details

Tue, September 22 · 6–8:30 pm

Bluegrass Pick

Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

Oskar Blues · Free

View details

Tue, September 22 · 6:30–8:30 pm

Trivia Night

MainStage Brewing Company

MainStage Brewing · Free

View details

Thu, September 24 · 6–9 pm

Open Bluegrass Pick'n

MainStage Brewing Company

MainStage Brewing · Free

View details

Sun, September 27 · 5–7 pm

Sunday Serenade

Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

Oskar Blues · No cover

View details

Explore Lyons

Start on Main Street

Park once. Main Street is six blocks end to end; the parks, the river and the museum are within a ten-minute walk of any of them.

Three slabs of red Lyons sandstone carved with the words Welcome to Lyons, standing in a stone patio under cottonwoods

Main Street & the stone town

Fifteen sandstone buildings on the National Register, and the shops, kitchens and taprooms that fill them today.

Explore Main Street

The North St. Vrain pouring white between red sandstone boulders in the canyon above Lyons

The river & the parks

LaVern M. Johnson Park, Bohn Park, the whitewater park and tubing on the North St. Vrain.

Check the river

A hiker on the red-dirt Bitterbrush trail at Hall Ranch, with the sandstone ridge behind

Trails

Hall Ranch, Heil Valley Ranch, Rabbit Mountain and Button Rock, all within fifteen minutes of Main Street.

Pick a trailhead

The two-storey rusticated red sandstone schoolhouse of 1881 that houses the Lyons Redstone Museum, with its painted sign on the wall

Public art & the Redstone Museum

The heARTS of Lyons sculpture collection all over town, and the 1881 schoolhouse that keeps the town’s story.

See the art and the museum

Lyons, Colorado at a glance

Quick answers for visitors and residents

Start with the practical answer, then use the linked guide for verified listings, dates, directions and official sources.

What is Lyons, Colorado?

Lyons is a statutory town of about 2,200 people in northwestern Boulder County, at the mouth of the St. Vrain canyons where US 36 and Colorado 7 leave the plains for the mountains. It was platted in 1881 around red sandstone quarries and incorporated in 1891.

Read the town’s history

Where is Lyons?

About 17 miles north of Boulder on US 36, 12 miles west of Longmont on Colorado 66, and 20 miles east of Estes Park. Both highways to Rocky Mountain National Park pass through it, which is why the town calls itself the Double Gateway to the Rockies.

Get directions and parking details

What can you do in Lyons?

Walk Main Street’s stone storefronts and galleries, tube or kayak the North St. Vrain, ride or hike Hall Ranch and Heil Valley Ranch, tour the sculpture collection, visit the Redstone Museum, and end at a brewery or the distillery.

See things to do in walking order

Where can you eat and shop?

Nearly everything is on Main Street between the two highway junctions, with a second small cluster on High Street a block north. About 97% of the town’s businesses are independently owned; the directory groups them by category and links to each for current hours.

Browse restaurants and shops

What events happen in Lyons?

RockyGrass and the Folks Festival at Planet Bluegrass each summer, free concerts in Sandstone Park, artisan markets, the Outdoor Games, Old Man Winter, a Halloween parade and the Parade of Lights, plus live music somewhere in town most nights of the week.

Check upcoming events

Who runs the town?

An elected mayor and six trustees, meeting the first and third Mondays. The Town runs its own water, sewer and electric utilities, the parks and the campgrounds; the Boulder County Sheriff polices it and a fire protection district covers fire and EMS.

Read the civic guide

Red rock, river, stone and sky

A red sandstone fin against a deep blue sky — The Lyons Formation, lit from the side

The wooden arch of the Apple Valley Road bridge over the North St. Vrain, with the hogback behind — Apple Valley Road bridge over the North St. Vrain

The rusticated sandstone front and bell tower of the Old Stone Church, with its arched yellow door — The Old Stone Church of 1894

A meadow at dusk with the sandstone hogback and a turquoise cabin below it — Dusk on the meadows west of town

Volunteers carrying willow bundles across a gravel bar on the St. Vrain during a replanting day — A St. Vrain replanting day after the flood

Live here

Community Groups & Resident Resources

A town of two thousand with a chamber, a community foundation, a library district, a historical society and a mutual-aid fund that fed the town through a flood and a pandemic.

Community groupsThe Chamber, LEAF, the Community Foundation, the arts and history groups Resident resourcesWhich body handles which service, with the page that does it Civic informationThe Board, the boards and commissions, elections Send a listing or a correctionBusiness owners, organizers and residents keep this guide accurate

Colorado 7 winding between red sandstone walls in the South St. Vrain canyon under a blue sky — Colorado 7 up the South St. Vrain canyon, minutes from Main Street

Plan your trip

Plan Your Visit

Twenty minutes from Boulder, half an hour from Estes Park, an hour from Denver. Leave the car on Main Street or in a park lot and walk.

Plan a VisitGetting here, parking passes, the visitor center and the seasons Stay the nightTiny homes on the river, a lodge, cabins and the town campground Trails & the riverThe live river level, tubing, and five trail areas within fifteen minutes The Story of LyonsQuarries, the 1885 railroad, the 2013 flood and the rebuild