Visit Lyons: Directions, Parking & the Seasons
Lyons sits where US 36 and Colorado 7 leave the plains for the St. Vrain canyons, twenty minutes north of Boulder. Leave the car on Main Street: the shops, the parks, the river and the museum are all inside a mile.
Five places within one compact visit.
Use the links for exact routing. Main Street and Sandstone Park make the simplest starting pair; the river parks and the trailheads are easy additions.
See the town without moving the car.
Start on Main Street, cross to the park, and choose either the river or a trailhead for the last leg. The sequence keeps the day compact without turning it into a schedule.
Getting here
Drive times are estimates for normal conditions and vary with traffic, weather and construction. US 36 through town is the road to Estes Park, so summer weekend afternoons are slow in both directions. Check a live routing service before you set out.
From Boulder
North on US 36 (28th Street) for 17 miles; the highway becomes Main Street.
From Longmont
West on Colorado 66 (Ute Highway) for 12 miles to the junction with US 36 at the east end of town.
From Denver
I-25 north to Colorado 66 west, or US 36 through Boulder. About 45 miles either way.
From Estes Park
US 36 east down the North St. Vrain canyon, 20 miles. Colorado 7 by Allenspark is the longer, higher alternative.
From Denver International Airport allow about 1 hour 15 minutes by car via E-470 or I-25 and Colorado 66. There is no direct transit; RTD serves Boulder and Longmont, and the Estes Park shuttle does not stop in Lyons.
Parking, walking and the visitor center
Parking and park rules are set by the Town of Lyons; posted signs override anything written here. The Town's Parks & Recreation page has the current pass prices and the campground reservation link.
- Parking downtown
- Free street parking along Main Street and the numbered avenues, and a Town lot at 4th Avenue and Broadway beside Sandstone Park. It fills on festival weekends and summer Saturdays; the side streets north of Main usually have room.
- Parking at the parks
- LaVern M. Johnson Park and Bohn Park use a Town parking pass, enforced on busy days. Residents get one pass per household free; non-residents buy a day pass at the kiosk or an annual pass from the Town. Prices are on the Town's page.
- Visitor center
- In Sandstone Park at 4th and Broadway, run with the Chamber: maps of town and Rocky Mountain National Park, trail and campground information, and the walking-tour leaflet for the historic buildings.
- Walking
- Main Street has continuous sidewalks and marked crossings at the numbered avenues. The river path links Sandstone Park, the Depot and LaVern M. Johnson Park without crossing the highway.
- Accessibility
- Main Street's sidewalks are level; several historic storefronts have a single step at the door. Bohn Park has an accessible fishing platform and LaVern M. Johnson Park has paved paths to the shelters. Send corrections with a source and they go in.
- Cycling
- The St. Vrain corridor to Longmont has a paved shoulder on Colorado 66; the mountain-bike trails at Hall Ranch and Heil Valley Ranch start a mile out of town. Bike racks on Main Street.
- Dogs
- Leashed in the parks and downtown; the off-leash park is at Bohn Park. No dogs at Hall Ranch, Heil Valley Ranch or Button Rock; leashed dogs are welcome at Rabbit Mountain.
The seasons on the St. Vrain
Lyons is 5,341 feet up at the canyon mouth, so it is a few degrees milder than the mountains and windier than the plains. The river decides most of the year.
Spring
Runoff from May into June: the river is high, fast and cold, and the whitewater park is for kayakers, not tubes. Trails dry out from the bottom up; Rabbit Mountain first, Hall Ranch by May. Earth Day and the Lucky Lyons run.
Summer
Tubing season once the flow drops, usually July and August. Free concerts in Sandstone Park, the Outdoor Games in June, RockyGrass in late July and the Folks Festival in August. Book lodging months ahead for the festival weekends. Afternoon storms come off the mountains most days.
Fall
The best walking weather. Cottonwoods along the river turn in early October, the artisan market and the Halloween parade fill the calendar, and elk come down to the meadows at Hall Ranch and Heil Valley Ranch, where some trails close for the rut.
Winter
Dry and often sunny. The Parade of Lights in December, the ice rink at LaVern M. Johnson Park when it is cold enough, the Polar Plunge in February and Old Man Winter the same month. Chinook winds can gust hard through the canyon mouth; check before a ride.
Lyons was cut off for days by the flood of September 2013 and has rebuilt its parks, bridges and utilities since. Boulder County's emergency alerts cover the town; sign up before a mountain trip, and check fire restrictions in summer before lighting anything at the campground.
Beds, cabins and the campground
A tiny-home resort and an adventure lodge on the river at the west end of Main, motel rooms and cabins on the road to Estes Park, and the Town's own riverside campground with RV hookups year-round and tent sites from April to October. The directory lists each with a link.