Boulder County, Colorado
Lyons
An independent guide to Lyons, Colorado: the river, the trails, the music, and what it’s like to live at the canyon mouth.
Photo: Footwarrior, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
This week in Lyons
What’s on
Music
Karaoke at the Wayback Bar
6:30 pm – 8 pm · Wayback Bar (back of Wildcat Mountaineering) · Free
Every Friday through December 4, 2026
Eat, drink, wander
Where to go
TrailBoulder County open space
Hall Ranch
The Front Range’s best-known mountain-bike climb and a fine hike: the Bitterbrush trail gains about 1,500 feet to the Nelson Loop through ponderosa meadows.
ParkThe river
LaVern M. Johnson Park
The park under the cliffs: the whitewater park, a splash pad, playgrounds, the Town campground and, in a cold January, an outdoor ice rink.
VenueDowntown
Main Street and the stone town
Six blocks of locally quarried red sandstone buildings from the 1870s to 1917, fifteen of them on the National Register, and most still in everyday use.
BarMain Street
MainStage Brewing Company
Brewery and pizza kitchen with a stage in the name for a reason: trivia, art openings and an open bluegrass pick on the weekly calendar.
RestaurantMain Street
Marigold
Northern Italian and southern French cooking in a small dining room; the town’s dinner-out address.
Coffee & SweetsHigh Street
Moxie Mercantile
Moxie Bread Co.’s Lyons outpost: coffee, pastries and loaves from the Louisville bakery.
Latest
From the guide
History ·
Lyons history: sandstone, the railroad and the river
A quarry town at the mouth of two canyons, built of the rock it dug, cut off by its river once a century, and rebuilt each time by the people who live here. The short history, with each claim resting on a source.
Read the story →
Outdoors ·
Trails and the river: five areas inside fifteen minutes
Two creeks, one whitewater park, and five trail areas within fifteen minutes of Main Street. Start with the river gauge: the number decides what kind of day it is.
Moving here
Thinking of making Lyons home?
Schools, commutes, what the housing market looks like, and what nobody tells you until you live here.
Read the guide