Fort Collins, Colorado: The real happiest place on Earth?

Fort Collins, Colorado — 

Only two cities in America can declare to be the inspiration for that exemplar of 1900s small city nostalgia: Disneyland’s Main Street USA. This is considered one of them.

Fort Collins-born Harper Goff, the Disney artwork director who labored on the California theme park’s iconic “town,” patterned the amusement park land’s boulevard, and among the buildings, on his hometown.

You can nonetheless get a way of what impressed Goff by strolling by means of pedestrian-only Old Town Square, now dotted with murals, children-designed sidewalk pavers and kooky sculptures. On a spring night a pair on horseback strolled below the sq.’s strung-up lights, youngsters loved mini-play areas, and a gradual parade of locals and guests ducked out and in of the bookstore, ice cream store, bars and boutiques.

“Everything is just a little shinier, a little cleaner, a little safer, a little slower, in a good way,” stated Alex Morgan, proprietor of Totally ‘80s Pizza.

Today the city’s magic, if you’ll, is extra Disneyland-esque in different methods. First, many native companies have dedicated to organizing actions that pull folks collectively in a shared expertise. Second, inventive enterprises right here appear to be — like Walt’s achievements — entrepreneurial creativeness put into apply.

Ginger Graham, co-owner of Ginger and Baker, gushed about what a pleasant, protected, numerous and philanthropic neighborhood Fort Collins is, rooted in historical past and a number of generations of enterprise house owners.

“Everyone shows up,” she defined, to assist native occasions and entrepreneurialism. She and her husband, Jack, a former NFL soccer participant, moved right here 14 years in the past when her husband turned athletic director at Colorado State University, his alma mater.

The final 20 or so years have been transformative for the city. A inhabitants growth coincided with thriving native trade, notably breweries, tech and legalized marijuana, and a progress in tourism. Unlike the opposite city that impressed Disneyland’s Main Street USA, Walt’s childhood small city of Marceline, Missouri, Fort Collins has thrived.

“In the early 2000s the vibe became less Flanders,” stated Ben Mozer, proprietor and founding father of the Lyric cinema, referencing the chaste neighbor Ned on “The Simpsons,” “and more weird.”

Today it’s residence to a nationally well-known brewery, a completely superior ‘80s cafe , the good of indie film theaters, and nice espresso retailers — whereas retaining its historic roots. Like a theme park, you may bounce from one peak expertise to a different, together with mountaineering an precise native peak within the foothills of the Rockies.

Frontierland

The city started as an Army-built provide line cease alongside the Overland Trail, the stagecoach route of Western enlargement. You can stroll inside genuine log cabins of the period and skim the quick bios of the homesteaders who lived in them throughout the latter half of the 1800s. They’re clustered within the Heritage Courtyard on the grounds subsequent to the city’s good-looking 1904 Carnegie Library.

The Armstrong Hotel has retained a few of that old-world allure. Built in 1923, the rooms are classically trendy, with darkish accent partitions and wood flooring. The foyer holds portraits of native celebrities, together with Jon Heder of “Napoleon Dynamite” fame and the animal husbandry knowledgeable Temple Grandin. Free bikes for friends can be found to discover the bike-friendly city.

Ace Gillett’s Cocktail Lounge, positioned within the Armstrong’s basement, has been in operation for the reason that lodge opened. The elegant, low-lit area is dominated by a big marble bar the place bartenders combine up drinks like a candy, lime inexperienced Japanese Drifter cocktail of gin, Midori and yuzu ume liquor (with, the menu famous, $4 of the worth going to a neighborhood meals financial institution). DJs spin vinyl on Friday and Saturday nights they usually have a piano participant at different occasions. But Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Gabriel and The Doors had been the soundtrack throughout a latest pleased hour.

An old-timey really feel can be captured aboard the favored Fort Collins Trolley, initially in-built 1919 and now restored. From May to September, these grand electrical vehicles ferry passengers two miles between Old Town and fairly City Park, in addition to again in time.

Fantasyland

Flashing again to the longer term, the Totally 80’s Pizza cafe-meets-museum is a sensory overload impressed by the nostalgia cafe in “Back to the Future Part II.” Inside, a giant display TV performs a loud combine tape of music movies, commercials and sitcom themes. Every inch of the place is roofed by “the largest collection of 80’s memorabilia in the world,” its menu claims.

“Totally ‘80s Pizza exists as an escape from a complicated world, to a simpler time, to bring joy to peoples’ lives,” stated the proprietor, Alex Morgan, echoing a Disney-esque philosophy.

“But we’re not for everyone,” Morgan added. “Loud music, bright lights, and crowds are part of this experience,” an indication exterior guarantees and warns. The “Charles In Charge” present theme blasted from the TV, adopted by Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon” as arcade video games bleeped close by.

There’s a diorama depicting the Battle of Hoth from “The Empire Strikes Back.” A Ronald Reagan marketing campaign poster. A Mr. T cereal field. An E.T. lunch field. Garbage Pail Kids playing cards below glass. A Zoltar fortune teller as seen in “Big.” A full-scale Han Solo in carbonite and Slimer, from the “Star Wars” and “Ghostbusters” franchises, respectively. And one million extra. Tables are coated with film posters, so don’t be alarmed to see “Goonies” trying up at you as you distractedly eat your scrumptious pizza.

America’s Best Towns to Visit 2026: Fort Collins

For extra stimulation, few film homes dwell as much as the indie title like The Lyric. In addition to 3 screens (one open air), it hosts film trivia, karaoke and dwell music. Mozer, who grew up in Fort Collins at all times wanting the city to have an indie theater, defined that the pandemic was transformative.

Instead of closing, the Lyric expanded right into a “multi-art experience” for all ages. The concession stand now serves cocktails, loved exterior on a sculpture-filled patio. On weekends, households come without spending a dime weekend cartoons paired with a $6 all-you-can-eat cereal bar, and separate experiences like child goats and a drag present.

Creativity abounds in Fort Collins. The Lincoln Center hosts dwell music, traditional theater and dance. The Mishawaka Amphitheatre (or “The Mish” if you wish to sound like a neighborhood) attracts huge names 13 miles out of city in Bellvue. Many bars on the town have native musicians entertaining patrons. And there’s a self-guided public art tour which takes you thru the civic artistry of downtown. Local Colorado State University has public displays at its personal art museum.

Even the modernly appointed Elizabeth Hotel has a inventive streak for friends to take pleasure in: a lending library of guitars and vinyl, the latter to be performed on the document gamers in every room.

The founders of New Belgium Brewery, Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch, had a build-it-and-they-will-drink imaginative and prescient. Fort Collins is residence to about 20 native breweries, however it’s honest to say theirs is a seat and handlebars above the remaining. The home Fat Tire Ale constructed opened within the early ‘90s, previous and serving to manifest the Fort Collins renaissance.

“New Belgium was a big catalyst in the town,” stated the Lyric’s Mozer, “inspiring other breweries.”

New Belgium’s public area contains an outside space the place pals had been picnicking and taking part in Smashball on a sunny, spring afternoon exterior its taproom bar. Inside you may take pleasure in a Voodoo Ranger IPA from a snug leather-based chair or take a humorous and informative Willy Wonka-esque tour backstage, full with a twisty metallic slide to bypass a flight of stairs.

The pleasant information shared the wanderlust origin story and do-good philosophies of the brewery’s founders, encapsulated the historical past of beer in America, gave a hands-on lesson in correct pouring method, and handed out drinks alongside the way in which, together with some you’ll solely discover on the premises.

The closing temptation to stop your job and work for New Belgium? They give workers new bikes after working there a yr.

The Northern Colorado Feeders Supply constructing, in-built 1905, on the nook of Willow and Linden Streets, was a gathering spot for native farmers and ranchers. One bought and the opposite purchased grain “while talking over coffee about crops and the weather,” in accordance with a plaque on the constructing. It was the beginning of a neighborhood.

That constructing is now Ginger and Baker, a hybrid high-end restaurant (the Cache), café, bakery and instructing kitchen that brings folks collectively for meals, culinary courses and different actions. Out-of-towners are welcome to their floral arranging, rooftop wine tasting and Dungeons & Dragons nights and the remaining. Next to the bakery, the place you may dither over a show case of transcendent-tasting pies, is the take a look at kitchen the place pie masterclasses are held.

Fort Collins residents are nonetheless jawing over espresso. Little Bird Bakeshop has taken over a home, with tables organized within the rooms on two flooring. They promote wonky, irregular variations of their signature cinnamon buns at a reduction, however with the identical nice style.

Wolverine Farm Publick House is a wooden barn of a constructing that stands out as an ideal hybrid of coffeeshop, bar and bookstore — the type of place designed to enchantment to a school city demographic. There are 9 beers on faucet, a guide choice that overindexes on poetry, regulars have their very own private mugs, and there’s a tiny shrine to Henry David Thoreau.

The Exchange is a shared area of craft ice cream, craft beer, road meals and, uh, Pilates. Jessup Farm is a ranch-to-mall area of boutique procuring, consuming and hanging out. Alongside one other ice cream store and Italian restaurant at Jessup is the proper, little Bindle coffeeshop, positioned in a small barn-like constructing. Do not miss their maple knot pastry.

Maida Trattoria, a excessive finish, family-owned Italian restaurant on the sting of Old Town Square, is the new newcomer. The Silver Grill Café is the oldest joint on the town, opened in 1933, a preferred breakfast spot identified for its cinnamon rolls.

Or you may comply with budget-conscious faculty youngsters with epicurean tastes to the Mexican spot DGT Tacos. The chocolate horchata is spicy, the service pleasant and the tacos are filling and, because the title implies, rattling good (although the title is extra cleverly derived from “dam good tacos” as their first location was close to an precise reservoir dam).

Adventureland

Often sunny and temperate, Fort Collins is a dream in case you love the outside. And in case you’re not equipped, JAX is an old-school sporting items retailer throughout from the Lyric theater, with added delights like sweet and a mannequin prepare that does loops as you browse.

Recreationally talking, you can begin by staying native. Hike, run or experience alongside the Poudre River Trail, on kayak on the water, close to Old Town. Farther out you may negotiate rapids on that very same Cache la Poudre. Fort Collins has a 17-mile linked bike path to the city Loveland. There’s water recreation on Horsetooth Reservoir, an eight-mile drive west.

Hiking, mountain biking and horseback driving are at Lory State Park, 10 miles away in Bellvue. Animals you could spot simply out of city embody mountain lions, pronghorn antelope and small, cute burrowing owls.

But it’s Horsetooth Mountain that’s a ceremony of passage. It could also be half-hour out of city, however it may be seen on the horizon and its distinctive peak is on the Fort Collins emblem. For Colorado State college students, bagging it’s a long-standing custom. The moderate-to-difficult path is roughly 2.5 miles to the highest with practically 1,500 ft in elevation achieve. The mountain view of the Rockies, and Pikes Peak on a transparent day, is well worth the sweat.

And to scrub out the mud from the hike, pop into the close by Horsetooth Tavern, a comfy, charming and oddly nautically themed bar. On faucet is New Belgium’s Old Aggie Superior Lager, brewed with the assistance of Colorado State college students.

From there? Well, going again to Fort Collins’ roots as a cease on the previous Overland Trail, you may head to factors north, south and west. Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park and Red Rocks Amphitheater are all lower than a 90-minute drive away, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, is about half of that.

Coming or going, Fort Collins is a enjoyable and quintessentially American vacation spot. It might not be the happiest place on Earth, as Walt Disney referred to as his imagined world, however for a real city, it comes attractively shut.

America’s smallest biggest city is surprisingly wild