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Visitor’s Guide

Welcome to Rangely, Colorado!

Welcome to Rangely, a small, rugged community perched along the banks of the White River in the high desert plateau region of northwestern Colorado. Known to locals and visitors alike as a hidden utopia of solitude and outdoor recreation, Rangely is remotely located in the center of one of the last areas of the West to be settled…with an oil boom in the 1940s.

Here you will find herds of pronghorn antelope, deer, elk, and wild horses and miles of scenic adventure roads and little-used bike paths and hiking trails throughout thousands of square miles of public land for you to explore.

Are you tired of competing for permits to run rivers through canyon country? Permits are not required to run the White River, whether on day trips through town or multiday trips into Utah where sheepherders will likely be the only other people you will see.

Also quiet and little used is Kenney Reservoir where you can swim, cliff dive, fish and camp, or bring your boat to go waterskiing or sail.

Dinosaur National Monument is close by to the north, we are on the Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway, and to the south of us is Canyon Pintado with 16 mapped Native American Rock Art Sites from the ancient Fremont and Ute Indians.

Certainly, no golfer should miss the nine holes at Cedar Ridges. With our desert sunshine, you can play a round of golf eight months or more each year.  The course is affordable, well maintained and challenging.

And then there is Rock Crawling, an extreme form of off road driving using vehicles anywhere from stock to highly modified all built to overcome obstacles. Rock crawlers often drive up, down and across obstacles that would appear completely impassable to the average person.

Rangely also sports the outdoor Rangely Museum and the Raven A1 Exhibit chronicling the oil history of the area.

When you are ready to wash up, chow down and resupply, head back into town. In the town, you’ll find a camper park, restaurants, motels, a great recreation center with an indoor swimming pool, hot tubs, water slide and racquetball courts, and a variety of stores and services. We are even home to a community college where you can learn to fly and use the Ropes Challenge Course, or if you’re a resident your child might be able to attend for free.

Now, all refreshed, head back home…or… decide to put down roots and stay awhile. After all, Rangely is a great place to live, work and play!