Before you make to drive to Colorado for the 2012 ADGA National Show, you should know some things about our state and what makes it unique!  Here are 30 Fun Facts about Colorado, the Centennial State!

1. Denver, lays claim to the invention of the cheeseburger. The trademark for the name Cheeseburger was awarded in 1935 to Louis Ballast.

2. The highest paved road in North America is the Road to Mt. Evans off of I-70 from Idaho Springs. The Road climbs up to 14,258 Ft. above sea level.

3. The United States federal government owns more than 1/3 of the land in Colorado.

4. Colorado contains 75% of the land area of the U.S. with an altitude over 10,000 feet.

5. Colfax Avenue in Denver is the longest continuous street in America.

6. The 13th step of the state capital building in Denver is exactly 1 mile high above sea level (above).

7. The Dwight Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel between Clear Creek & Summit counties is the highest auto tunnel in the world. Bored at an elevation of 11,000 feet under the Continental Divide it is 8,960 feet long and the average daily traffic exceeds 26,000 vehicles.

8. Katherine Lee Bates wrote “America the Beautiful” after being inspired by the view from Pikes Peak.

9. Pueblo is the only city in America with four living recipients of the Medal of Honor.

10. Every year Denver host the worlds largest Rodeo, the Western Stock show (above).

11. Denver has the largest city park system in the nation with 205 parks in City limits and 20,000 Acres of parks in the nearby mountains.

12. The tallest sand dune in America is in Great Sand Dunes National Monument outside of Alamosa. This bizarre 46,000-acre landscape of 700-foot sand peaks was the creation of ocean waters and wind more than one million years ago (above).

13. The World’s First Rodeo was held on July 4th, 1869 in Deer Trail, Colorado.

14. Colorado has the highest mean altitude of all the states.

15. Colorado has more microbreweries per capita than any other state.

16. The highest suspension bridge in the world is over the Royal Gorge near Canon City. The Royal Gorge Bridge spans the Arkansas River at a height of 1,053 feet (above).

17. Colorado has one of the only working diamond mines in the United States near the Colorado – Wyoming border.

18. Colorado has almost as many dead towns (about 500) as live ones (650). Mining booms and busts left the mountains littered with more than 300 ghost towns that fascinate locals and tourists. The eastern plains and western canyon lands are also haunted by more than 200 ghost towns.

19. Colorado is the only state in history to turn down the Olympics. Denver was supposed to host the 1976 Olympics. 62% of all state voters chose at almost the last minute not to host the Olympics, because of the cost, pollution and population boom it would have on the State of Colorado and the City of Denver.

20. The United States Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs (above).

21. First visited by Spanish explorers in the 1500s, the territory was claimed for Spain by Juan de Ulibarri in 1706. The U.S. obtained eastern Colorado as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the central portion in 1845 with the admission of Texas as a state, and the western part in 1848 as a result of the Mexican War.

22. Breathtaking scenery and world-class skiing make Colorado a prime tourist destination. The main tourist attractions in the state include Rocky Mountain National Park, Curecanti National Recreation Area, Mesa Verde National Park, the Great Sand Dunes and Dinosaur National Monuments, Colorado National Monument, and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument.

23. Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains (Colorado & Utah) lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world (in the form of oil shale). On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. When the oil is extracted “America would become the world’s single biggest oil source, exceeding Saudi Arabia” (Wall Street Journal)

24. The first license plate on a car in the United States was issued in Denver, Colorado in 1908.

25. Colorado’s southwest corner borders Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the only place in America where the corners of four states meet.

26. The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has been in continuous operation since 1881. The line was constructed primarily to haul mine ores, both gold and silver, from the San Juan Mountains. The Railroad continues to provide year round train service and has appeared in more than a dozen movies including “How the West was Won” (1963) and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969) (pictured above).

27. Religion in Colorado: 65% Christian (32% Protestant, 23% Catholic, 10% Other), 21% No Religion, 2% LDS, 1% Jewish, 1% Buddhist, 1% Jehovah’s Witness, 3% Other Religions.

28. The world’s largest natural hot springs pool covers 2 blocks in Glenwood Springs (above).

29. The Colorado State Flower is the Columbine (above).

30. In Colorado it is illegal to ride a horse while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  Goats are fine, probably…