Boulder

About Boulder

Boulder is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Boulder County, and the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 5,430 feet (1,655 meters). The city is 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Denver, with a population of 108,250 people as of the 2020 U. S. Census, while the population of the Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area was 294,567. It is also the home of the main campus of the University of Colorado (UC), the state’s largest university. The city is known for its laid-back lifestyle. Located in northern Colorado, to the west of town, the trail-lined Flatirons are craggy rock formations overlooking the city. Downtown’s pedestrian Pearl Street Mall includes art galleries, cafes, restaurants and boutiques. The UC Boulder campus is home to the Fiske Planetarium and the Museum of Natural History, with zoology and anthropology exhibits. Plus, Boulder is the new home to the Sundance Film Festival! Archaeological evidence shows that Boulder Valley has been continuously inhabited by Native American tribes for over 13,000 years, beginning in the late Pleistocene era. Throughout the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Late Prehistoric periods, indigenous peoples moved seasonally between the mountains and plains, taking shelter in winter along the Front Range where Boulder now lies. By the 1500s, the Ute held primary occupation of Boulder Valley. In the early 1800s, the Arapaho migrated to the region. In the 1800s, European Americans settled in the area. Boulder was founded in late 1858 as Boulder City, and then incorporated on November 4, 1871. Today the city covers 27.366 sq. miles (70.877 km2). Boulder has a temperate climate and is considered semi-arid. Winter conditions range from generally mild to the occasional bitterly cold. Highs average in the mid to upper 40s°F (7–9°C). There are 4.6 nights annually where the temperature drops to 0°F (−18°C). Snowfall averages 88 inches (220 cm) per season. Summers are warm, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, with roughly 30 days of 90°F (32°C) or above each year. The highest recorded temperature of 104°F (40°C) took place on June 25, 2012. The coldest record low was −33°F (−36°C) on January 17, 1930. The coldest high temperature, −12°F (−24°C), was on February 4, 1989. The warmest overnight low was on July 20, 1998, with a temperature of 82°F (28°C).