And The Denver Post’s readers love to dig into those stories. This year, as always, skiing was one of the top topics of discussion, especially Epic Pass sales and a resort ranking. But hiking and camping were also big, especially when it came to Rocky Mountain National Park.

We also had an unusual sighting, literally, in our top 10. But we’ll let you see that for yourself. Here are our 10 most-read outdoor recreation stories of the year, with the number-one story at the end.

Bad drivers in the backcountry are a big problem

The sheriff in San Miguel County called a group of people who slid off Black Bear Pass in their truck “ass clowns,” which is funny. But the problem is real: More and more people, who lack skills or experience or proper maps, are driving on backcountry roads they can’t handle in Colorado — or simply ignoring closures — resulting in more rescues.

First-of-its-kind hiking permit proposed for Blue Lakes

The gorgeous Blue Lakes in the San Juan Mountains near Telluride have become so crowded in recent years that the U.S. Forest Service wants to require permits just to hike there during the day — as well as to camp. The goal of the plan, which would be the first in Colorado of its kind on forest service land, is to reduce the environmental impact of recreation.

Colorado’s oldest chairlift will be retired at age 70

Sunlight Mountain Resort’s Sunlight chairlift began its long life at Aspen in 1954 before being relocated in 1973. Since then, it has faithfully served skiers at Sunlight. The relic of ski history engineering is still safe, but is scheduled to be put out to pasture this spring.

High-alpine lake is one of Colorado’s most spectacular hikes

Nearly 2,500 feet below the summit of Long’s Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park is a beautiful alpine tarn called Chasm Lake. The 4.2 hike to get there is strenuous, but the steep rock walls soaring into the air above the water make it one of the most beautiful payoffs in Colorado.

Another hassle awaits Rocky Mountain National Park visitors

Rocky Mountain National Park has been feeling the heat. Not only will its busiest campground, Moraine Park, be closed into this summer (see below), but visitation continues to soar, resulting in what will likely be a permanent ticketing system. To make things worse, one of its two Estes Park-area entrances, Fall River, was under construction all summer and fall.

Epic Pass prices increase, early bird on sale for 2023-24 season

Vail Resorts announced its early bird prices in March for this season’s Epic Passes — and Denver Post readers wanted to know all about it. Of course they did. The pass, which includes Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge and Crested Butte, is one of the hottest items in Colorado. so the costs, the on-sale dates and every other detail is big news.

Colorado ski resort named the best in North America by website

Magazines, newspapers and websites love to rank things, including ski resorts, and since Colorado has some of the best in the world, they often end up on lists. In March, readers of OnTheSnow, a website, voted Steamboat as North America’s best overall resort.

Campground closure at RMNP could have ripple effect across Colorado

Rocky Mountain National Park’s largest campground, the immensely popular Moraine Park, shut down last summer so it could undergo a major modernization project, meaning 244 fewer sites in the area. That figured to put more pressure on nearby campgrounds in the adjacent and already overloaded national forests. The campground will hopefully reopen in June 2024.

Coloradans may see Northern Lights more often in coming months

Seeing the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is on a lot of people’s bucket lists. So, how cool would it be to be able to see them from Colorado rather than having to travel to the Arctic? Space weather predictors say there is more of a possibility of that happening in 2024 with increasing solar storm activity — something that happens in an 11-year cycle.

Bigfoot may have been caught on camera from Durango train

In October, a Wyoming couple was looking for elk while riding the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in southwest Colorado when they spotted, well, something that looked like Bigfoot. The story made national news after a video taken by another passenger went viral online. Was it really the famed but elusive cryptid? We’ll let you judge for yourself. See our story, with video, here.

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Living the Dream is also moving into the small bar that Grist had been operating inside the Sterling Center, a building at 8155 Piney River Ave. that serves residents of Littleton’s Sterling Ranch neighborhood. That change will take place on Dec. 29.

Grist owners Chuck Norman and Jim Mack, both petroleum engineers by trade, had originally been “passive” investors and are now “ready to get back to our roots,” Norman said.

Living the Dream owner Jason Bell, on the other hand, “knows the industry and has spent many years in it. He’s on-site every day, and that’s an important part of success,” Norman added. And while Living the Dream is buying Grist’s assets and taking over its leases, it isn’t buying the company itself. “Grist will still be alive, but what we do with it, I don’t know.”

The move “just makes sense,” said Bell, who opened Living the Dream, at 12305 Dumont Way, in 2014. “We have been looking for a new home for the better part of a year and a half.”

“It’s a big deal, a lot of work and a good amount of money,” Bell continued, speaking about the mile-or-so move up Santa Fe Drive to Grist’s spot. “The economy is not robust, either, but this is when you can make those kinds of moves — and hopefully they pay off.”

The move is also an upgrade, Bell explained, in part because Grist’s brewing system is bigger, more advanced and more efficient than the one at Living the Dream, but also because Grist’s space, including the taproom and the overall infrastructure, is “much nicer.”

If anything, Bell joked, Living the Dream will have to rough it up around the edges to give it the more rustic and outdoorsy feel that his customers are accustomed to. Living the Dream has a heavy focus on skiing, both in its decor and its beer names. Powder Run Cream Ale and its variations, for instance, are the brewery’s biggest-selling beers in cans and taproom flagship.

While Grist served food, Bell said Living the Dream, which will close its existing location, will continue to rely on food trucks, as it has done in the past.

The business of brewing beer has changed quite a bit over the past decade, Bell said, as the industry has matured and public habits have changed. “Ten years ago, it was 65% fun and cool, and 35% business. Now it’s 95% business.” To survive in the existing beer economy, each brewery needs to know how it fits in and what its goals are for the future.”

The deal is expected to close on Dec. 29. Bell said he hopes to make cosmetic changes after that and reopen inside Grist in mid-January.

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The lawsuit comes two weeks after Joyride, 5217 W. 25th Ave. in Edgewater, announced that it had filed for bankruptcy protection. In that announcement, Joyride president and co-founder Dave Bergen said the move was the result of “malfeasance” by a former general manager.

On Monday, Joyride identified that general manager as Grant Babb, who opened Joyride with Bergen in 2014. Babb, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Edgewater in 2017, is also part owner of famed South Broadway music venue Herman’s Hideaway, the suit said, and of Live Slow Brewing. Live Slow has been planning to open for two years now in Gold’s Marketplace in Wheat Ridge.

“Beginning in 2022 through the date of his termination, Babb wrote hundreds of thousands of dollars in unapproved and unauthorized checks to himself, Live Slow, and Hermans from Joyride accounts,” reads the lawsuit. It was filed by Joyride’s parent company, GDB Holdings, on Dec. 1 in Jefferson County District Court against Babb and Hermans Legacy, LLC.

Babb also “made hundreds of thousands of dollars in unapproved and unauthorized Venmo, PayPal, credit/debit card, and other cash transactions from Joyride accounts for his and/or Live Slow’s and Hermans benefit,” the document continues. “In all, Defendant caused Joyride to enter into hundreds of thousands of dollars of unneeded and unapproved debts while systematically draining Joyride’s accounts of at least $1,000,000 since 2022.”

The lawsuit claims that Herman’s was aware that the money it was receiving was coming from Joyride and that the company has since “refused to return the funds.”

Babb and Bergen each own 20% of Joyride, while the remaining 60% is owned by seven other investors, according to bankruptcy documents.

Neither Babb nor Bergen immediately returned messages seeking comment on Monday.

Bergen, who serves as president of the Colorado Brewers Guild, previously stated that Joyride would remain open while it reorganized. The business is known for its rooftop patio overlooking Sloan’s Lake and for its Ice Cutter Kölsch, which has won several beer awards.

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The company has just purchased two other Colorado beer makers: Aspen Brewing, with its brand-new, 7,000-barrel-capacity production facility near the Pitkin County Airport; and Capitol Creek Brewery in Basalt, according to a statement released Friday afternoon. Both had been owned by High Country Brewing LLC, an investment firm that acquired them in 2019 and 2021.

“We have had a goal for some time to open more brewpub locations and have always kept an ear to the ground for locations that might make sense,” said Jake Gardner, Westbound & Down’s director of brewery operations and one of its operating partners, in a statement.

“Although we were originally looking into opening completely new projects in unoccupied spaces, this serendipitous opportunity was brought to us and continues to align with our dream of operating Colorado brewpubs that serve as gateways to the outdoors and the mountains.”

For now, Westbound & Down will keep both breweries’ identities and “continue to build on the rich brewing tradition that these two brands have established in the Roaring Fork Valley,” Gardener said. But the company will also “assess” everything further down the road.

Westbound & Down said it has also hired Matt Husted, a partner and former hospitality director at Denver chef Kelly Whitaker’s Id Est restaurant group, which owns Michelin Star restaurants Bruto (located next to Westbound’s Denver taproom) and The Wolf’s Tailor, among others. Husted will help streamline the food and beverage operations at all of Westbound’s properties.

Founded in 2015 in Idaho Springs in a partnership with the owners of the historic Buffalo Restaurant & Bar, Westbound expanded to Lafayette in 2021, where it built a new brewhouse and restaurant; it later added a small taproom at 1801 Blake St., in Denver’s Dairy Block.

But those spaces aren’t enough to keep up with Westbound’s continued success: The brewery won three medals at the Great American Beer Festival earlier this year, tacking those on to multiple other medals and awards, including GABF’s Midsize Brewpub of the Year in 2019. The company is known for its IPAs, in several styles, as well as lagers and barrel-aged stouts.

In addition, its brewing capacity in Lafayette is “maxed out, although new tanks are on their way that will allow for an additional 1,500 barrels of beer to brew to be made annually. Westbound & Down produced 3,400 barrels of beer in 2022 and is on pace to 4,300 barrels by the end of 2023.

Friday’s acquisition, which also includes Aspen Brewing’s Aspen Tap pub in Aspen, continues a trend in Colorado that has seen sometimes dramatic consolidation in the craft beer industry. For instance, earlier this month, Dry Dock Brewing in Aurora announced that it would close its production facility and turn over brewing and canning to Great Divide Brewing in Denver.

4 Noses Brewing in Broomfield also opened a new production facility this year where it makes its own beer and that of Odd13 Brewing, which 4 Noses’ parent company bought in 2021.

“Brewing is a resource-heavy industry where the ability to scale contracts, equipment, and personnel is critically important,” Gardner said about consolidation.

Starting soon, both Aspen Tap and Capitol Creek will begin pouring a small sampling of Westbound beers, along with a few of its signature dishes, the company said. Westbound & Down also will likely use Aspen’s production facility to make some of its beers in the future.

“Aspen Brewing’s location and long-standing, dedicated fan base and Capitol Creek’s fresh look and dedication to high-quality food and beer were both attractive out of the gate,” Gardner said.

“In getting to know key personnel on the brew staff at Capitol Creek, as well as amazing leadership in the food and hospitality program there, we immediately felt like it would be a natural fit for what we’ve been building at Westbound & Down,” he added.

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The owner of Ursula Brewery, which opened in 2014 next to the Anschutz Medical Campus, Procop decided earlier this year that it was time to sell the brewery in order to focus on his family restaurant at 2100 Ursula St., Cedar Creek Pub, which is across the street from the brewery.

That happened this week, and the new owners, who he didn’t name, plan to reopen the brewery with a different name in early or mid-2024.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business for 34 years, so this is sort of like going back to my roots,” Procop said about turning his attention to Cedar Creek, which he opened in 2011 with his wife. “It was a good run [at Ursula]. We did great, and this is the end of the story.”

The last few years have been harrowing for small brewery owners, who have dealt with the effects of the pandemic, rising costs for raw materials and supplies, and static beer sales in an industry that had been previously experiencing double-digit growth in the early and mid-2010s.

“Everyone is hurting,” he said about fellow craft beer breweries and taproom owners. As an example, Procop pointed to one of his most well-known and well-loved beers, Crustless, a peanut-butter-and-jelly porter, and an imperial version of the beer that was aged in bourbon barrels. “We used to have lines down the street of people waiting for that beer. Now it’s nothing.

“Brewing is a young man’s game, and I can’t figure it out anymore. I got to a point where I just wasn’t sure what to do next,” he added. “But restaurants aren’t going anywhere.”

And that’s how Procop intends to continue supporting craft brewers in the future. Cedar Creek, which serves burgers, sandwiches, fish and chips and other traditional pub food, has always had a wide selection of craft beers on tap as well and hosts rare beer tastings on occasion.

After Ursula closes, it will still have a few of the brewery’s beers on tap, and Procop said he’ll carry the new brewery’s beers in his restaurant as well if the new owners ask him to. (Procop would only say that it is a business group that hasn’t owned a brewery before.)

In the meantime, he’ll be working the bar at Ursula by himself until the brewery’s last day, Dec. 22. But not before he throws one final two-day party for the winter solstice. The annual fest is typically the release of the Sacred Fire, an imperial Scotch Ale. Procop also will have a hot poker by the fire to caramelize and warm the malty beer.

“We want to go out with a bang at the end as a thank you to our customers,” he said.

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Friday. Denver Union Station ushers in the holiday season as it does each year with the Grand Illumination, which comes complete with family entertainment and activities. Things kick off at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24, with musical performances in the Great Hall. That will be followed at 4 p.m. by holiday songs from the Denver Dolls and Dickens Carolers, along with horse-drawn carriage rides, children’s activities and, of course, a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. In addition, there will be a holiday market with local artisans.

For the adults, seasonal beverage offerings from Terminal Bar and the Cooper Lounge will be served on an extended patio with views of the station. The evening culminates at 6 p.m. with the lighting of Denver Union Station’s 40-foot-tall outdoor Christmas tree featuring more than 7,000 holiday lights. Each evening after through Dec. 31, visitors will also be able to see the Merry & Bright Lights show, which transforms “the train station’s exterior façade into a spectacular canvas” that displays “interactive imagery created by local Denver artists.”

Black Friday stouts

Friday. Station 26 Brewing will drop four different kinds of big bold beers at its annual Imperial Event + Black Friday Outdoor Lovers Market. It has become a tradition for craft breweries to release imperial or barrel-aged stouts on the day after Thanksgiving every year, and Station 26 has been doing it longer than almost anyone in Colorado.

The brewery, at 7045 E. 38th Ave. in Denver, will be pouring its beers from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and there will be live music from noon to 3 p.m., a food truck and six to eight vendors, including Meier Skis, which will have a Build Your Own Ski Pole booth. The other vendors (noon to 3 p.m.) include Mountainsmith Gear, Akinz Apparel, Rowdy Trails Posters and more. And if that’s not enough, dozens of other metro Denver breweries will be releasing stouts as well, so go to the social media pages of your favorites to find out when and where.

Laugh track

Friday-Saturday. Irreverent local comedian Sam Tallent headlines Comedy Works Denver, 1226 15th St., with two shows on Friday (7:30 and 9:45 p.m.) and two more on Saturday (7:30 and 9:45 p.m.). Tickets to the 21+ shows are $26 and available at comedyworks.com.

Tallent, who is also an author, has been joking around for a decade in Denver, but also tours the country and typically performs up to 40 weekends per year nationwide. His self-published novel, “Running the Light,” about a comedian, came out in 2020.

Ice cream dreams

Friday-Dec. 31. Little Man Ice Cream is transforming its flagship factory and storefront, at 4411 W. Colfax Ave., into Santa’s Factory for the holidays. Not only will there be “an exuberant explosion of twinkly lights” and “ornaments run-amok, but visitors will also find a series of recurring events, including photos with Santa, bingo with Mrs. Claus, private ice cream-making sessions, holiday cookie decorating, gingerbread house building, a tree farm, holiday music and much more.

Oh, and there’s also ice cream: This year’s holiday lineup includes Egg Nog, Gingersnap, Candy Cane and Vegan Hot Cocoa. Santa’s Factory will be open daily. Most events require tickets or reservations, which you make at littlemanicecreamfactory.com.

Holidays on ice

Saturday-March 2024. Pindustry, the Greenwood Village bowling alley, entertainment complex and restaurant, debuts an expansive outdoor rooftop ice skating rink, Pindustry on Ice, starting Friday, but with a grand opening party on Saturday, Nov. 25, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event, which is free to attend, features a silent disco, snow machine, 360-degree photo booth, hot chocolate bar, ice luge, and a ski pass giveaway. Attendees are encouraged to wear ’80s-themed winter wear.

The menu features tomato soup shooters with grilled cheese fingers, along with s’mores, which guests can make on outdoor fire pits. Beverages include toasted marshmallow martinis and peppermint white Russians, plus hot cocoa and hot apple cider. Pindustry on Ice, at 7939 E. Arapahoe Road, will be open every day (except Christmas) through March 2024; Monday-Friday, from 4 p.m. to close, and Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to close. Skate rentals are $5, and skating costs $15 per hour. thepindustry.com

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Either way you look at it, it’s been a big year for both — and it’s not over yet. At least three breweries have opened so far in the extended Denver metro in November.

Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales

Omaha-area brewery owners Kirk and Alyssa Hearon have teamed up with Longmont local Brandon Knudsen to open a second outpost of their Nebraska company, Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales. The brewery specializes in making adventurous beers and will have 18 different selections on tap. Current beers include a blueberry cotton candy sour, a cream ale with peanut butter and marshmallows, and a blonde ale with cinnamon roll flavors.

1425 S. Airport Road #100, Longmont; beardedbreweraa.com

Bent Barley Brewing II

Bent Barley Brewing, which opened in 2018 in Aurora’s Southlands Mall, 6200 S. Main St., added a second location this month in Centennial. The new spot has its own four-barrel brewing system and will make some of its own beer, according to owners Mark Job and Paul Dampier. Bent Barley specializes in making what the owners call “beer-flavored beer,” meaning straightforward styles, including a stout, an amber, a fruit blonde, a kolsch with honey and an IPA.

15416 E. Orchard Road, Centennial; bentbarley.com

Monolith Brewing

Professional brewer Stephen Monahan took over the former space belonging to Black Project Wild & Spontaneous Ales on South Broadway earlier this year, and has spent the past six months turning it into a new brewery with a new look and a new vision. Monolith Brewing opened earlier this month, using Black Project’s old system, and serving an IPA, a pale ale, a stout, a wheat, a chile beer and more. Beer styles will vary going forward.

1290 S. Broadway, Denver; monolithbrewing.com

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Just a few days after a banner featuring the red and white mouth logo for the Rolling Stones was mysteriously unfurled at Empower Field at Mile High, the band announced the North American dates for its latest tour, “Hackney Diamonds” (the same name as the band’s new album).

The Stones will perform in 16 cities across the U.S. and Canada, and stop at Empower Field at Mile High on June 20. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (who will both be 80) will play many of their old hits and famous songs as well as new stuff from “Hackney Diamonds.”

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Dec. 1, according to promoter AEG Presents. For more information and to buy them, go to Empower Field’s website.

Of note: the tour is sponsored by AARP (seriously).

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Were the Stones returning to Denver to play a show? With Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts all being in their 70s at the time, it seemed like any chance to see the band — which has been rocking since 1962 —  was a gift worth accepting.

The band did play, in August 2019 (the original May date was postponed after Jagged had heart surgery), to a sold-out crowd, and they absolutely crushed it. But that would be the last time Watts, the drummer, would be in town; he died two years later at the age of 80.

Related: Rolling Stones conjure moments of awe in return to Denver

Late last week, another banner was unfurled at the stadium — and Tweeted about by music promoter AEG Presents Rocky Mountain. And another buzz is already building.

pic.twitter.com/hmQo3r6Ygd

— AEGPresentsRM (@AEGPresentsRM) November 17, 2023

After all, Jagger turned 80 in July, and Richards will join him as an octogenarian rock star in December. If the timing between the appearance of the banner and the concert date is roughly the same this time around, we can expect a June show.

Take the opportunity to see them if you can.

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Brewery co-founder Dave Bergen said in a video on Facebook that he is making a very public announcement as a way to remain open and honest with customers.

“Joyride will be filing for Chapter 11 reorganization due to suspected financial malfeasance from a former manager,” Joyride said in its statement. “This filing has nothing to do with Joyride’s ability to run a successful and profitable business but rather, has everything to do with the improper and unauthorized spending as well as financial mismanagement from the former manager.

“During this time, Joyride will be reorganizing the brewery, and Dave Bergen has stepped in as president of the company, and he will also continue his role as director of marketing and brewing.

“Joyride will not be closing and everyone will still have their jobs,” the brewery added.

Bergen and Grant Babb opened Joyride in 2014 at 2501 Sheridan, in Edgewater, and added a rooftop patio several years later with views of Sloan’s Lake. Bergen has served as president of the Colorado Brewers Guild and is a very active member of the local brewery community.

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