While Boulder is about to be full of film premieres and industry buzz, thirty-some miles north, a different kind of story is unfolding: Colorado’s Sweetheart City will be gearing up for its busiest season, and the timing with Sundance couldn’t be better. Between the sculpture gardens, the taprooms and the start of Loveland’s famous Valentine traditions, there’s a full day of trip-extension material waiting here. The sooner you start planning, the more of it you’ll catch.
A Sculpture Trail Made for Wandering
Loveland has one of the highest concentrations of working artists in the Rocky Mountain West and it shows the moment you step outside. Benson Sculpture Garden holds more than 170 outdoor pieces spread across a park that’s just as striking dusted in snow as it is in summer light and it’s the kind of place where an intended quick loop turns into an hour without you noticing.
Downtown, the Creative District strings together a walkable run of galleries, including Independence Gallery, Lincoln Gallery and Hart Gallery & Studio, all within a few blocks of each other along 4th Street. Round it out with a stop at the Loveland Museum where rotating art and history exhibits add another layer to the town’s art scene. Give yourself a couple of unhurried hours in downtown Loveland. You’ll want more than a drive-by kind of stop.
Sweetheart City, Right on Time
Loveland has been the nation’s Sweetheart City for nearly 80 years and the season starts earlier than most visitors expect. By January, streetlight poles along several of Loveland’s main corridors are already filling up with hundreds of oversized wooden hearts, hand-painted with messages from the community and hung by the Thompson Valley Rotary Club. Some are sweet, some are funny and all of them are worth slowing down for. It’s one of the most photographed sights in town each year, and they’ll already be up while you’re in town for Sundance.
That same stretch of winter is also when Loveland’s Valentine Re-Mailing Program kicks into gear. Every year, more than 100,000 valentines arrive from all over the world to be hand-stamped with the city’s official cachet and verse before continuing on to their recipients, a tradition that’s been running since 1947. You can watch the process come to life at the post office or get the full backstory at the Loveland Museum, which houses a permanent exhibit on the remailing program and the city’s Valentine history more broadly. It’s an easy, worthwhile stop to pair with the galleries next door and it gives real context to everything you’ll see on the streets outside. While you’re downtown, keep an eye out for one of our four Love Lock sculptures too, where visitors can add a personalized lock of their own.
A handful of additional Valentine’s pop-ups and events are still being finalized for the season so it’s worth checking back closer to your travel dates for the full calendar. But between the Rotary hearts, the remailing program and the museum exhibit, there’s already plenty here to build a morning or afternoon around, no matter when in January you make the trip.
Warm Up at a Local Taproom
Loveland’s craft beverage scene is compact enough to sample in one visit and good enough to make you wish you’d budgeted more time. Loveland Aleworks, Verboten Brewing and Grimm Brothers Brewhouse each bring a different personality to the table, from easy-drinking session beers to German-inspired lagers and everything in between and all three sit within easy walking distance of the downtown gallery scene, so you can hop between them on foot.
If wine’s more your speed, Sweet Heart Winery pours Colorado-made wines in a riverside setting that’s especially cozy on a cold January afternoon with a fireplace that makes it tempting to stay well past your planned pit stop. It’s a natural way to close out a day that started with sculpture and art, and a good excuse to warm up before the drive back down to Boulder.
Easy to Reach, Easy to Love
The drive from Boulder is about 45 minutes, straightforward enough to squeeze in as a half-day trip between festival screenings or tack onto either end of your stay. Come up in the morning for the sculpture garden and galleries, grab lunch downtown and you’ll still have the afternoon free for the hearts, the museum and a stop at a taproom before heading back for your evening plans in Boulder.
None of this requires an overnight, though you’re welcome to stay and make a weekend of it. Loveland works just as well as a half-day add-on before or after your Sundance schedule and with the Valentine hearts already going up in January, this year’s timing lines up better than most to see why we’re called the Sweetheart City. Sundance brought you to Boulder. Let Loveland give you one more reason to stay in northern Colorado a little longer.
