Colorado is one of the most photographed places in America with some of the most stunning landscapes of mountains, rivers, canyons, and arid deserts. It is this diversity of nature that makes Colorado one of our favorite places for engagement, elopement, and wedding photography sessions. As Colorado wedding photographers, it helps to have a few well-known spots that we can share with our clients to make it easier for them to decide which photoshoot location suits them.

To that end, we’ve curated a list of our favorite Colorado engagement photo locations. We’ve also included a brief description of why we love the place and some helpful information like permit fees and such. It is not an exhaustive list because there is just some much that Colorado has to offer. So if you have a place that’s not here, feel free to get in touch here and have your Colorado engagement photos done with us.

Engagement Photo Locations in Colorado

Denver Botanic Gardens

The Denver Botanic Gardens at York Street is a living museum of plant collections from all over the world. It is a beautiful and natural setting for a Denver engagement session in the summer and fall seasons when the plants are grown and filled in. The gardens feature a variety of landscaped gardens and architectural structures to use as backdrops.

Their permit fees are a little steep compared to other locations in Denver, which also reduces the number of people coming to the park for photography sessions. On the upside, it provides you with a more intimate space to do your sessions and to explore the variety of beautiful plants and flowers in the gardens. The permit is for a 2-hour photo session for six people, and there is limited free parking.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park in northern Colorado is one of our favorite locations for mountain engagement photos. It is a perfect location for its variety of backdrops, and most of the photography spots are accessible on foot or by car. Estes Park, at the foot of the mountain, also offers breathtaking views of the mountain peaks surrounding the Estes valley. Trail Ridge Road, Moraine Park, and Sprague Lake are some of our favorite spots inside the park that offer the best mountain peak views and are easily accessible. The park requires a permit and an admission fee.

Lookout Mountain Park

Lookout Mountain is situated just a short drive outside of Golden, at the foothill of the Rocky Mountains. The park has gentle hiking trails with meadows and ponderosa pines where you can have your evening engagement sessions with views of Downtown Denver, Golden, and the front range in the background.

Chautauqua Park

Chautauqua Park in Boulder is famous for having the best views of the iconic Flatirons mountains. The park features a network of hiking trails with spectacular views of the Flatirons. Boulder Falls, Betasso Preserve Trailhead, and Flagstaff Mountain are a short distance away from Chautauqua Park and also have scenic views and a waterfall.

Boulder Falls is an easy 100-yard hike to a spectacular waterfall. The trails at the Betrasso Preserve are moderately difficult, but the scenic mountain backdrop and open spaces make it an excellent location for your engagement photoshoots. Flagstaff Mountain is less busy with hikers, and it’s a great location because you can drive up to the summit. It also has better vistas of Boulder and the surrounding mountain range to enjoy than many of the other popular parks around it.

If you want more variety, you can continue driving up the road to Lost Gulch Overlook, which gives you breathtaking views of Longs Peak, the highest point of the Rocky Mountain range. The spot is very popular with university students, so it might be better to schedule the engagement session on a weekday evening.

The South Mesa Trailhead is another attractive engagement photography spot near Chautauqua Park. It features spectacular views of rugged mountain peaks, wildflowers in open spaces, some old structures, and a creek. It is also one of the few places with red fall color that comes from the red sumac plants found here. On the downside, the area is home to rattlesnakes, and you’ll need a $5 parking fee and a $25 permit.

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

The Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a great place for engagement photography sessions. The open-air amphitheater is built out of the natural rock structure and has several other massive red rock structures surrounding it. It is an excellent spot for evening photoshoots with a spectacular view of the Red Rocks Park and the skyline of downtown Denver on one side.

The downside of having your Colorado engagement session here is one, the lengthy permit application process, and two, it’s quite busy with concerts and events in the evenings. Hence, it’s almost impossible to have a sunset photoshoot here.

Roxborough State Park

Located a short drive from Red Rocks is the Roxborough State Park that also has stunning red rock formations. The park is a fantastic location for engagement sessions all year round and a better alternative to Red Rocks. Apart from the rock formations, Roxborough features a variety of wildlife, including rattlesnakes and plants. On the downside, they close at sunset, but you can still capture amazing photos before the sun goes down. They charge a $55 permit fee and a $9 car pass.

RiNo Art District

The River North Art District in the northern part of Denver is an urban trendy, artistic, and creative district of revamped industrial warehouses and foundries. It is vibrant with colorful street art and murals on the walls of the buildings. It’s the best place for nerdy engagement pictures, and you can get a variety of great backdrops within just a few blocks.

Downtown Denver

Downtown Denver has several interesting engagement session locations that feature an urban setting. The LoDo District in Downtown Denver offers colorful backdrops, iconic buildings, and beautiful city lights for engagement photos. Let’s begin with one of the most iconic and popular locations in the Lower Downtown neighborhood, the Union Station. It is a surprisingly fantastic location that comes with lots of natural light in the Beaux-Arts interior. Evenings are the best times for photoshoots, especially if you’re going for the iconic neon signage as background, and also because it is a busy train station.

Larimer Square is a romantic spot for evening engagement sessions because of the evening lights, the victorian shops, and restaurants that create a magical setting. Sunday evenings are the best times for a photoshoot session because there is usually less traffic.

The Dairy Block is similar to Larimer Square with its magical evening lights and interesting street backdrops. However, if you’re looking for an indoor engagement session or wedding venue in LoDo, the iconic Oxford Hotel is the perfect location. It is the first of the downtown hotels to be built, and it has retained much of its original architectural style since 1891. The Cruise Room Martini Bar is a favorite space for many couples who want a unique backdrop with its colorful Art Deco interior.

Evergreen Lake House

Evergreen Lake House is a short distance from Denver, and it is the crown jewel of the Evergreen mountain community. The Lake House is a log cabin set on the lakeshore with scenic mountain views in the background. It is beautiful, inside and out, for your engagement photos, and it is available from Spring to late Fall. To add a little variety and color, we can take a short drive to the Squaw Pass Road after the session. It has stunning groves of mature aspen trees and meadows on both sides of the road, which are breathtaking with fall color in the Autumn months.

Boreas Pass – Breckenridge

Boreas Pass is a high mountain road near Breckenridge that cuts through the Central Rockies and connects the historic town of Como to Breckenridge. The road is spectacular, with clear views of the Blue River Valley, Tenmile Range, and Mount Silverheels in the Summer months. Aspen trees line the pass, and they are a big hit with engagement photographers in the Fall. There are also a couple of historic structures on the way to use as backdrops.

Sapphire Point Overlook

Sapphire Point is an intimate wedding venue located between Breckenridge and Keystone. The overlook has scenic views of the Dillon Reservoir and the Tenmile Range with adjacent nature trails to give you a variety of spots for your engagement and wedding photography. Reservations are for 2-hour slots, and there are some parking spaces in the area. Reservations are non-exclusive so expect to share the space with other tourists.

How Much Does a Colorado Engagement Photographer Cost?

The average cost of a 2-hour photoshoot in Colorado ranges between $500 to &800. The rate depends on which city you’re in and on other factors such as how far out the location is from where you are and the associated permits, admission, and parking fees. As a Colorado Wedding Photographer, we have secured yearly permits for some of the popular locations that our clients prefer. However, some locations only allow daily permits, which may affect the cost of the session.

If budget is a concern, you may want to consider getting a wedding package that includes pre-wedding photography like engagement sessions. At Eivan’s Photo and Video, we offer our clients a variety of wedding packages to suit their needs. You can check our different wedding packages here.

In our experience, we’ve found that the wedding packages offer more value for money to our clientele than having several small packages for each event. It is also beneficial for our clients to have the engagement photographer working on their wedding photos in regards to creative style and expectations.