Drive past the Colorado Renaissance Festival grounds off Perry Park Avenue this week and the field is empty. No turkey legs, no jousting lists, no line of cars backed up along the county road on a Saturday morning. The eight weekends that put Larkspur on regional calendars every June through early August wrapped on August 2, and the grounds have gone quiet until next summer.
Meanwhile, a few miles up Spruce Mountain Road, Larkspur Community Park was packed for the September gathering. Live music, a farmers market, food trucks, a fire truck for the kids to climb on, and a Flight for Life helicopter parked for anyone who wanted a closer look. The Larkspur Area Chamber of Commerce's Autumn Arts & Crafts Fest ran Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20, free to walk into, and it is about as close as this town gets to throwing its own party.
For eight weekends a year, Larkspur draws visitors from Denver and Colorado Springs for the Renaissance Festival. After it ends, the Autumn Arts & Crafts Fest offers another occasion to gather in town.
The Colorado Renaissance Festival's Eight Weekends
The Colorado Renaissance Festival is in its 49th season this year, and the 2026 run covered eight consecutive weekends, June 13 through August 2, Saturdays and Sundays only. It is a real draw and brings regional recognition to Larkspur.
Tickets are required, pricing varies by age, and visitors come for the jousting and the costumes. The festival season ended in early August, with the Autumn Arts & Crafts Fest following in September.
The Autumn Arts & Crafts Fest
The Autumn Arts & Crafts Fest isn't run by an outside promoter and it isn't ticketed. It's a Chamber of Commerce event, held in the town's own park, built around local vendors, a farmers market, and live music rather than costumed performers. The Chamber describes it as a chance to be part of traditional small-town America, sitting dead center between Colorado's two largest metro areas.
It is one of five fixed points on the Chamber's yearly calendar, alongside the Renaissance Festival, the summer Music in the Park series, a winter Tree Lighting, and the ongoing presence of Jellystone Park as a local camping and event destination.
One Road Does Almost Everything
If you've lived in Larkspur for more than a season, you already know that Spruce Mountain Road is doing most of the work here. Larkspur Community Park sits at 8820 Spruce Mountain Road. A few blocks down, The Spur of the Moment Bar & Grill holds down 8885 Spruce Mountain Road, open Wednesday through Sunday and closed Monday and Tuesday, which is worth remembering before you plan a weeknight dinner around it. Larkspur Pizzeria & Cafe and Charrito's House Mexican Restaurant, which does both dine-in and drive-through, round out most of what the Chamber lists as the town's dining options.
Then there's the Corner Market, which is technically a gas station and, according to local reviews, runs one of the better-regarded kitchens in town almost as a side business. It's an odd fact until you remember how small this dining scene actually is. The Chamber's own directory names five places to eat in the entire town: the Spur of the Moment, the Golf Club at Bear Dance, the Corner Market, Larkspur Pizzeria, and Charrito's House. That's the full list. There's no fallback sixth option if one of them is closed for the night, which is part of why knowing the Spur of the Moment's schedule actually matters here in a way it wouldn't in a bigger town with more overlap.
Follow that same road further south and it leads to the trailhead for Spruce Mountain Open Space, at 13415 Spruce Mountain Road. The park, the restaurants, and the trail are effectively three stops on one continuous corridor, which is a more useful way to think about Larkspur's layout than most maps make obvious.
Why This Stretch Is the Trail's Best Window
Spruce Mountain Open Space covers 1,390 acres and carries 8.5 miles of trail, most of it built around a 5.5-mile loop that climbs gradually to a rock-rimmed flat top locals call Windy Point, with views out over Pikes Peak, the Rampart Range, Greenland Open Space, and the Palmer Divide. Douglas County keeps the park open year-round, but the trail surface holds up best from March through November. Once real snow arrives, the same trail turns to slush and ice on the north-facing stretches.
Late September offers cooler temperatures and falls after the festival season. Dogs are welcome as long as they're leashed, and if you're hauling a horse trailer, park at the Spruce Meadows Trailhead off Noe Road rather than the main lot, which only accommodates cars and light trucks.
What's Left on the Calendar
Once the Autumn Arts & Crafts Fest wraps, the next fixed point on the Chamber's own list is the Tree Lighting, which functions as Larkspur's winter version of the same idea: a local event, in a local space, built for residents rather than visitors passing through. Jellystone Park continues running its own programming through the shoulder season as well, giving the town a second venue for gatherings that isn't tied to a single weekend.
Larkspur's calendar includes the eight-weekend Renaissance Festival and community events at other times of year. The town has about 6,700 people, five restaurants on the Chamber's list, and the Spruce Mountain Open Space trail system. The Autumn Arts & Crafts Fest took place September 19 and 20, after the Renaissance Festival ended on August 2.
The next eight-weekend run doesn't start until next June.
If you're weighing a move within Larkspur or anywhere else along the Palmer Divide and want a read on the market that comes from people who actually track these towns week to week, the Michael Turner Team is a good place to start that conversation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
