Each year, 5280 submits its journalism to regional and national competitions. Although our first priority is to serve our readers with stories that entertain and inform, we believe it’s important to have our work judged alongside our peers’. Not only do these contests let us know how we measure up, but they also give us plenty to aspire to. Over the years, 5280 has been fortunate to garner nominations and wins at several of the industry’s most prestigious awards competitions.
Below, we’ve compiled a running list of some of the trophy winners for your reading pleasure.
2026 Nominations
National City and Regional Magazine Awards
Best Reporting: Wolf Wars (December 2025)
Five years into Colorado’s ambitious wolf reintroduction experiment, ranchers and conservationists have never been more bitterly divided. Is peaceful coexistence even possible. By Rose Cahalan, senior editor
Best Profile: The Unlikely Ascent of Tracee Metcalfe (February 2025)
A fatal race thrust a Vail climber into a surprising position: the closest to becoming the first American woman to summit the 14 highest peaks in the world. But to claim the record, she’d have to face both the public’s scrutiny and her personal demons. By Devon O’Neil
Best Feature Story: The Shroom Boom (June 2025)
How local scientists and eager entrepreneurs are trying to make magic mushrooms in Colorado’s next growth industry—and what our writer discovered on his own trip through the burgeoning scene. By Robert Sanchez, senior staff writer
Writer of the Year: Robert Sanchez
Excellence in Writing: June 2025
Features inside include “Splash Down!,” “French Twist,” “In Our GOAT Era,” and “The Shroom Boom.”
Best Photography: Blowin’ in the Wind (September 2025)
A local photographer spent seven years chasing tumbleweeds through rural communities, laboratories, and pop culture—all on a quest to understand one of the West’s most humble, sometimes house-swallowing icons. Photography by Theo Stroomer
Best Photography: The Things We Leave Behind (February 2025)
What a photographer learned about her great-grandmother’s vibrant life on a rural Colorado ranch by documenting her most prized possessions—and what the experience taught the artist about herself. Photography by Kaylinn Gilstrap
Best Reader Service: Taking the High Trail (August 2025)
The High Line Canal is stepping into the future with $100 million in improvements. Now is the time to (re)discover this 71-mile urban gem. By Daliah Singer
Best Leisure/Lifestyle Interests: Season of the Witch (October 2025)
Denver’s occult scene has never been bigger—or more inclusive. Here’s how (and where) to find your coven. By Rose Cahalan, senior editor
Best Feature Package: Hurts Soooo Good (July 2025)
Our guide to understanding (and maybe even joining) the preponderance of Coloradans who find fulfillment in incredibly difficult, and sometimes physically painful, outdoor pursuits—aka Type II fun. By Lindsey B. King
Best Food or Dining Feature Package: Less Is More (February 2025)
Increasingly, Denverites are opting for beverages with lower—or even nonexistent—alcohol contents. Here, the best and buzziest mocktails, session beers, and bars for mindful drinking in and around the Mile High City. By Jessica LaRusso, editor-in-chief
2025 Winners
National City and Regional Magazine Awards
Best Service Journalism: Death Comes for Us All, but It Shouldn’t Come Like This (October 2024)
Over the past six years, Colorado’s funeral industry has made headlines for appalling acts of disrespect to both the dead and the living. Will recently passed legislation stop the atrocities, and how can we protect the ones we love even after they’re gone? By Lindsey B. King, editor
Best Leisure/Lifestyle Interests: Rare Architecture (June 2024)
With the densest concentration of natural red-rock arches on Earth, Utah’s 95-year-old Arches National Park is a must-see for anyone who covets uncommon sights—but it’s a particularly easy summertime trip for Coloradans who’ve already checked off their local national parks. By Lindsey B. King, editor, and Geoff Van Dyke, editorial director
Best Civic Journalism: Indeterminate (June 2024)
John Red Cloud served nearly 12 years in prison and thought he’d been a model parolee—that is, until the state of Colorado said he wasn’t. How did a renewable energy entrepreneur from the Lakota Sioux tribe become stuck in a sex offender system that could keep him incarcerated for the rest of his life? By Robert Sanchez, senior staff writer
2025 Nominations
National Magazine Awards
Best Service Journalism: Death Comes for Us All, but It Shouldn’t Come Like This (October 2024)
Over the past six years, Colorado’s funeral industry has made headlines for appalling acts of disrespect to both the dead and the living. Will recently passed legislation stop the atrocities, and how can we protect the ones we love even after they’re gone? By Lindsey B. King, editor
National City and Regional Magazine Awards
Excellence in Writing: June 2024
Features inside include “Rare Architecture,” “A Bugless Life,” and “Indeterminate.”
Best Service Journalism: Join the Hunt (September 2024)
From the Rocky Mountains to the Eastern Plains, Colorado boasts millions of acres teeming with wildlife that’s ripe for harvest. Sharing in the bounty, however, requires accepting your responsibility to become a steward for conservation. Here, our beginner’s guide to using what Mother Nature provides. By Spencer Campbell, features editor
Best Ancillary Publication: General Interest: 5280 Health
2024 Winners
National City and Regional Magazine Awards
Writer of the Year: Robert Sanchez
Judges said he “exemplifies the best of 21st century magazine journalism” with a voice that is “clear, compassionate, and eminently fair.” The pieces recognized include “The Good Samaritan” (March 2023), “Primed” (August 2023), and “Through the Fire” (December 2023).
Excellence in Writing: July 2023
Judges said the issue “boasts vivid prose and insightful storytelling from cover to closing page.” Features inside include “116 Reasons to Love Denver,” “Inside the Reopening of Casa Bonita with Trey Parker and Matt Stone,” “Best of the Colorado Trail,” “The Quiet Crisis,” and “In the Land of the Lost.”
Best Reader Service: The Sense & Sensibility of Being an Abortion Haven (June 2023)
The fall of Roe v. Wade—which happened one year ago this month—has affected, and will continue to have an impact on, Coloradans and those who travel to the Centennial State for abortion care. Here’s what you need to know, no matter your stance. By Lindsey B. King, editor
Best Ancillary Publication: General Interest: 5280 Health
2024 Nominations
National City and Regional Magazine Awards
Best Reader Service: What Are the Odds? (May 2023)
It’s been three years since the first sports betting wagers were placed in Colorado. We look at how the controversial law has affected Coloradans—and explain how you can (responsibly) get in on the action. By Lindsey B. King, editor
Best Leisure/Lifestyle Interests: In the Land of the Lost (July 2023)
Very old rock and a dry climate give the American West one of the richest fossil records in the world. We dug into the history of dinosaur discoveries in the Centennial State, where to see the coolest bones, and what Coloradans who study the remains of Earth’s prehistoric inhabitants are learning today. By Jessica LaRusso, deputy editor
Excellence Online: 5280.com
Judges said the “digital content resonates with locals and visitors to the sixth-fastest-growing metro area in the country,” and the “writing and overall quality of this publication endure.”
2023 Nominations
National Magazine Awards
Best Lifestyle Journalism: Stars Bright (May 2022)
Travelers are flocking to the West for what its wide-open spaces lack: light pollution. From savvy rural towns that have gone dark to attract stargazers to protected places where visitors can watch the constellations as the country’s original inhabitants did, we break down where—and how—to best enjoy the night sky in the Centennial State. By Jessica LaRusso, deputy editor
National City and Regional Magazine Awards
Best Essays/Commentary/Criticism: Is This Land Your Land? (April 2022)
The terrain now known as Colorado is rich with the trails, stories, traditions, and knowledge of people who have lived here since the beginning of memory. It’s also etched with the trauma of centuries of violent colonization of Indigenous individuals and communities. The contemporary practice of land acknowledgment aims to reckon with this past and atone for historical harms—but does it work? By Kate Siber
Best Civic Journalism: The High Cost of High Country Living (September 2022)
Breckenridge has the most short-term rentals of any municipality in the state—more than 4,000 in a town of just 5,100 permanent residents. What does that imbalance mean for those who live and work in this quintessential Rocky Mountain town? By Devon O’Neil
Best Reader Service: One Pill Can Kill You: The Fentanyl Crisis (November 2022)
With over 900 deaths last year and more expected in 2022, it’s clear that Coloradans aren’t getting the message: This stuff is deadly. By Lindsey B. King, editor
2022 Winners
National Magazine Awards
Best Service Journalism: Shattered Minds (July 2021)
Medical professionals say there’s reason to be concerned about the safety of high-THC cannabis concentrates, particularly as they relate to the mental health of teenagers and young adults. With use on the rise among kids, experts are sending out an SOS, but it may not be reaching the intended audience: Colorado parents. By Lindsey B. King, editor
National City and Regional Magazine Awards
Best Reader Service: Shattered Minds (July 2021)
Medical professionals say there’s reason to be concerned about the safety of high-THC cannabis concentrates, particularly as they relate to the mental health of teenagers and young adults. With use on the rise among kids, experts are sending out an SOS, but it may not be reaching the intended audience: Colorado parents. By Lindsey B. King, editor
Best Leisure/Lifestyle Interests: Where the Ancestors Whisper to You (September 2021)
If you’re willing to listen, Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park has plenty of secrets to reveal—and just as many mysteries to ponder. More than 115 years after it was established to protect the archaeological sites left behind by the Ancestral Puebloans, we take you back in time with this comprehensive visitor’s guide. By Lindsey B. King, editor
Best Reporting: Criminal Defense (December 2021)
How the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s race to protect its sovereign nation from the COVID-19 pandemic transformed its southwestern Colorado reservation, members, and leadership forever. By Robert Sanchez, senior staff writer
2022 Nominations
National Magazine Awards
Best Lifestyle Journalism: The Beginner’s Guide to Winter Camping (November 2021)
Your tent might say it’s only designed for spring, summer, and fall, but that’s no reason not to fully enjoy all the solitude and snow-globe scenery the fourth season has to offer. We asked local backcountry veterans for tips, tricks, and hacks that will help you gear up, stay warm, sleep (relatively) well, eat right, be safe, and have a great time in Colorado’s winter wonderland. By Lindsey B. King, editor
National City and Regional Magazine Awards
Best Civic Journalism: Life and Death in the Mountains (August 2021)
After two teens died by suicide last year, how will Summit County address its ongoing mental health crisis? By Devon O’Neil
Best Feature Story: Dear Colorado… (September 2021)
When Elijah McClain’s 2019 death began attracting national attention during the summer of 2020, thousands of people from across the country mailed letters to Governor Jared Polis, begging for justice, fairness, and a bit of hope. We read every one. By Robert Sanchez, senior staff writer
