COLORADO NEWS

Colorado beaches named one of the least safe in America, which is hilarious for a State 1,000 miles from the ocean

Aug 18, 2026, 8:25 AM

Congratulations, Colorado. We don’t have an ocean. We don’t have salt water. We don’t have tides or sea turtles. But we do, apparently, have one of the 10 least safe beaches in the entire United States.

Grand Lake Beach, tucked into the Rocky Mountains at 8,400 feet of elevation in Grand County, landed at No. 7 on a new ranking from The Action Network that analyzed crime rates across 500 popular beach zip codes to determine which have the highest risk of theft, robbery, vehicle theft and burglary. That puts a Colorado mountain lake beach ahead of Big Sur, California, and Lincoln City, Oregon, two places that are, you know, next to an actual ocean.

The ranking, reported by USA Today, compared property crime rates to estimated daily visitor counts at each beach. And while more than 92% of recorded incidents nationally were non-violent,  mostly involving unattended bags and rental car break-ins, that’s cold comfort if your wallet disappears while you’re floating in a landlocked alpine lake surrounded by ponderosa pines and wondering how you ended up on the same list as Santa Monica.

For context: the safest beaches in the country include New Smyrna Beach in Florida, Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Sanibel Island and Siesta Key in Florida, and Waikiki in Hawaii, all places with warm sand, crashing waves, and zero chance of seeing a moose walk out of the tree line during your swim. The most dangerous? North Jetty in Ocean Shores, Washington, followed by Folly Beach, South Carolina, and Newport Beach, California.

So the next time you’re packing for a day at Grand Lake, maybe leave the valuables locked in the trunk.

Colorado News

DENVER, COLORADO - SEPTEMBER 27: Talanoa Hufanga #9 of the Denver Broncos celebrates an interceptio...

Big Mic

Denver Bronco’s safety Talanoa Hufanga named AFC Defensive Player of the Week

The Denver Broncos have been riding the wave of their big win against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday all week, and its culminated into a big award for one […]

46 minutes ago

(Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Charlotte Colbert Studio)...

Shawn Patrick

Chipotle’s long-lost margarita is coming back, and Denver is one of just five cities getting it

Denver, the margarita is back from the dead, and it’s coming home first. Chipotle is bringing back its long-lost margarita for a limited five-city Halloween tour, and the first stop […]

20 hours ago

Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount+...

Shawn Patrick

Bill Nye the Science Guy is coming to Colorado in November

Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! If that theme song just started playing in your head, you’re in the right place. Bill Nye the Science Guy is coming to Colorado this fall. […]

20 hours ago

AI-GENERATED IMAGE...

Shawn Patrick

Tickets to Colorado’s Polar Express just went on sale, and they sell out every year

It’s still September, but the most competitive Christmas ticket in Colorado went on sale this morning, and they never last long. The Polar Express Train Ride returns to the Colorado […]

21 hours ago

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)...

Shawn Patrick

The Blue Angels are part of a Colorado air show this weekend

The Blue Angels are coming back to Colorado this weekend. You’ll need to drive over the mountains to see them, but with the aspens changing along I-70 right now, that’s […]

21 hours ago

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 03: An Amazon-owned Zoox driverless robotaxi drives down a stree...

Big Mic

Amazon bringing Waymo competition in Denver with Zoox

With the autonomous driverless cab service Waymo just barely beginning operations in Denver, it may not be long before it gets its first taste of direct competition as Amazon is […]

21 hours ago

Colorado beaches named one of the least safe in America, which is hilarious for a State 1,000 miles from the ocean