Grand Junction
Welcome to Cvent's Meetings and Event Planning Guide to Grand Junction—a city guide for meeting professionals. Situated among the red rock canyons of the Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction is a Colorado Wine Country destination with amazing scenery, activities for every interest, a variety of unique venues and meeting spaces, and a charming downtown. The largest city on Colorado's Western Slope and a hub for transportation and shipping between Denver and Salt Lake City, Grand Junction offers more than 73,000 square feet of meeting space, thanks to its many indoor and outdoor event venues, as well as over 20 area wineries, plenty of lodging options, and outdoor adventure options to suit any group. Aspen is two and a half hours from Grand Junction, Denver is less than four hours away. and Salt Lake City less than five. Groups gathering in Grand Junction can arrive via the Grand Junction Regional Airport, which is located about five miles from downtown Grand Junction and less than a mile from the majority of the lodging properties on Horizon Drive. The airport provides nonstop service to a number of major domestic markets and features direct access to Grand Valley Transit bus service, which takes passengers to Downtown Grand Junction Monday through Friday, upon request, and Saturday as a regular stop. Downtown Grand Junction features a variety of shops, restaurants, and art galleries, as well as Two Rivers Convention Center, the largest convention center between Denver and Salt Lake City. Spanning 22,920 square feet of meeting and event space and accommodating more than 2,000 people, the light-filled, modern convention center on Main Street sits adjacent to the 80-room Hampton Inn and within steps of the Fairfield Inn & Suites and SpringHill Suites, shops, and restaurants. Groups can gather in the center's three ballrooms totaling 18,600 square feet, as well as its six meeting rooms and atrium. The center also offers a 1,000-square-foot outdoor plaza as an additional event option. At the opposite end of Main Street sits the newly renovated historic Avalon Theatre, with 1,150 seats. Aside from its Two Rivers Convention Center, Grand Junction is home to a variety of unique venues, ranging from a hands-on dinosaur museum to a scenic botanical garden, all perfectly equipped for group gatherings. Groups can step back in time to the early pioneer days at the Cross Orchards Historic Site, a former orchard turned museum that today captures 100 years of agricultural heritage through its beautiful grounds and historic buildings. Groups can gather at the site's packing shed/barn, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as hold outdoor events on the grounds. For an indoor event surrounded by a different slant on history, groups can gather at Tammy Allen's Car Museum at Allen Unique Autos, which displays one of the world's finest private automobile collections, with such highlights as a 1969 Chevy Camaro, 1913 Ford Model T, Sonny & Cher's 1966 Mustang, and a car known as JFK's ambulance. Groups can travel way, way back in time at the Dinosaur Journey Museum in nearby Fruita. The museum tells the story of the history of life in western Colorado using real fossils, cast skeletons, and dinosaur reconstructions, as well as offering hands-on activities and a variety of auditorium and gallery space for private events. Groups can also be surrounded by flowers or historic and contemporary artwork while meeting in Grand Junction. Set along the Colorado River, the 15-acre Western Colorado Botanical Gardens offers a number of garden spaces, including herb, cactus, and rose gardens, as well as a 500-person outdoor amphitheater for private events. The nonprofit Western Colorado Center for the Arts offers a number of gallery spaces, as well as a sculpture courtyard, bonsai garden, and facility buy-outs for group events; groups can also opt to engage in the center's long list of lecture, seminar, and class opportunities.
Weather and Seasonality
Grand Junction features a four-season climate, complete with abundant sunshine, and dry summers and cool, dry winters with little snowfall down in the Valley. Grand Junction has been named one of the sunniest cities in the United States by US Travel Review. With an average high of 37°F and low of 16°F, January is the city's coldest month, while July is typically its warmest month, with an average high of 93°F and low of 64°F. Grand Junction receives an average nine inches of precipitation each year, evenly spread out throughout the seasons.
| Month | High/Low °F | Seasonality |
|---|---|---|
| January | 38°/17° | - |
| February | 45°/24° | - |
| March | 57°/31° | - |
| April | 65°/38° | - |
| May | 76°/47° | - |
| June | 88°/56° | - |
| July | 93°/63° | - |
| August | 90°/61° | - |
| September | 80°/52° | - |
| October | 66°/40° | - |
| November | 50°/28° | - |
| December | 39°/19° | - |