Navigate to Buc-ee’s Colorado
5201 Nugget Road, Johnstown, CO 80534
Located right off Interstate 25 in Johnstown, Colorado
Colorado · State Guide
Buc-ee’s Colorado: A Hit in Johnstown, a Fight It Lost in Palmer Lake
By Buc-ee’s Menu Travel Team | Fact-Checked & Updated: August 2026
Colorado’s first Buc-ee’s has been a genuine phenomenon since 2024. Its second was supposed to follow the same playbook near Colorado Springs — instead, it ran into a rare thing for Buc-ee’s: organized opposition powerful enough to kill the deal.
Buc-ee’s Johnstown: Colorado’s First, and a Real Success Story
Colorado’s first Buc-ee’s opened at 6 a.m. on March 18, 2024, at 5201 Nugget Road in Johnstown, just off I-25 at County Road 48 — the first Buc-ee’s built west of Texas. Crowds lined up before sunrise, many in Buc-ee’s gear, for the countdown and doors-open moment. The store had been under construction since a groundbreaking ceremony in June 2022.
At 74,000 square feet with 116 fueling positions and 12 EV charging stations, Johnstown briefly held the title of Buc-ee’s largest store in the country — until a new Luling, Texas location edged it out at 75,593 square feet just a few months later. It still ranks among the chain’s largest builds. The store employs more than 200 people full-time (some reports put opening-day staffing closer to 275), with pay starting well above minimum wage, full benefits, a 6% matching 401(k), and three weeks of paid vacation from day one.
Address
5201 Nugget Road, Johnstown, CO
Highway Access
I-25 & County Road 48
Size
74,000 sq ft
Fuel
116 pumps, 12 EV chargers
Jobs
200+ full-time
Opened
March 18, 2024
The store has done more than sell brisket and Beaver Nuggets — it’s reshaped the surrounding area. Johnstown officials have described it as an anchor that’s pulled in other development at the same I-25 interchange, with a grocery store, Starbucks, and new housing following in its wake on land that was farmland before Buc-ee’s arrived. Its barbecue program was launched under Randy Pauly, Buc-ee’s Director of Barbecue and an eight-time world BBQ champion.
Pro Tip: Johnstown sits right between Denver and Fort Collins, making it a natural stop for I-25 corridor trips — but it also draws its own dedicated visitors. If you’re going specifically to see it rather than passing through, weekday mornings tend to be far less crowded than weekends or ski-season traffic days.
What Happened With Colorado’s Second Buc-ee’s
A second Colorado location looked like a natural next step, and developers proposed one at the corner of I-25 and County Line Road in Palmer Lake, a small town in El Paso County between Denver and Colorado Springs. Instead of following Johnstown’s relatively smooth path, the Palmer Lake project ran straight into one of the most organized opposition campaigns Buc-ee’s has faced anywhere in the country — and lost.
The proposed site required annexing land adjacent to one of the Front Range’s largest protected open spaces, originally preserved through a major land deal specifically designed to keep Colorado Springs and Denver from sprawling into one another. That alone made it a flashpoint. Opponents also raised concerns about the strain a Buc-ee’s-scale development would put on the area’s water supply, the added traffic it would bring, and its conflict with Palmer Lake’s dark sky ordinance — a local rule protecting the town’s unusually dark night skies from light pollution.
Who Publicly Opposed the Palmer Lake Proposal
- John Malone — media investor and one of the largest private landowners in the U.S.
- U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) — urged the town to reject the annexation request.
- Colorado Gov. Jared Polis — also called on Palmer Lake to turn the proposal down.
- Local conservationists and residents — organized around water, traffic, and dark-sky concerns.
“There was a lot of emotion involved in it, and I think the fear about water was driving a lot of people.”
— Moseley, as quoted by The Colorado Sun
Facing that level of pushback, the developer behind the project, Monument Ridge West LLC, formally withdrew its annexation application. Palmer Lake town officials confirmed the withdrawal on February 4, 2026, saying only that the town had followed the standard state annexation process, including public notice and opportunities for community input.
How the Palmer Lake Proposal Unfolded
Proposal Filed
Monument Ridge West LLC requests annexation of land at I-25 and County Line Road in Palmer Lake for a second Colorado Buc-ee’s.
Opposition Builds
Conservationists, area residents, and eventually high-profile figures including John Malone, Sen. Michael Bennet, and Gov. Jared Polis speak out against the project over open-space, water, traffic, and dark-sky concerns.
February 4, 2026
The developer withdraws its annexation application. Palmer Lake confirms the withdrawal publicly; no second attempt has been announced.
Is a Second Colorado Buc-ee’s Still Coming?
As of mid-2026, no new Colorado Buc-ee’s has been officially proposed anywhere in the state. That said, it would be unusual for Buc-ee’s to treat the Palmer Lake setback as the end of its Colorado ambitions altogether — the company has a consistent pattern of returning to states where its first store performs well, and Johnstown clearly has. A few corridors stand out as logical candidates if and when a new proposal surfaces:
- I-70 west of Denver — the mountain corridor toward Vail, Breckenridge, and the Eisenhower Tunnel, which sees enormous ski-season and summer recreation traffic.
- I-25 south of Denver toward Colorado Springs and Pueblo — a high-volume commuter and travel route, though the Palmer Lake experience shows this stretch can also draw serious local resistance.
To be clear, these are reasonable guesses based on traffic patterns and Buc-ee’s usual site preferences — not confirmed plans. Nothing has been filed or announced for either corridor.
Pro Tip: If you see a rumor about a specific next Colorado city, check whether it’s tied to an actual filed annexation or rezoning application versus just speculation based on Buc-ee’s general expansion pattern. The Palmer Lake saga shows that even a real, filed proposal in Colorado is far from a guaranteed opening.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Bottom Line
Colorado shows both sides of how a Buc-ee’s expansion can go: Johnstown became an instant local landmark and a genuine economic anchor, while Palmer Lake ran into a level of coordinated opposition — governor, senator, billionaire landowner, and residents alike — that most Buc-ee’s projects never face. For now, Colorado has exactly one Buc-ee’s, and no confirmed plans for a second. We’ll update this page the moment that changes.