Fruita, Colorado is famous for its annual Mike the Headless Chicken Festival, a celebration of a chicken who managed to live healthily for 18 months without a head.
There's no getting around it: Fruita has a reputation for being -- well, charmingly eccentric. This well-earned image is primarily due to its biggest claim to international fame, the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival. Weird? Yup, but also loads of fun. Amid this zaniness there's loads of civic pride; after all, folks love living in this small Western pioneer town that's named for its origins as a fruit farming district. With a population of 12,646 (2010 Census), it's also a bustling business town, with corporations such as Fuel Managers Incorporated and oil company Patterson UTI. Business has its place in Fruita, but somehow, you get the feeling that the important things, like trail hiking, white water rafting and celebrating life (even if you're a phrenologically-challenged chicken) are what really matter here. View Fruita City Guide