Calculated sunrise, sunset, golden hour and blue hour times for Boulder, CO. Select a date to view the calculated light times.
The month-by-month table below is in this city's own local time. The live times above follow your device's timezone. Mountains, ridgelines and buildings can shorten the usable window — scout your horizon.
Terrain, buildings and weather can affect visible light. Check the horizon and conditions at the selected location.
In Boulder, sunset ranges from 4:35 PM in December to 8:34 PM in June. Every time on this page is calculated for Boulder's coordinates (40.015, -105.2705) and shown in America/Denver.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:21 AM | 5:00 PM | 4:19 PM – 5:00 PM | 41 min | 9h 39m |
| February | 6:53 AM | 5:37 PM | 4:59 PM – 5:37 PM | 38 min | 10h 43m |
| March | 7:12 AM | 7:08 PM | 6:32 PM – 7:08 PM | 36 min | 11h 56m |
| April | 6:23 AM | 7:39 PM | 7:03 PM – 7:39 PM | 36 min | 13h 17m |
| May | 5:45 AM | 8:09 PM | 7:31 PM – 8:09 PM | 38 min | 14h 24m |
| June | 5:31 AM | 8:31 PM | 7:51 PM – 8:31 PM | 40 min | 15h 00m |
| July | 5:45 AM | 8:28 PM | 7:49 PM – 8:28 PM | 39 min | 14h 44m |
| August | 6:12 AM | 7:57 PM | 7:20 PM – 7:57 PM | 37 min | 13h 45m |
| September | 6:42 AM | 7:09 PM | 6:33 PM – 7:09 PM | 36 min | 12h 27m |
| October | 7:11 AM | 6:21 PM | 5:44 PM – 6:21 PM | 37 min | 11h 10m |
| November | 6:46 AM | 4:44 PM | 4:04 PM – 4:44 PM | 40 min | 9h 58m |
| December | 7:15 AM | 4:36 PM | 3:53 PM – 4:36 PM | 43 min | 9h 21m |
Golden hour is not the same length all year in Boulder. It is longest in December at about 43 minutes and shortest in March at about 36 minutes — a difference of 7 minutes of usable warm light per evening.
Boulder gets 5h 39m more daylight on the longest day than the shortest. Sunset moves from 4:36 PM in December to 8:31 PM in June, so an evening shoot that works in summer will be shooting in the dark at the same clock time in winter.
Blue hour follows sunset and is worth planning for separately: in June it runs until about 9:04 PM, and in December until about 5:07 PM.
Golden hour is the period near sunrise and sunset when the sun is low. Blue hour occurs before sunrise and after sunset. Calculated times vary with location and date; weather, terrain and buildings can affect visible light.
Kanyon Studio provides photography and video in San Diego. Location, lighting and scheduling are agreed for each shoot.