Colorado requires 50 hours of supervised driving, including at least 10 hours at night, before a teen can apply for a minor driver's license at 16. Colorado also requires the permit to be held for a full 12 months, which is twice the six-month period most states use and the longest in the country. A parent or guardian signs a log or affidavit certifying the hours. Because the permit period is a year, the hours are rarely the bottleneck in Colorado — the calendar is.
Colorado supervised driving requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Colorado |
|---|---|
| Total supervised hours | 50 hours |
| Night hours | 10 hours at night (of the 50) |
| Professional / instructor hours | Driver education requirements depend on the age you start: a 30-hour driver education course at 15, or a 4-hour driver awareness program at 15½. Behind-the-wheel training hours are separate from the 50. |
| Minimum permit age | 15 with a 30-hour driver education course; 15½ with a 4-hour driver awareness program; 16 with neither |
| Permit holding period | 12 months — the longest permit holding period in the country |
| Permit validity | Colorado instruction permits are commonly issued for a 3-year term — check the expiration on yours |
| Who may supervise | Licensed driver 21 or older; a parent, guardian, or a licensed instructor, in the front passenger seat |
| Official log form | Colorado requires a signed log of the 50 hours. The DMV publishes a supervised driving log along with the affidavit of liability — get the current version from the teen drivers page. |
| Certification method | Parent or guardian signs the log and the affidavit of liability and guardianship |
| State app or program | None. Colorado does not publish an official hour-logging app. |
Who can supervise practice driving in Colorado
Colorado's supervision rule is standard, but the paperwork around it is heavier than most states', because the same parent who signs the log also signs the affidavit taking on financial liability.
- A licensed driver at least 21 years old in the front passenger seat — in practice usually a parent, guardian, or licensed instructor.
- The affidavit of liability matters. The adult who signs for a Colorado minor is accepting financial responsibility for the teen's driving until they turn 18 or the affidavit is withdrawn.
- Alternate-permit holders and driving school instructors can supervise lessons; check the DMV's current rules if the supervising adult is not a parent.
Night hours, and what "night" means here
Ten of the 50 hours have to be at night. Colorado does not lock down a clock definition, so read it as actual darkness — after sunset and before sunrise. Colorado's geography makes this a more useful requirement than it sounds: mountain driving after dark, with unlit switchbacks, deer at the shoulder, and black ice from October through April, is a completely different skill from the same road at noon. If you live on the Front Range, get at least a few of the night hours on I-70 or a canyon road rather than doing all ten on lit suburban streets. Winter helps — darkness starts around 4:45 PM in December, so an after-school drive counts.
What counts as a loggable hour
- Public-road driving with a qualified supervisor counts. The trip to school, errands, highway miles, practice loops around the neighborhood — it all counts as long as the permit holder is at the wheel and the supervising driver is in the front passenger seat.
- Time parked, idling, or waiting in a drive-through does not count. Log driving time, not trip time.
- Empty parking lots and closed courses generally do not count. The point of the requirement is real traffic.
- Hours before the permit was issued do not count. The permit has to be in hand first.
- Altitude and weather drives are worth marking. Colorado does not require bad-weather hours, but snow, ice, and mountain grades are the conditions that matter here. A log entry noting "snow, I-70 westbound" tells you something a bare hour count does not.
How to actually get to 50 hours
Fifty hours across a 12-month permit period is one hour a week. That is the gentlest pace of any state, and it is why Colorado families rarely miss the hours — they miss the log. The mistake is going eleven months without writing anything down and then trying to reconstruct a year of driving the night before the license appointment. Write it down as you go; the hours themselves will take care of themselves.
Official Colorado resources
- Colorado DMV — Teen Drivers — permit and minor driver's license requirements, the log, and the affidavit of liability
- Colorado Driver Handbook — the handbook the written test comes from
Tracking your hours
Colorado does ask for a signed log, so the record you keep has to be transferable onto the state's form — date, duration, and whether the drive was at night, for every drive.
PermitReady is a free iPhone and iPad app that does two things: practice questions for the Colorado DMV permit test, and a supervised driving hours log. Each drive is one entry — date, duration, and condition tags including night, highway, rain, and heavy traffic — with a running total at the top so you always know how far you have left to go. Entries can be backdated, so a log you started late can still be complete. It works offline, and there is no account to create: nothing is uploaded, and the log lives on the phone.
Honest limits: PermitReady does not detect drives automatically, does not use GPS, is iPhone and iPad only, and does not generate a signed state affidavit. It is a record you copy from when you fill in the Colorado DMV's log and affidavit. If you would rather have automatic drive detection or an Android app, RoadReady has both — we compare them directly in PermitReady vs RoadReady. There is also a full write-up of the driving log and a set of printable paper templates if you would rather keep it on paper.
Frequently asked questions
How many supervised driving hours does Colorado require?
50 hours, including at least 10 at night, before a minor driver's license at 16. A parent or guardian signs a log certifying the hours.
How long do you have to hold a permit in Colorado?
12 months. That is the longest permit holding period in the country — most states use six months. It applies regardless of how quickly the 50 hours are completed.
How many night hours does Colorado require?
10 of the 50. Colorado does not publish a rigid clock definition, so treat night as actual darkness between sunset and sunrise. December darkness starts around 4:45 PM on the Front Range, which makes winter after-school drives count.
Does Colorado have an official driving log form?
Colorado requires a signed log of the 50 hours and publishes a log form alongside the affidavit of liability and guardianship. Download the current version from the DMV's teen drivers page rather than reusing an old copy.
Do I need driver education in Colorado?
It depends on when you start. At 15 you need a 30-hour driver education course to get a permit; at 15 and a half a 4-hour driver awareness program is enough; at 16 neither is required. None of these replace the 50 supervised hours.
Also for Colorado
Colorado permit test practice · Supervised driving hours log · Printable log templates · Supervised driving hours by state
Verification and disclaimers
Requirements verified August 2026 against Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, Teen Drivers. Requirements change, and the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles can revise them without much notice — always confirm the current rules with the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles before your road test.
PermitReady's driving hours log is a personal tracking tool. It is not a state form and has not been approved or endorsed by any state licensing agency. Check with your state's DMV, RMV, DPS, BMV, or equivalent agency for which log format they require, and use their official state form if one is mandated.
RoadReady® is a registered trademark of Safe Roads Alliance, Inc. PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Safe Roads Alliance, Inc.
PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles or any government agency.