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Colorado Vacation Destinations - Not Quite So Crowded, But Still Cool


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Posted
On 6/5/2025 at 11:39 PM, 6th Street said:

I ski 5-7 days a year at Keystone and agree that food options are quite limited. I've eaten at that Mexican place Dos Locos and it was decent but nothing special. The stuff in the village is not great and I'm not even sure how much is open right now. Goat Tavern is a cool dive across the street that usually has a band. 

There's place in Dillon called Vue that overlooks the lake and is on the rooftop of one of the hotels that's worth hitting up. Sauce on the Blue across I70 in Silverthorne is also a good option. Also there's a new-ish food hall there called Bluebird but I've never been.

I'd recommend eating least one night in Breck since you have much better options 

Grew up spending summers in Breck and skiing there in winter as my family had a home there.  Honestly, I was never impressed with dining in Summit County.  Went back a few years ago and spent a week.  Don't feel like it changed much.

Posted
On 6/5/2024 at 1:21 PM, Dignan said:

My family and I (wife, now 17 yr old son, 8 yr old girl) have enjoyed spending a couple of Christmases in the Woodland Park/Cripple Creek area. My wife (from Brazil, NO pics) has always wanted to spend a "Christmas with snow in the mountains". Something that doesn't happen much in East Texas. So, a few years ago we got an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere (address said Cripple Creek). It was really magical. Just us four in a small cabin with as much snow as we could ever want. We could see Pike's Peak in the distance and spent a lot of time playing games, watching movies, and playing in the snow.

On our first trip about 4 years ago, we drove to Colorado Springs to go ice skating and some shopping. We also went to Santa's North Pole Amusement Park (about a 35-40 min drive from where we were) at the base of Pike's Peak two days before Christmas. It was a fun little amusement park with great views and is home to the "highest elevated ferris wheel in the US". Uh, we rode it and I was not a fan. :)Looked like I was going to fall off the side of the mountain. We spent Christmas Eve/Day enjoying the peace and quiet and a nice fire .

We went back two years ago and took my in-laws with us. We stayed in a different place not too far from where we originally stayed a couple years before. This trip we spent some more time in Colorado Springs, visited the Garden of the Gods, and drove to Breckenridge to check out the town and do some tubing. It was a blast. I WILL SAY: If you go during the Winter, drive a vehicle with AWD or 4x4. We drove a front-wheel drive minivan (to fit everyone) and had to use chains several times, including driving through Hoosier Pass. It was hectic. 

If we go to this area again, which I hope to do, we will look at finding a place in Woodland Park, west of Colorado Springs. Not as secluded as what we did before, but definitely more convenient. While we did drive through Cripple Creek on both visits, we did not do any gambling. 

Cosmo Kramer High Quality GIF

Posted
2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

We really should start charging people for shit like this.

What’s the best plan here if a storm rolls in on you?  Lay on the ground in the open?  Kinda worried about lightning and the afternoon storms on some of my longer hikes I have planned.  

Posted
4 minutes ago, Hook1997 said:

What’s the best plan here if a storm rolls in on you?  Lay on the ground in the open?  Kinda worried about lightning and the afternoon storms on some of my longer hikes I have planned.  

Get the fuck off the mountain.  I don't hike 14ers, but know several people who do.  You leave early (usually in the dark around 3-5am, depending on length of the hike), so you can be off the mountain before the afternoon thunderstorms roll in.

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Posted
13 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

What’s the best plan here if a storm rolls in on you?  Lay on the ground in the open?  Kinda worried about lightning and the afternoon storms on some of my longer hikes I have planned.  

Get out from any open/exposed areas, do not lay on ground (you want as little contact between you and the ground as possible).
 

All lengthy hiking should be done in the morning. The mountain will still be there the next day if the weather looks iffy. 

Posted
15 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Get the fuck off the mountain.  I don't hike 14ers, but know several people who do.  You leave early (usually in the dark around 3-5am, depending on length of the hike), so you can be off the mountain before the afternoon thunderstorms roll in.

What I've been told is "summit by noon" is the motto to live by for 14ers (or 13ers)

You should be headed down the mountain by the time the clock turns to PM 

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Posted

Not only do you want to start at sunrise to avoid the storms but also the crowds. Mt Bierstadt I believe is one of the more popular ones and it gets packed at 8a

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Posted
On 6/17/2025 at 7:38 AM, Js1 said:

What I've been told is "summit by noon" is the motto to live by for 14ers (or 13ers)

You should be headed down the mountain by the time the clock turns to PM 

Yep, if I were going to climb one, that is what I would do so you're back below tree line before afternoon storms blow in. Or, even better, you're off the mountain completely.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Would love to hear thoughts and suggestions.  

Going up end of July early August for a week.  Thinking Crested Butte, Beaver Creek, RMNP (Estes Park/Grand Lake) or a combination of two of these.  Family of 4, son 19, about to go back for fall camp (football) and daughter, 18, about to go to UT.  

We will do light/moderate hiking, son and I will fish.  Otherwise, we want a great place to hang when not doing those things.  Read through the thread and it has been helpful and much appreciated.

Posted

Crested Butte gives you a great combination of hiking, fishing, and a cool town for food and beers. Beaver Creek also a great choice. 

Not the biggest fan of Grand Lake. Town is not that nice vs CB or Beaver.

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Posted
Crested Butte gives you a great combination of hiking, fishing, and a cool town for food and beers. Beaver Creek also a great choice. 
Not the biggest fan of Grand Lake. Town is not that nice vs CB or Beaver.
Yeah, Grand Lake's soak is proximity to RMNP. Otherwise it's not great.
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Posted
Going up end of July early August for a week.  Thinking Crested Butte, Beaver Creek, RMNP (Estes Park/Grand Lake) or a combination of two of these.  Family of 4, son 19, about to go back for fall camp (football) and daughter, 18, about to go to UT.  
We will do light/moderate hiking, son and I will fish.  Otherwise, we want a great place to hang when not doing those things.  Read through the thread and it has been helpful and much appreciated.


Flying or driving?
Posted
On 7/4/2025 at 6:19 PM, Nigel Tufnel said:

Driving.

I'd pick an area and stay there for the week.  There are no wrong choices, but it's a lot of driving to go from Crested Butte to RMNP, for example.  There is hiking and fishing everywhere.  Crested Butte and Breck are probably more fun to just hang out in than somewhere like Grand Lake.

Posted
1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

I'd pick an area and stay there for the week.  There are no wrong choices, but it's a lot of driving to go from Crested Butte to RMNP, for example.  There is hiking and fishing everywhere.  Crested Butte and Breck are probably more fun to just hang out in than somewhere like Grand Lake.

Thanks for the info.  This is very helpful.  Just because we don’t have experience at either, we are thinking of Crested Butte for half and Beaver Creek for half.  Still deciding on that or  Crated Butte the entire week.

Posted
4 minutes ago, Nigel Tufnel said:

Thanks for the info.  This is very helpful.  Just because we don’t have experience at either, we are thinking of Crested Butte for half and Beaver Creek for half.  Still deciding on that or  Crated Butte the entire week.

There is more to do in and around Breck, but I prefer CB myself, especially when it comes to fishing.  To each his own.  

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Posted

We come to CB for 3-4 weeks every summer.  We're currently on our last week of a 3 week trip.  Late July-early August will mean just about any hiking trail in the area will be accessible because the snow will have all melted.  We've done a couple high elevation hikes that were a little muddy, but not too bad.  The rivers are running pretty low, which means in 3-4 weeks will be even lower.  But there is still good fishing to be had.

If you are a hiker, I could fill your week with nothing but hiking suggestions.  If anyone in your family likes to mountain bike, I can tell you all the good trails.  The mountain itself has incredible downhill trails.  There are bike jumps in town and a skate park where bikes are welcome.  My boys and I can kill an entire afternoon at those 2 spots.  If you like to disc golf, there's a course on the mountain.

Will you be in an SUV with 4WD or AWD?  That will change some of my suggestions as far as hiking is concerned.

If you have a SUP, that opens up more possibilities as well.

Lots of places around here to sit with a cold beer and enjoy an unbelievable view.

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Posted

I've praised Breck as much as anyone.  We spent 2+ weeks there in June.   Ton of stuff to do locally and within 60-120 minutes.  Crested Butte is nice as well but a little remote.   

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Posted

Took the oldest to Colorado College for a tour and then drove to Boulder to look at CU. We drove by Pike’s Peak and came up the east side of the Rockies by going from Deckers into Morrison. Spectacular. If I’m going to be poor if she goes to school here, at least I can visit and enjoy these views.IMG_1828.thumb.jpeg.20524587b7cb25626ca26174ccdd4492.jpeg

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Posted

I vote stay in one place - CB or Summit County (Breck/Dillon/Frisco/Keystone). Come back next year and do the other one. But don’t think about moving here, it sucks!

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Posted
40 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Took the oldest to Colorado College for a tour and then drove to Boulder to look at CU. We drove by Pike’s Peak and came up the east side of the Rockies by going from Deckers into Morrison. Spectacular. If I’m going to be poor if she goes to school here, at least I can visit and enjoy these views.IMG_1828.thumb.jpeg.20524587b7cb25626ca26174ccdd4492.jpeg

IMG_1829.thumb.jpeg.410ec6db5468f574026700805d718539.jpeg

Soon she’ll be preaching the Coach Prime gospel!

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Posted

@Wiler77 please feel free to share some hiking highlights.  I grew up spending summers closer to Gunnison/Pitkin but we weren't big into hiking when I was a kid.  Did make it to the top of Fairview Peak a couple times, where my grandfather affixed a "Beat the Hell Outta OU" bumper sticker to the Forest Service firewatch station.

If anyone hangs out in that area in the summer, be sure to go get burgers and a slice of Fruit of the Forest pie at Frenchy's in Tin Cup.

I'm also a big fan of Salida, but don't tell anyone else.
 

@mdmost I think I said it in the college thread, but did the same with Mines/CU/CSU with my younger one.  Headed back to revisit in October.  Hard to argue against spending your college years up there.  Or to argue with following your kids up there...

Speaking of which, @MrX, you're not the boss of me!

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Posted (edited)
On 7/4/2025 at 4:04 PM, Nigel Tufnel said:

Would love to hear thoughts and suggestions.  

Going up end of July early August for a week.  Thinking Crested Butte, Beaver Creek, RMNP (Estes Park/Grand Lake) or a combination of two of these.  Family of 4, son 19, about to go back for fall camp (football) and daughter, 18, about to go to UT.  

We will do light/moderate hiking, son and I will fish.  Otherwise, we want a great place to hang when not doing those things.  Read through the thread and it has been helpful and much appreciated.

Dload and subscribe to AllTrails app on your phone. It's a GREAT hiking app which is crowd sourced with detailed reviews and pictures.

I started hiking more because of AllTrails. Find some easy to moderate hikes with 4.5 stars and above. You can filter by distance. Usually if there's decent elevation gain on the hike, it's because it's well worth the views. Just make sure you start heading down the moutain by noon. Afternoon storms are not something to fuck with.

Edited by crash_davis
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Posted
11 hours ago, Damor said:

I'm also a big fan of Salida, but don't tell anyone else.

We’re leaving Thursday for two weeks in Salida if you have any recs.  Kids are smaller (8, 6) if that helps. 

Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

We’re leaving Thursday for two weeks in Salida if you have any recs.  Kids are smaller (8, 6) if that helps. 

Mount Princeton Hot Spring

Feed the chipmunks at St Elmo, it's a ghost town (your kids will love this)

You can do St Elmo's and Princeton Hot springs in the same day as they are down the road from each other

 

Twin Lakes

Drive up to Twin Lakes to "hike" to the old hotel.  https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/twin-lakes-reservoir-and-interlaken-via-colorado-trail

Twin Lakes - Mount Elbert South Trail. You don't need to go to the top (15 miles up and back). 2 Miles from the trail head is a group of 3 large beaver ponds/lakes. The beavers are very active at the ponds/lakes. You'll see all the fallen trees and many that they've started gnawing on. Great short hike with beautiful scenery and cool beaver stuff to see. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/mount-elbert-east-ridge-trail

The trail is actually called Bartlett Gulch. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/bartlett-gulch/photos

 

White water raft the Arkansas

There are many outfitters. It's safe. We took our two girls when they were 5 and 6. They sat in the middle of the raft. 

Edited by crash_davis
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Posted
24 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

Dload and subscribe to AllTrails app on your phone. It's a GREAT hiking app which is crowd sourced with detailed reviews and pictures.

I started hiking more because of AllTrails. Find some easy to moderate hikes with 4.5 stars and above. You can filter by distance. Usually if there's decent elevation gain on the hike, it's because it's well worth the views. Just make sure you start heading down the moutain by noon. Afternoon storms are not something to fuck with.

Re hiking. I always look at the one way distance and the elevation gain. If it's 1000 ft elevation gain per mile, it's a moderate to hard hike, depending on how fit you are. > 1000 ft per mile is a very hard hike. For water, it's usually take a bottle (larger Costco water bottle) per 1.5 miles per person. You'll drink more on the uphill and less on the downhill. Bring a bottle or two more just in case. And bring snacks. Lastly, depending on elevation, pack a light pullover because it will prob be chilly at the top.

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Posted

@LCHorn are you staying in town?  One of my favorite things is that it's so walkable, especially when they turn F street into a pedestrian zone in the summer.  We'll go for days without getting in the car, just hanging around, walking to restaurants, shops, etc.  Your kids are a great age to enjoy it.  Nice park right on the river.

They will wear themselves out for days at the whitewater park.  Rent them boards/tubes and PFDs and let them go wild.  Take chairs to sit by the river and chill, and get a spot on the deck at Boathouse for lunch and beers while they go bonkers.  Takeout Mo Burrito and Sweeties for good lunches by the river.

Moonlight Pizza is great for kids and has good brews.  There's an arcade right across the street with a decent selection of old school games and pinball.

Tons of other great restaurants:  Sherpa, Amicas, Benson's Tavern.  If it's open, the noodle joint on F street across from Benson's is glorious.

Several good ice cream shops, we like Chill the best and it's down by the river.  Get the Moose on the Loose.

Don't miss Joshua Been's studio and gallery.  He's a super chill guy and paints in a really cool style -- we've bought way too many of his paintings.

Agree on a rafting trip.  We've used RMOC a bunch, from basic rafting to kayak instruction and always been happy.  If they like it, see about doing the "Town Run" in duckies.  They should be old enough to paddle their own.

If you want to go fly fishing or learn how, look at ArkAnglers.  That's where my family learned.  Stuart in particular is a very patient teacher and great with younger kids.

Buena Vista is another great town nearby worth a visit.  Spend the day at Mt. Princeton and head back through BV, stop for dinner and brews at Eddyline (both locations are great, I like the brewery).  

Drive up to the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass and take the tram up to the top for great views.

OK, I should shut up now, especially since Salida sucks and nobody should ever go there.

Posted

Awesome, thank you both, @crash_davis and @Damor

1 hour ago, Damor said:

are you staying in town? 

Yes, we've got an AirBnB that looks like it's close to the corner of J and 1st and advertises itself as a couple of blocks from downtown (we'll see, that might be realtor talk like "Round Rock is just minutes from downtown Austin."

I really wanted to stay in the Surf Hotel but their weekends were booked out for weddings.

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Posted

Correct, but I think it's got a few years left before Vail buys it.

I will measure its eventual decline from the closure of the Patio Pancake Place, though.

Posted
On 7/7/2025 at 11:24 PM, Damor said:

@mdmost I think I said it in the college thread, but did the same with Mines/CU/CSU with my younger one.  Headed back to revisit in October.  Hard to argue against spending your college years up there.  Or to argue with following your kids up there...

 

Man, she loved Boulder. I'm so screwed financially if she can get in. We've got some more tours upcoming but that's going to be hard to beat. She'd like to go to UT but she's not in the top 5% and it's just a crap shoot now on how to get in. We also toured U of Denver (not as enjoyable) and CSU. She liked CSU but it's a distant 3rd to CU and Colorado College. I told her if she got into either, it would be the time of her life. She's not a very active outdoorsy person so I told her that would have to change if she got into a Colorado school. She loved the mountains. 

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Posted
31 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Man, she loved Boulder. I'm so screwed financially if she can get in. We've got some more tours upcoming but that's going to be hard to beat. She'd like to go to UT but she's not in the top 5% and it's just a crap shoot now on how to get in. We also toured U of Denver (not as enjoyable) and CSU. She liked CSU but it's a distant 3rd to CU and Colorado College. I told her if she got into either, it would be the time of her life. She's not a very active outdoorsy person so I told her that would have to change if she got into a Colorado school. She loved the mountains. 

I wasn’t either until I moved here (the second time). You get there eventually when your brain realizes it can go outside in the summer and have fun without melting or having your shorts stick to your ass crack 24/7 

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Posted (edited)
48 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

UC Boulder has an 83% acceptance rate. It would be hard for her not to get in.

Also I never understood why Colorado College is so expensive. Like Ivy League prices.

It's very small. I think they max at 2500 students so the student to teacher ratio is really good. They do the block system so it's 4 weeks of one course and then a week off and then onto the next course. So more intensive for your coursework. I told her that one would require a pretty good merit package if she got accepted because there's no way we could afford it. It would be a pretty unique college experience academically. They have a higher acceptance rate if you're willing to apply with a binding decision if you're accepted. Lower acceptance rate if you choose to not have a binding decision.

I made a point to drive us up into the mountains to head to Boulder so she could get a sense of what's up there to look at. I think she got the picture that if she went to college in Colorado, you don't just stay inside all day.

I don't mean to derail this thread with college tour talk. I'll consult this if she gets accepted as we discussed making sure she's good with winters there. I don't think it'll be that big a deal but she's a little soft. I'd love to take her into Rocky Mountain NP and some of the ski towns if she gets into CU and we can make it work financially. 

Edited by mdmost
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Posted
She's not a very active outdoorsy person so I told her that would have to change if she got into a Colorado school. She loved the mountains. 


My daughter got into CSU, CU, and Mines and chose CSU. The outdoorsy thing is no joke at any of them. They all have a daily bus service to different ski resorts during the season. She’s been skiing once and her roommate is from Glenwood Springs and is a big skier. So, I’ve already told her I’ll pay for private lessons to get her comfortable as quickly as possible.
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Posted (edited)

Eldora Mountain is only 40 mins from Boulder. It's a no frills, small local ski area.

There's a reason that you hardly see any obese people in Colorado. The ones you see are usually tourists from Texas. The area, weather, and sports options begs you to be outside year round. Skiing, boarding, cross country skiing in winter. Spring, summer and fall begs you to be outside hiking in the mountains. 

 

Edited by crash_davis
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Posted

Maybe we need a thread about sending your kid to college in Colorado.

Seems like all of the schools up there (my older son goes to Western in Gunnison) are great about trying to get kids involved in getting outside, with organized trips and cheap equipment rental for camping, winter sports, hiking and climbing, etc.  Some important advice we got for our older one is that it's vital they get out in the winter and do something -- those who hunker down in their dorms and play video games are the most prone to noping out and leaving.  Probably true of students in general these days, but those not used to winter cold need to be actively aware of it.

Speaking of Eldora, looks like in a more positive development that it's going to be bought by the nearby town Nederland in an effort to keep it under more local control. We drove up there on a whim while there and it's beautiful, just kept going until the pavement turned to dirt and the dirt ran out, went for a hike, and then wandered our way back through the mountain roads.

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Methinks these kids are way smarter than we were.

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Posted
1 minute ago, Damor said:

Speaking of Eldora, looks like in a more positive development that it's going to be bought by the nearby town Nederland in an effort to keep it under more local control. We drove up there on a whim while there and it's beautiful, just kept going until the pavement turned to dirt and the dirt ran out, went for a hike, and then wandered our way back through the mountain roads.
 

We spent last July in Coal Creek area, just outside of Golden Gate St park. We did many hikes around Eldora and Nederland. During that month, we saw too many moose to count. 

There was a heat wave for much of the month we were there. Every weekend, 72 from Arvada and 119 from Boulder were packed with cars from Denver going to the mountains to escape the heat. We saw so many younger families with kids and toddlers in the cars and on the trails. It was pretty cool to see.

If I had it to do over again, I would've raised my kids in Colorado. That state is f'ing awesome. I do understand their disdain for Texans.

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