Activities in Central Mountain Region
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T-Lazy-7 Ranch
Saddle up onto a snowmobile in the winter, or onto a fine steed in the summer at this working ranch down the slope from the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area. It calls itself the oldest working ranch in Aspen. Rides will take you into the spectacular Maroon Bells Wilderness and are highly recommended for families.
Overnight rides ($450) take you all the way to Crested Butte. Snowmobile tours run up to Klondike Cabin in the White River National Forest or Maroon Lake in the Maroon Bells Wilderness. It does sleigh rides in the winter too.
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Aspen Mountain
One of four ski mountains within a 15-minute drive from Aspen, one of two with a lift open in summer (the Silver Queen gondola), and the only one that rises directly out of downtown Aspen (elevation 7945ft) to a summit at 11,212ft.
Aspen Mountain, cofounded in 1947 by a couple of the 10th Mountain Division boys (hence the statues on the ski plaza), has 675 acres and 76 trails of ski terrain. Inbound you’ll get a variety of glades, bumps and steeps, and you can always find fresh tracks out of bounds on the backside. The mountain is serviced by eight lifts, including a gondola and a high-speed quad. In the summer it's a haven for mountain bikers. The top of Aspen Mountain, …
reviewed
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Snowmass
Snowmass (the ski mountain accessed from the small town and ski mall of Snowmass Village) is 12 miles (19km) northwest of Aspen. Not only is the terrain varied and expansive, but its bowl, The Cirque, has the biggest lift-assisted vertical drop in the country. All told there are 91 downhill trails, 3132 acres (1267 hectares) of ski terrain, three terrain parks, a beginner pipe and a new super pipe, all serviced by 21 lifts.
Nordic skiing is available at the Snowmass Club Cross-Country Touring Center, featuring nearly 60 miles (more than 90km) of groomed trails connecting Basalt with Snowmass and Aspen. During the summer, you can hop onto the Elk Camp Gondola, which start…
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Vail Mountain
Vail Mountain is our favorite in the state, with 5289 skiable acres, 193 trails, three terrain parks and the highest lift-ticket prices in the country (OK, so they only out-price Aspen by $1, but still…). If you're a Colorado ski virgin, it's worth paying the extra buck to pop your cherry here. Especially on a sunny, blue, fresh-powder day.
If you're low on coin check the parking lots to see if anyone needs a buddy to split their 2-for-1 lift ticket coupon before paying top dollar at the ticket window. You can also try City Market grocery stores, which often sell reduced-price tickets. Experts will go gaga over Vail's shoots, tree glades and four wide-open, powdery fres…
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Hiking to the Grottos
- Aspen, USA
- Activities › Hiking
One of the most popular summer playgrounds in Aspen, the area is accessed via a complex of short trails (most about half a mile in length) that sprout from old Weller Station on the original Independence Pass wagon road, leading to waterfalls and sculpted gorges. The shortest, wheelchair-accessible trail visits a series of thundering falls and swimming holes on the Roaring Fork River.
On the opposite bank, the Old Stage Road leads upstream to Lincoln Creek, and an offshoot heads to unique water-carved slots known locally as the Ice Caves. These are worth hunting for. Head up Independence Pass east of town for nine miles on Hwy 82 and look for a 'Trailhead' sign on the rig…
reviewed
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Fishing Gore Creek
- Vail, USA
- Activities › Fishing
It’s hard to believe that a stream so close to a freeway would be included among Colorado’s Gold Medal waters, yet four miles of Gore Creek from Red Sandstone Creek to its confluence with the Eagle River is prize trout fly-fishing water. Expect to find rainbow, brook and big brown trout, plus native cutthroat in its tributaries. Regulations permit anglers to take only two fish over 16 inches from the creek.
The Eagle River, once too polluted to sustain large mature fish, now also yields decent catches, due to EPA Superfund cleanup of the Gilman mill tailings above Minturn. If you’re willing to go for a hike, there are nearby mountain lakes and streams offering great f…
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Gore Creek Trail
- Vail, USA
- Activities › Hiking
From the USFS Gore Creek campground, the popular Gore Creek Trail (USFS Trail 2015) leads to Gore Lake in the Eagle's Nest Wilderness Area. This strenuous six-mile trail, best attempted between June and October, climbs about 2700ft through spruce and fir forests into the alpine tundra.
Another trail option from near the campground is Two Elk Trail (USFS Trail 2005), an 11-mile hike that climbs to Two Elk Pass, passing prime elk habitat before leaving the forest and Vail’s back bowls at Cemetery Rd in Minturn. Elk bugling during rutting season is best observed in late summer. This hike can be done in a day or as an overnight trip – consider leaving a second vehicle at the …
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Conundrum Hot Springs
The steaming, healing Conundrum Hot Springs, west of Castle Peak (14,265ft), are the reward for about 9 miles of tough climbing on the Conundrum Creek Trail (USFS Trail 1981). The trailhead is 5 miles south of the Hwy 82 turnoff for USFS Rd 102, west of town.
There are several pools hewn from craters and fed by plastic pipe, some larger than others and varying in temperature from 102°F to 105°F.
No matter which you sink into, you'll have outrageous alpine views, including glimpses of steep avalanche chutes and waterfalls. For obvious reasons, most folks spend the night at the nearby campsite, unofficially called 'The Bluffs'. From here you can either retrace your steps,…
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Buttermilk Mountain
Popular with snowboarders of all levels, Buttermilk was voted #1 by Transworld Snowboarding Magazine Reader’s Poll for best park and pipe. Located just 2 miles (3km) west of Aspen proper, it has 44 trails across 470 acres (190 hectares). With a 22ft superpipe in its golden terrain park, riders who want to jump and try out their bag of tricks can do so to their hearts' content. The resort is also an ideal playground for newbie riders and skiers.
Afraid to climb onto that lift for the first time? Buttermilk has instructors and terrain forgiving enough to get you contemplating snowboarding's toughest black diamond runs before you know it. Mostly a winter playground, there …
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Peak 8 Fun Park
Just because the snow melts, it doesn't mean the mountain closes. In summer the Peak 8 Fun Park opens with a laundry list of made-for-thrills activities, including a big-air trampoline, climbing wall, mountain-bike park and the resort's most celebrated warm weather attraction, the SuperSlide. Here you slide down a luge-like course on a sled at exhilarating speeds.
Experienced riders should try the giant slalom track. It has multiple dips built into it, allowing your sled to catch some serious big air and your stomach to seriously drop. The adrenaline rush is well worth the $12 ticket. There's also a mini-golf course and the Mineshift Maze, which is part split-level labyri…
reviewed
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Bike Valet
- Vail, USA
- Activities › Cycling
Based in Lionshead. In winter it's run as Ski Valet and offers some of the best discount ski rentals on the mountain, and overnight repair service. But in the summer, it's known as Bike Valet, one of two independently owned bike shops in Lionshead. Rent path bikes, road bikes, electric bikes, as well as full-suspension mountain bikes for the hardcore.
Owner-operated, Bike Valet will gladly offer riding tips, repair your bike, and they do tours for all levels as well. The Shrine Pass tour includes a vicious two-mile ascent and a twelve-mile coast down the backside of Vail mountain into Red Cliff. The Vail Pass downhill tour on the bike path is also popular, especially with…
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Hub
Arguably the best of the Aspen bike shops. This place offers a cycling school, sponsors a weekly road race and bike club, and acts as a booster for local talent, pointing out that Aspen is home to some of the best cyclists in the US, including two top-five time trialists and a dude named Lance.
It rents cruisers, full-suspension mountain bikes and carbon fiber road bikes, and will offer advice on the best road routes and single tracks plying Aspen and Smuggler Mountains, the Montezuma Basin, and Pearl and Independence Pass, but staff aren't always sweet about it. Their motto? 'It's not rude. It's the Hub.'
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Vail to Breckenridge Bike Path
- Vail, USA
- Activities › Cycling
From the West Vail Market you can ride along N Frontage Rd, crossing I-70 at the pedestrian overpass to Lionshead. On the south side of the freeway, a paved bike route extends from W Gore Creek Dr through Cascade Village, Lionshead and Vail Village and continues east on the 10-Mile Canyon Trail through auto-free road-bike heaven over Vail Pass to Frisco.
From the road closure at the east end of Bighorn Rd, 6 miles from Vail Village, it’s an 8-mile climb to Vail Pass; there you can turn back or continue 11 miles to Frisco, the hub of Summit County bike trails and the gateway to Breckenridge.
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Aspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands resort, 2 miles (3km) southwest of town, is a web of 118 trails on 1028 acres (416 hectares) of uncrowded terrain that is revered by many locals and accessed via five ski lifts. It offers loads of thrills for the daredevils - at least 75 acres (30 hectares) of expert-level tree-skiing - but also keeps the beginners and intermediates happy.
At the base of the resort, the Aspen Highlands Village offers many ski and tourist services, restaurants and shops. And no other mountain offers views of the spectacular Maroon Bells from the slopes.
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Aspen Skiing Company
OK, the top winter activity is pretty much a given: snow riding, and lots of it. The Aspen Skiing Company operates the area's four ski resorts. Aspen (or Ajax) is an athlete's mountain, offering more than 3000ft of steep vertical drop. Aspen Highlands has outstanding extreme skiing and breathtaking views. Buttermilk Mountain provides gentle slopes for beginners and intermediate skiers. Snowmass offers mixed terrain and boasts the longest vertical drop in the USA (4400ft).
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Eagle's Nest
The central-point of all mountain adventure. Obviously, it's all about powder in the peak season. But that can mean snowshoeing, snow-biking, snowmobiling and tubing, as well as skiing and boarding. In summer there are dozens of hikes and mountain-bike trails (bikes ride on the gondola for a small fee), as well as a bungee trampoline, climbing wall and Frisbee golf.
It's the gateway to 5000 acres of winter terrain and 1000 acres of summer mountain-bike madness. But in every season it's a wonderful, family-friendly scene.
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Historic Walking Tours
There are 250 historic structures in Breckenridge, an old mining town founded back in 1860, making it one of the oldest surviving city in the Central Rockies. On the tour, which should be reserved ahead and meets at the Welcome Center at 11am, you'll visit old mines, miner's cabins, a saloon boarding house and a few museums too.
There's also an eerie Haunted Breck tour on which you'll learn about unexplained stories of bad old Breck.
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Troy's Ski Shop
Troy's specializes in two things. It rents high-end, full-suspension mountain bikes in summer, and hires out the best skis on the mountain in winter, both of which can be used to explore the 5000 acres of frontside and back-bowl country that makes the Vail resort great. This shop is independently owned, has friendly staff, and it's been around awhile.
With tips from Troy's you can ski at Vail for a week and never hit the same trail twice. Note: Troy's doesn't rent snowboards.
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Arapahoe Basin Ski Area
Near the Continental Divide where US 6 crosses 11,992-foot Loveland Pass, 6 miles east of Keystone Resort and 90 miles west of Denver, Arapahoe Basin, aka A-Basin, is Colorado's second oldest, and North America's highest ski area. Locals dig it because the lack of lodging and dining options (it's a day-use ski area only) keeps the package tourists away.
You come here for powder, and powder alone. It's home to well as Summit County's most extreme skiing.
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Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness Area
- Aspen, USA
- Activities › Hiking
From Lone Pine Rd in Aspen, the Hunter Valley Trail (USFS Trail 1992) follows Hunter Creek northeast about 3 miles through wildflower meadows to the Sunnyside and Hunter Creek Trails, which lead into the 82,026 acre Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness Area.
Less visited than other slices of Central Rockies wilderness, you can find some stunning campsites and rugged peaks here, as well as the headwaters to both Hunter Creek and the Fryingpan River.
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Dobson Ice Arena
- Vail, USA
- Activities › Skating
Located at the entrance to the Lionshead ski resort, this aging yet more than adequate rink is where local freestylers, aspiring competitive ice dancers, and bruising pick-up hockey jocks come for a good skate. The rink is available for time-block rental and hours are set aside for public skating, along with classes and organized activities and events for all ages.
Visit the website, grab a schedule at the door, or call for details.
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Rio Grande Trail
In 2008, more than 10 years after this former railroad corridor was initially slated to be converted to a contiguous bike trail, the Rio Grande Trail was completed. It rambles for 41 mostly paved miles (there's still a gravel section near Aspen that requires road bikers to ditch the trail for a heartbeat), from Aspen through Basalt and Carbondale, and into Glenwood Springs. You can download a map from the RFTA website (www.rfta.com).
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Aspen Trout Guides & Outfitters
Based out of Hamilton Sports Pro Shop, this has been Aspen's top fly-fishing outfitter since 1981. Trips to the Frying Pan and Roaring Fork Rivers, Maroon, Castle and Hunter Creeks or nearby lakes, including Thomas, Blue and Little Gem, are customized to clients' wishes and include casting instruction. Prices listed are for one angler only; trips are more cost-effective for two or three anglers. Family trips also available.
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Owl Creek Trail
This scenic, unpaved but quite smooth roadside trail connects Aspen with Snowmass Village, cutting through groves and open meadows as it navigates the substantial Owl Creek-Brush Creek pass. From Snowmass to Aspen it is mostly downhill. The trail is 4.4 miles long, beginning at the Buttermilk Ski Area. From Buttermilk into Aspen, take Cemetery Lane to the Rio Grande Trail, which will lead you to Rio Grande Park downtown.
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Aspen Expeditions
Based in the Aspen Highlands ski area, this place does bike tours and rentals, but is most notable for its adventurous itineraries, including some stellar mountain-climbing and rock-climbing trips in the spring and summer, and hut to hut cross-country and backcountry downhill ski trips and ice climbing in the winter. It also runs level one and two avalanche courses. A unique Aspen outfitter, to be sure.
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