Activities in Colorado
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Outdoors Geek
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Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway
Travelers have been making the trip to the summit of Pikes Peak (14,110ft) on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway since 1891, when Spencer Penrose built it. Katherine Lee Bates was so impressed by her 1893 trip to the summit that she was inspired to write 'America the Beautiful.' Diesel-powered, Swiss-built trains smoothly make the round-trip in three hours and 10 minutes, which includes 40 minutes at the top.
The train makes no official stops, but engineers will drop hikers at Mountain View, where you can hike the 1.5 mile to the six-mile mark of the Barr Trail at Barr Camp (9,500ft), which makes for a 7.5-mile hike up. It's the best way to day hike Pikes Peak, and you may as…
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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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American Lake Trail
- Aspen, USA
- Activities › Hiking
Easily paired with a peek into the ghost town of Ashcroft and/or a meal at the epic Pine Creek Cookhouse, this trail climbs steadily from Ashcroft through aspen and spruce groves to American Lake, in the subalpine Devaney Creek Valley. Views are limited, but the trail meets several more primitive paths to a panoramic overlook. It's a 6.4-mile hike round-trip.
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Boulder Creek Bike Path
The most utilized commuter bike path in town, this fabulously smooth and mostly straight creekside concrete path follows Boulder Creek from Foothill Parkway all the way to the spilt of Boulder Canyon and Four Mile Canyon Rd west of downtown – a total distance of over 5 miles one-way. The path also feeds urban bike lanes that lead all over town.
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North Boulder Recreation Center
- Boulder, USA
- Activities › Gym
If you need a workout and the weather isn't cooperating, book some some gym time here. The weight room and indoor hoops court are more than adequate, and the 25m lap pool is fabulous. Or perhaps you'd prefer a game of raquet ball or a yoga class? They have it all for a simple 24hr day-use fee. Bring your own towel or rent one for $1.
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Stranahans Colorado Whiskey
Only a dozen barrels of whiskey are produced from this family distillery each week...and they’re damn good. Using water from the Rockies, barley from Colorado and white-oak barrels, it’s a rare taste of quality over quantity. Short tours of the facility are available, though limited space means it's best to sign up online.
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Yoga Pod
- Boulder, USA
- Activities › Yoga
One of the hippest, if most-oddly located, studios in Boulder. But don't let the 29th St Mall location throw you off. There's plenty of free parking, the place isn't corporate and the instruction is first rate. When the Fourmile Canyon Fire hit Boulder, they offered free yoga to those displaced by the Fourmile Fire.
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Six Permissions
West of the Pearl St Mall, this tiny apothecary offers Chinese herbs and organic facials, and has an attached acupuncture clinic. In addition it offers a range of deep tissue, lymphatic, Swedish and sport massages. Your Zen wishes will be fulfilled here. Massage is available by appointment only.
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Barr Trail
The main trail to Pikes Peak is a popular 12.8-mile trudge from the trailhead near the Manitou Springs Depot at 6600ft. That makes for an elevation gain of 7510ft to the summit at 14,110ft. Many hikers split the trip into two days, stopping to overnight at Barr Camp at the halfway point (10,200ft).
Although you can't buy one-way tickets on the Cog, you may choose to buy a round-trip and use it to get to Barr Camp. You'll have to ask the engineer to stop for you. You'll be let out onto a spur trail 1.5 miles from Barr Camp where you can join the main trail to the summit. Then you can take the train down. That makes the trip a fun 7.5-mile day hike. Also, many hikers leave…
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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…
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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…
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Red Rock Canyon Park
Red Rock Canyon is one of the region's newest and best slices of open space. A former quarry, and part of a red-rock vein that runs through Colorado Springs to the Garden of the Gods, this 787-acre park was nearly developed into a golf course and townhouses.
Thanks to committed residents who fought the good fight, Red Rock Canyon is, and will remain, open to all, including hikers, runners, cyclists and equestrians. Trails from Red Rock connect to Bear Creek Regional Park and North Cheyenne Canyon Park. Rock climbers have access to over 80 bolted climbing routes, but they must register at the Garden of the Gods Visitors Center first or risk a $500 fine. Some trails are for…
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Pikes Peak Highway
From the town of Divide, west of Manitou Springs on US Hwy 24, you can drive the Pikes Peak Toll Road to the summit. It's sometimes closed in winter due to bad weather. If it's open, and you have a set of skis or a snowboard and at least three people - one driver and two riders - there is some great (and free, after you pay the toll) backcountry powder skiing with easy drop-in and pick-up points along the serpentine road.
The locals would kill us for listing mile-markers, so you'll have to drive the highway and look for tracks. The drive itself is a beautiful one-hour snaking drive through boulder fields to the wide blue sky. This highway (and the cog railway) were built…
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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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