The Best of Colorado - John Wiley & Sons · The Best of Colorado T he old and the new, the rustic...

The Best of Colorado

The old and the new, the rustic and the sophisticated, the wild and the refined—allof these experiences exist practically side by side in Colorado, amid what is arguablythe most breathtaking mountain scenery in America.

Colorado’s booming cities—Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Denver—and it’sadmittedly somewhat glitzy resorts—especially Vail and Aspen—offer much of thecomfort and culture of New York or Los Angeles but at a slower, more relaxed pace.Throughout the state, you’ll also find testaments to another time, when life was sim-pler but rougher, and only the strong survived: historic Victorian mansions, workingturn-of-the-20th-century steam trains, thousand-year-old adobe-and-stone villages,and authentic Old West towns complete with false-fronted saloons and dusty streets.

Colorado truly comes alive for those who venture outdoors—among the toweringRocky Mountains, the western canyons, or the broad eastern plains. Atop Pikes Peak,you’ll see what inspired Katharine Lee Bates to pen the lyrics to “America the Beauti-ful.” Climb on a horse or mountain bike, take a hike or raft trip—or simply sit backand gaze at the mountains. Whatever you do, though, don’t stay indoors. Enos Mills,an early-20th-century environmentalist and one of the driving forces behind the cre-ation of Rocky Mountain National Park, said that knowledge of nature is the basis ofwisdom. For many, that’s the essence of Colorado.

The following are what we consider Colorado’s best experiences—highlights thatwill help you begin planning your trip.

1 The Best Ski Resorts

1

• Aspen: Not only does Aspen havepredictably superior ski terrain rang-ing from some of the most expertruns in Colorado to what Ski maga-zine has called the best mountain inAmerica for beginners (Buttermilk),it’s also one of the most fun, gen-uinely historic ski towns in Colorado.Although it might come off at first assomewhat glitzy and certainly expen-sive, Aspen is a real town, with long-time, year-round residents and ahistory that goes beyond the slopes.See chapter 10.

• Breckenridge: The lure of Brecken-ridge lies in its fabulous trails for skiersof all abilities, its location in an oldgold-prospecting settlement, and itsabundance of ski-in/ski-out lodging.It’s also less expensive than Aspen orVail, more rustic in feel, and appealingto families for its variety of après-skiactivities. See chapter 10.

• Vail: This is it, the big one, America’smost popular ski resort, as well as oneof its largest, with 5,289 acres of ski-able terrain, 193 trails, and 34 lifts.Every serious skier needs to ski Vail at

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least once. Its free bus system makes iteasy to get around, but be prepared forsteep prices, and don’t look for Victo-rian charm—all you’ll find are rowsof condominiums. See chapter 10.

• Durango Mountain Resort: One ofColorado’s best-kept skiing secrets,this resort is known for its beautifulsunny days, heavy annual snowfall,and exceptionally friendly, easygoingatmosphere. See chapter 12.

T H E B E S T H I K I N G T R A I L S 5

• Hiking in Rocky Mountain NationalPark: There’s something for everyonehere, from short hikes around a lovelymountain lake to the difficult 8-miletrek to the top of 14,259-foot LongsPeak. Trail heads can be accessed withthe park’s shuttle bus, from camp-grounds, and from stops along TrailRidge Road. However you do it, get-ting into the wilds is a treat in thisbeautiful setting. See chapter 10.

• Cowpunching on a Cattle Drive: Toreally step back into the West of the1800s, join working cowboys on agenuine cattle drive. The SaddlebackRanch near Steamboat Springs

(& 970/871-4697) is a working cat-tle ranch, where you’ll become justanother cowpuncher, moving stockfrom one pasture to another, and per-forming other ranch duties. See p. 267.

• Skiing the San Juan Hut System:Ambitious cross-country skiers whowant to put a few miles behind themand ski among 14,000-foot alpinepeaks love the San Juan Hut System’strail and series of shelters betweenTelluride and Moab, Utah. Designedfor intermediate skiers, the trail canbe tackled in small sections or itsentirety, with overnight stays in thewell-equipped huts. See chapter 12.

2 The Best Active Vacations

• The Buttes Trail at Pawnee Buttes:This easy day hike exposes you tosome of the “other” Colorado: theprairie on the state’s eastern plains. A1.5-mile trail leads to Pawnee Buttes,the Rattlesnake Buttes made famousin James Michener’s Centennial. Keepyour eyes open for coyotes, a variety ofbirds, and other wildlife, and colorfulwildflowers in the spring. See p. 230.

• The Emerald Lake Trail at RockyMountain National Park: If you likemountain lakes, this is the trail foryou. Starting at Bear Lake, it’s an easy.5-mile to Nymph Lake, then a mod-erate .5-mile climb to Dream Lake,and the last .8-mile brings you toEmerald Lake. Total elevation changeis 605 feet over a little less than 2miles, with spectacular scenery allalong the way. See p. 259.

• The Colorado Trail at Kenosha Pass:This easy section of the ColoradoTrail near Breckenridge is a fun day’swalk or can be the starting point for aserious backpacking trip. Pick up thetrail off U.S. 285 where the highwaycrosses 10,001-foot Kenosha Pass.This access point provides opportuni-ties for short or long hikes throughthe aspen and bristlecone forest. Seep. 292.

• Hiking the Dunes in Great SandDunes National Monument & Pre-serve: This isn’t a trail at all, but anopportunity to don your best Frenchforeign legion hat and set out into theshifting sands in search of dramaticviews from the top of a 750-footdune. See p. 422.

3 The Best Hiking Trails

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T H E B E S T H I K I N G T R A I L S 7


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• Tipperary Creek Trail: Consideredby many to be Colorado’s very bestmountain-biking trail, this 30-mileride from Fraser to Winter Park runsthrough dense forest and wildflower-covered meadows, offering views ofrugged snowcapped peaks. It’s alsostrenuous, rising from an 8,600-footelevation to more than 10,000 feet.See p. 283.

• Crested Butte: Crested Butte vieswith Winter Park for the title ofmountain-biking capital of Col-orado. The highly skilled should tryTrail 401, a strenuous single-trackloop that combines scenic beautywith steep grades and rough terrain.See p. 415.


4 The Best Mountain Biking

• Hiking the Colorado Trail: Forsome 500 miles, this trail winds fromDenver to Durango, through some ofthe state’s most spectacular andrugged terrain, crossing the Conti-nental Divide, eight mountainranges, and six wilderness areas. Justto the west of Leadville, the trailpasses through the Collegiate PeaksWilderness with a view of some ofColorado’s most prominent fourteen-ers (mountains at least 14,000 ft.high) and fields of wildflowers. Thehardier might take a side trip upMount Elbert, the state’s tallest peakat 14,433 feet. See chapters 4, 6, 10,and 12.

• Hiking to Crater Lake in theMaroon Bells National Wilderness

Area: With a number of fourteeners,including the namesake Maroon Bells,this is one of the most scenic moun-tainscapes in the West. A vision ofglaciated rock and lush greenery, thetrails here are popular with backpack-ers, but the hike to Crater Lake is asuperb half-day trek. See p. 326.

• Rafting Glenwood Canyon: Run-ning the rapids of the Colorado Riveris one of the best and surely mostexciting ways to see one of the mostbeautiful canyons in the West.Although a bit too popular to providea genuine wilderness experience, thisstretch of river has sections rated forexperts during the high spring runoffas well as quieter areas appropriate foreveryone. See chapter 11.

5 The Best Wilderness Experiences

• Ute Indian Museum (Montrose):One of Colorado’s few museums ded-icated to an existing Indian tribe, thisexcellent collection, run by the Col-orado Historical Society, shows howUtes lived in the 19th century, as they were being forced to reconciletheir way of life with that of theinvading white pioneers. There’s aparticularly good exhibit of Ute cere-monial items. See p. 362.

• Mesa Verde National Park: Home tothe most impressive prehistoric cliffdwellings in the Southwest, MesaVerde (Spanish for “green table”)overwhelms you with its size andcomplexity. The first national parkset aside to preserve works created byhumans, it covers some 52,000 acresjust outside Cortez. Among the mostcompelling sites are Spruce TreeHouse, Square Tower House, and

6 The Best Places to Discover American Indian Culture

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Cliff Palace, a four-story apartment-style dwelling. See p. 388.

• Ute Mountain Tribal Park: Theseruins differ from others in Coloradobecause they’re located on the UteMountain Indian Reservation, and

the only way to see it is on a guidedtour conducted by members of theUte tribe. You’ll see ruins and petro-glyphs similar to those in Mesa Verde,but with an informed personal guideand without the crowds. See p. 391.

T H E M O S T S C E N I C V I E W S 9

• Old Town (Burlington): On Col-orado’s eastern plains, right next doorto Kansas, is this living-historymuseum, containing two dozen build-ings (many from the 1880s). Watch acancan, melodrama, or gunfight in asetting more reminiscent of DodgeCity than Colorado’s Victorian moun-tain towns. See chapter 9.

• Creede, Lake City, and Leadville:With extensive historic districts andfalse-fronted buildings, these moun-tain towns take you back to the time

when Butch Cassidy, Doc Holliday,and other infamous dudes stalked thesaloons in search of the next cardgame. See chapters 10 (Leadville) and13 (Creede, Lake City).

• Bent’s Old Fort National HistoricSite (La Junta): Reconstructed to theway it appeared in the 1830s and1840s, this adobe fort shows life as itreally was, when pioneers spent theirtime either trading peaceably with orfighting off plains warriors. Seep. 447.

7 The Best Places to Recapture the Old West

• Garden of the Gods: There’s nothinglike sunrise at Garden of the Gods inColorado Springs, with its fantasticand sometimes fanciful red-sandstoneformations sculpted by wind andwater over hundreds of thousands ofyears. It’s worth spending some footpower to get away from the crowdson one of the park’s many trails, tolisten to the wind, and imagine thegods cavorting among the forma-tions. See p. 161.

• Trail Ridge Road: TransversingRocky Mountain National Park, TrailRidge affords expansive and some-times dizzying views in all directions.There are a dozen stops where you cantake a short hike, possibly glimpse theunofficial mascots of the park (bighornsheep), and get a close-up look attundra. The drive rises above 12,000feet and crosses the ContinentalDivide. See p. 254.

• The Black Canyon of the Gunnison:Among the steepest and most narrowcanyons in North America, the BlackCanyon of the Gunnison, near Mon-trose, offers breathtaking and some-times eerie views into the darknessbelow or, for ambitious hikers, fromthe canyon depths to daylight above.The sheerness of its 2,500-foot-highwalls, the narrowness of its 40-foot-wide base, and the resulting darknessat its core evoke a somber, almost reli-gious mood. See p. 365.

• Colorado National Monument: Justwest of Grand Junction are stunningvistas of red-rock canyons and sand-stone monoliths. The monument’s 23-mile Rim Rock Drive offers incredibleviews, and short walks and backcoun-try trails afford more solitude. You’llget the best light in the early morningor late afternoon, when the rocksglow red and shadows dance amongthe stone sculptures. See p. 337.

8 The Most Scenic Views

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• The San Juan Skyway: This 233-mile circle drive that goes throughDurango, Telluride, and Ouray isamong the most beautiful scenicdrives in America, passing historicmining camps, fields of wildflowers,stately forests, snowcapped peaks,and cascading waterfalls; and crossing

five mountain passes. It’s not advis-able for those who have difficultywith high elevation (Red MountainPass has an 11,008-ft. elevation) orsteep, winding roads. Except in sum-mer, it’s wise to be sure the passes areopen before heading out. See p. 384.


• Playing Cowboy at the Home Ranchand Devil’s Thumb Ranch: Nestledin the mountains near SteamboatSprings and Winter Park, respectively,these are two of the state’s standoutguest ranches, with luxurious perks.At the Home Ranch, expect foodfrom an expertly trained French chefand adventurous horseback rides; atDevil’s Thumb, there are all sorts ofoutdoor activities and geothermallyheated cabins. See chapter 10.

• Riding an 1880s Narrow GaugeSteam Train: There are two: theDurango & Silverton follows the Ani-mas River from Durango up throughthe San Juan Mountains to historicSilverton; the Cumbres & Toltecchugs out of Antonito, Colorado,

through the Toltec Gorge of the LosPiños River, over Cumbres Pass intoChama, New Mexico. Scenery is stu-pendous over both lines, and eachfulfills every train buff ’s greatest dreamof smoke in your eyes and cinders inyour hair. See chapters 12 (Durango &Silverton) and 13 (Cumbres & Toltec).

• Exploring Great Sand DunesNational Park and Preserve: About40 miles northeast of Alamosa, thishuge pile of sand is a great place toexplore, camp, hike, or just play inthe 750-foot-tall dunes. Rangers pro-vide guided nature walks and camp-fire programs in the summer, and ahiking/off-road-vehicle trail leads outthe back of the monument into thenational forest. See chapter 13.

9 The Best Family Vacations

• Brown Palace Hotel (Denver;& 800/321-2599 or 303/297-3111):Denver’s finest hotel, the BrownPalace has been open continuouslysince 1892, serving high society andcelebrities—from President DwightEisenhower to the Beatles—with ele-gance and charm. Although most ofthe rooms are Victorian in decor, withTiffany lamps and other accouter-ments, our favorites are the Art Decorooms, which have an undeniable feelof the 1920s and 1930s. See p. 82.

• The Broadmoor (Colorado Springs;& 800/634-7711 or 719/634-7711):Colorado’s top-rated resort hotel hasit all—excellent dining, golf courses,pools, tennis courts, a state-of-the-artfitness center, full-service spa, andshopping, plus extraordinary serv-ice—in a magnificently restored his-toric building set in immaculategrounds. Although extremely impres-sive, The Broadmoor is never preten-tious, and it certainly knows how topamper its guests. See p. 150.

10 The Best Luxury Hotels

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• The St. Regis Aspen (Aspen; & 888/454-9005 or 970/920-3300): At thebase of Ajax Mountain, the St. Regisoffers great views of the mountains ortown, impeccable service, luxuriousrooms, and all the services andamenities you’d expect in a fine hotel.Although a bit pricey, especially atChristmas, the hotel is supremely ele-gant in a comfortable, cozy way. Seep. 330.

• Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch (Avon;& 800/241-3333 or 970/748-6200):A stunning structure modeled afterthe grand national park lodges, therock-and-log “parkitechture” exteriorsheaths one of the most luxurioushotels in the West. The rooms are alsostudies in “New West” glitz, completewith mountain and earth tones,decor inspired by wildlife and forests,and jaw-dropping views. See p. 309.

T H E B E S T B E D & B R E A K FA S T S 11

• Alpine Trail Ridge Inn (Estes Park;& 800/223-5023 or 970/586-4585):This is a top-notch independentmotel, right next to the entrance toRocky Mountain National Park. Pro-prietors Jay and Fran Grooters arealso great sources for hiking advice.See p. 247.

• Boulder Outlook (Boulder; & 800/542-0304 or 303/443-3322): TheOutlook is fun, fresh, and definitivelyBoulder, with two bouldering rocks, ahuge dog run, and discounts on bike

rentals and other activities. The roomsare larger than average and the indoorpool is superb, complete with awaterfall and a mural of a cloud-speckled sky. See p. 191.

• Hotel Bristol (Steamboat Springs;& 800/851-0872 or 970/879-3083):Lodging with character, historic ambi-ence, and unusual room layouts appealto us at this reasonably priced 1940shotel in downtown Steamboat. Roomsare small, but the family units easilyaccommodate four people. See p. 274.

11 The Best Moderately Priced Accommodations

• Old Town GuestHouse (ColoradoSprings; & 888/375-4210 or 719/632-9194): This three-story redbrickbuilding looks like a 19th-centuryinn but was built in 1997 to offer allthe modern amenities in a warm andinviting atmosphere. The overstuffedchairs in the library invite you to kickoff your shoes and relax before thefireplace while enjoying a good book,or maybe a nap. See p. 152.

• Barn on the River (Breckenridge;& 800/795-2975 or 970/453-2975):This delightful bed and breakfast is

right on the banks of the Blue River,its serene riverside location belyingthe fact that it’s on the edge of down-town. See p. 295.

• The Bradley (Boulder; & 800/858-5811 or 303/545-5200): Built as anupscale inn in 1994, the Bradleynicely blends into the surroundinghistoric neighborhood, just northeastof the Pearl Street Mall. The strikingGreat Room and uniquely decoratedguest rooms are all adorned with boldcontemporary art from local galleries.See p. 190.

12 The Best Bed & Breakfasts

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The Best of Colorado - John Wiley & Sons · The Best of Colorado T he old and the new, the rustic...

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