A friend of a friend has a place in Breckenridge. We'll be there for a week in early December. Any suggestions for food and fun? I've never beeeen.
Well, you'll be in the middle of ski country, so if you like skiing, you're in paradise. There are 3-4 major ski areas near Breckenridge, including Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin, and Keystone (and Loveland and Vail are somewhat nearby, and I'm sure I forgot a few other resorts). There's the Breckenridge Brewery, a microbrew type place. I have no idea if they give out tours or not. In all honesty, I haven't been out there that much even though I live near Denver, so I can't help you out with much more than that I know Leadville is fairly close. It's one of the highest (altitude wise......maybe drug wise too )towns in the nation. The town itself is nothing that exciting, but the views of some of the largest mountians in Colorado can be seen on that drive. There are probably a few hot springs near that area as well. Glenwood Springs (which is also a town) is my favorite, but it's about 90+ miles away from Breckenridge. To tell you the truth, I don't know of any hot springs very close to that area. There is one in Idaho Springs, but again, it's like 50 or so miles away.
Vail is a pretty cool town to hang out in if you want to spend the day there. Lots of good restaurants and stuff. There is a Main Street in Breck that has some good restaurants and bars, too.
Breckenridge is great, but early Decmber will be a bit iffy if you plan to ski. Doable, but maybe not great. If you fly into Denver then just get on I-70 going west for about 70 miles. Through the Eisenhower Tunnel, down the hill past Dillon to exit 203 (highway 9). Highway nine going south through Frisco and past the Summit County High School, after 8 miles you are in Breck. If you don't like to ski there is a great rec center with athletic facilities that is $7 per day for entry. Hiking, sight seeing, bars, retaurants... A cross country ski facility in Frisco, I like the Back Country brewery in Frisco for beer but I don't like the Boathouse restaurant on Main Street. Don't listen to the idiot locals who can be rude to visitors. They just moved here from Kansas and they are really full of themselves sometimes. 98% of the Summit County population is glad you came. PM me if you have specific questions. If you want I will mail you some coupons for cheap (er) skiing.
I missed this thread the first time. While everyone's right that the skiing won't be at it's best, it'll definitely be worth at least one day. If I can find any coupons or whatever, I'll also send them your way. If all things (cost, etc.) are equal, I'd recommend A-Basin, Copper, and Breck. If it's midweek, there won't be any crowds at all. Copper has the best layout of the three, with black diamond, blue, and green trails all pretty much grouped together with each other. A Basin has the best skiing vibe, sort of like the pre-corporate days, more laid back than the others. Breck's got good trails and all too. One kind of out of the way place on Main Street in Frisco that's really good is Fiesta Jalisco. It's a small chain, but very very good food with a lot more authenticity than a lot of Mexican restaurants. It's just on the right if you get on Main Street from Exit 201 (Main St, Frisco) on I-70, one of the first buildings off the highway. Breck's supposed to be a blast at night, you won't be bored there. It's an authentic old mining and mountain town, not something that just popped up out of nowhere 50 years ago, a criticism some have of Vail. Breck's history goes back to the 1800s. Vail does (allegedly, 90% of the time I'm skiing it's a day trip so I don't stay and carouse) have some good bars to go to though. Leadville: I'll be honest, unless you want to do some mountain peak sightseeing, there's not much worth going there for. It is close to Mt. Elbert, Massive, and others, and does have scenery as a whole, but the town's your old mining town that hasn't reinvented / revitalized itself. Reminds me a bit of a lot of old New England mill towns that have seen better days, but 10,000 feet higher. There is a mining museum if that's your kind of thing. Dillon: off Exit 205, outlet shops but not much else of note. There's a small row of pubs and restaurants on Main Street, Dillon, just west of the main road, but you're better off staying in Breck to hang out if you ask me. If I think of more I'll post it.
The hot springs pool in Glenwood Springs is really nice, and the drive through the Glenwood Canyon is beautiful. It's a drive (~105 minutes), but worth it (this coming from a frm. Glenwood resident). If you get that far, it's only 45 minutes to Aspen. Count the IQ points on one hand. RS
I'm confused about the IQ points thing, but the drive through Glenwood Canyon is awe-striking to say the least. The engineers who built the stretch of I-70 through it deserve a medal for excellence. Kept all the natural beauty visible from anywhere with the split deck road, but makes it easily passable with two lanes each way. Reminds me of Franconia Notch, NH on steroids with red rock instead of New England pine trees and jagged rocks.
good stuff, guys. I plan on skiing but I've only gone once, in Upstate NY. I have a feeling I won't be dissapointed. thanks.
I got a whole bunch of A Basin Coupons this weekend, drop me a PM if you want some. Most mountains in SKi Country got 3-6 inches overnight this morning, with more to come on Thursday. Snow bases are starting to be built, slowly but surely.
Breckenridge is a nice place. Hopefully you aren't staying right at the base of the mountains. The views of the peaks from French Street(looking west and the sun rise in the east shining on them) are absolutely spectacular. And take a camera, preferably a panoramic disposable one, because the photo will be memorable. The entire ski resort can be seen to an extent. The night life is good, as long as you are over 21 years of age. But go into Vail too. Then if you do this, please report back and describe. That way I'll know if this was good advice.
There's a good documentary they show on the Discovery Channel, I believe it's called Twelve Miles" about the building of I-70 thru the canyon. Well worth watching---made me go hike to Hanging Lake.
I'll try and let you know the next time I see it. It's one of those things that just comes on every now and then.
I got back Saturday. I had a fantastic time. It was my first trip to Colorado and it was just beautiful. Everywhere you look it's a postcard photo. We stayed in a house owned my my friend's sister's inlaws. They're clearly rich 'cause the place was gorgeous. We were at the base of a mountain between Breck and Frisco looking out at the mountains east of the Breck trails. I was suppose to leave Saturday the 13th but my flight got canceled due to snow and didn't get out until Sunday evening. Monday we went snowmobiling which was great fun. Tues and Weds was skiing at Breck. Thurs we skied Vail. Everyone was saying that we needed more snow but I was too stupid to know and having too much fun to care. I'm a novice so I stuck to the greens mostly but was able to pull off some blues too. I liked Breck better but Vail is very large and has more variety in it's trails. Food and beer was very good. There are 4 brewpubs between Breck, Frisco and Dillon. Which were all good. I finally got to try Fat Tire Ale and it didn't dissappoint. I've never seen so many Subarus in my life.
Subaru's? Really? I would have thought the mode of transport these days was some Ford Explorer type SUV. Did you go ice skating at night in the town? Or eat dinner in Leadville? Were you fortunate enough to see Kobe? LMFAO.
I need to skate at the Beaver Creek or Breck rinks sometime myself. Glad to hear you had a blast out here, I figured you would. Went to Winter Park Saturday myself. While cover was thin in places, it was still a blast. Colorado skiers are very picky about snow for the most part. It's my second season out here, and what most complain about, I'm still thrilled with the snow quality. It's all good out there, especially Fat Tire.
I drive a white Outback and I am always amazed at how many are around. The Outback is kind of the locally popular practical family ride. It costs less than an SUV, has a lot of room, has all wheel drive, and gets decent milage. When I go to Target, I usually see five others nearby. By the way, I am glad to see you safely got off the slopes at Breck. I stopped going there due to the swarms of Texans flying down those easy blues without the slightest inclination or ability to turn and avoid others.