Crested Butte
Crested Butte: My family’s favorite mountain playground in Colorado
I wasn’t prepared for the full-circle moment I had when my family returned to Crested Butte, Colorado before my recently graduated daughter Hadley moved out. We have been visiting this mountain hamlet since she was 1 year old. We named my son as we watched “Bode” Miller bomb the Torino Olympic Winter Games while we were cozily holed up in our CB condo. The kids attended the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory’s Summer Camp in nearby Gothic, a dramatic, dreamlike valley where pure glacial waters cascade down the mountainside. It has been a couple of years since our last visit but everything was just as I remembered: The quirky, multi-hued National Historic District with burgeoning flowers spilling from the hanging baskets and the outer-world beauty of Red Lady (Moun...
Crested Butte Mountain Resort: The Makings of an Unprecedented Family Vacation
My family had an unprecedented vacation to Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR). It wasn’t just attributed to the eight inches of fresh powder without a lift line in sight or the glistening Elk Mountains (the frozen equivalent of Shangri-La). But rather, because I skied my first double-black diamond run (Rachels)…and later managed to fall getting off the chairlift as I avoided a wayward ski-schooler. Par for the course in a funky mountain hamlet where you should expect the unexpected. Camp CB Hands down, Crested Butte is my favorite Colorado mountain town (read my summer exploits) and I was positively giddy to ski Crested Butte Mountain Resort for the first time. My family awoke to
Crested Butte Family Travel Report: Musical Mayhem in the Mountains
We all have our happy places and Crested Butte is mine. With this week’s staggering triple-digit-temperatures, Crested Butte’s crisp mountain air has never sounded so good. A world-class music festival and a bounteous recreational playground don’t sound too bad, either. A few highlights of my family’s recent trip to this gorgeous mountain hamlet included: Crested Butte Music Festival My kids are not musical aficionados but the CMMF’s Divine Family Young People’s Concerts may just make a convert out of them. Designed for kids ages 4-12, these free concerts are held every Saturday at 11 a.m. during the festival. My kids raced around the lawn at the base of Mt. Crested Butte dancing and singing to the Barefoot Bluegrass Band’s foot-stomping tunes. But it didn’t stop there. The new Trailhead C...
Mile High Mamas’ Family Trip of the Month: Crested Butte
Last summer, my family embarked upon a roadtrip that highlighted the best that Colorado has to offer. We loved every single destination but Crested Butte was the one standout and is our choice for THE must-visit destination in July. Crested Butte is a haven for outdoor summer activities including hiking, climbing, mountain biking, boating, whitewater rafting, kayaking, fly-fishing, camping and horseback riding. But let’s face it: you’ll find most of these activities at Colorado’s other mountain resorts. There were three things that made Crested Butte one of my family’s favorite all-time vacations: the kid-friendly Crested Butte Music Festival, the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory’s Summer Camp and the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival. Crested Butte Music ...
Tour de Colorado: Our Picks for Colorado’s Top Destinations for Families
Exactly one year ago today, I published my intentions for my family to visit many of Colorado’s world-class destinations last summer. We enjoyed our Tour de Colorado so much that we will be doing a repeat performance at fan-favorite Crested Butte while also adding glorious Golden and others to the mix. Did you miss Round 1? Be sure to check out our picks for Colorado’s Best-kept Secret, Best Splurge, Best Mountain Festival, Best Mountain Community, Best Dude Ranch, Best Camping and Best Front-range Destination. All of my trip reports embraced The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of family travel. Case in point: locking our keys in the car for three hours. While it was still running. Here is a flashback of our many great travels that I originally published last year (with 2010 updates): BES...
