Saturday, January 14, 2023
- Best little mountain towns - best little mountain towns
America's 50 Best Small Towns in the Mountains | Far & Wide
I think this event speaks volumes about the kind of quirky individuals that call this townhome, and why you should make sure to visit Ned.
Stay at this peaceful two-bedroom retreat with panoramic views, this cozy dual-level apartment , or this studio suite with a hot tub and mountain views. Where to Eat in Nederland: Crosscut Pizzeria and Taphouse for the best pizza in town if not the whole of Colorado, Salto Coffee Works for coffee and tea drinks and cafe fare, Kathmandu Restaurant for very decent Nepalese and Indian dishes.
One of the smallest communities on this list of mountain towns near Denver, Silver Plume is right off I but it is pretty much a forgotten hamlet that you could almost call a ghost town — but not quite, because there are still people living here — around according to the last census.
Silver Plume feels like a ghost town either way. It is super quiet, the short main street has a few historic buildings in different states of repair, with many of them now being private homes. And that is about it. Like its neighbor Georgetown, Silver Plume is also a historic silver mining town, and it is a stop on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Clear Creek runs right through town and there is one hike of note, the Mine Trail which offers awesome views over town and the Silver Plume Valley.
Stay at this cozy cottage or this beautiful mountain house with a view — both right in Silver Plume. Where to Eat in Silver Plume: The Bread Bar has a limited but delicious menu and handmade cocktails it is temporarily closed , Plume Coffee serves up excellent coffees and baked goods although they are mostly just open on weekends. Georgetown is only a few minutes drive away so you could grab food and drinks there if nothing is open in Silver Plume. Central City may look like just another pretty historic mountain town, but there is something that sets it apart — behind those historic facades are casinos!
Gambling was legalized in Central City and Black Hawk in the s in a last-ditch attempt to save these dying former mining towns, and between them, they now have 24 casinos.
The plan worked! These twin towns are easily accessible from Denver — there are even shuttles that run from Lakewood, on the light rail from central Denver. The latest one comes back just after 2 am so if you want to party, Central City and Black Hawk are the best mountain towns near Denver for you! For vacation homes, this cozy home with deck and mountain views is a great pick.
OK, so Fort Collins is not a mountain town like Denver, it is a city right beside the mountains , but I love it and it is only an hour north of Denver so I wanted to add it to the list. This lively college town has a pedestrian-friendly downtown and is worth at least a couple of hours to explore, checking out the eclectic shops and boutiques.
If you love beer then you should definitely visit Fort Collins, because the best thing to do in Fort Collins is to visit at least a couple of the incredible breweries that make this city one of the best beer destinations in the world. Spend the afternoon doing some brewery hopping to best experience this exciting beer destination.
Make sure to stop in at the Benson Sculpture Garden in Loveland on the way up which is free to enjoy, with interesting sculptures scattered through a green park with lakes. For vacation rentals, this beautiful cottage and this cute one-bedroom unit are both in the Old Town are great choices. So there you have it, the best mountain towns near Denver to add to your Colorado Itinerary. I hope this gives you some inspiration to venture into the mountains from Denver — I think you will love what you find there.
If you liked this — check out some of my other Colorado posts:. So great to find someone with some original thoughts on this topic.
This website is something that is needed on the internet, someone with a little originality! Thank you for this list. I love mountains and nature. What a beautiful place to visit even now My mom went to high school in Blackhawk. I live in Florida now which is which is a different World. I believe that was a great place to be raised But love brought me to Florida. So, stfu already. Do you really need the attention? Just stop, people like you really piss me off, thinking you own a place.
How incredibly rude! How do you think our state makes money? You give Colorado a bad name. Native Coloradan here — we love visitors. He must feel the hate towards him and is responding accordingly. Thanks so much for your comment! You are one of the Colorado natives that I love — just like my husband and friends. The New Yorks and San Franciscos of the world tend to get all the credit — and visitors — but it's often a state's small towns that offer a true feel for the place.
In Colorado, for example, some of the best parts of the state can be found well outside large cities like Denver and Colorado Springs. It's in Colorado's best small towns that you'll find the state's notorious mountain views , mining-era downtowns, cowboy and ranching culture, and of course, plenty of outdoor activities — from skiing and hiking to fishing and whitewater rafting.
So, when you're ready to see a different side of the destination, give this list a peek to find a small town that checks all the boxes for a dreamy Colorado adventure. Two and a half hours south of Denver will put you in Salida, a small town that sits in the heart of the Sawatch Range. It's a great place to challenge yourself to hike a 14,foot mountain the area has plenty , bike the Arkansas Hills and Methodist Mountain trail systems, or do like the locals do and hang by the shady shores of the Arkansas River, which runs through town.
The climate in Colorado tends to be dry, but this little agricultural haven produces some of the state's best tree-ripened fruits — apricots, cherries, peaches, pears — and hosts a fall Ciderfest that celebrates all things apple with boot-stomping music and food.
If local fruit doesn't get you excited, head to the town's well-regarded Creative District, an area full of shops, artist studios, and galleries, or visit one of the local wineries. Crested Butte is one of the few Colorado ski destinations that has managed to retain its small-town feel.
You won't hear Crested Butte mentioned alongside resorts like Vail and Aspen, and that's exactly what makes it so great. The skiing is steep, the town is extremely cute, and in the summer, it evolves into a go-to mountain bike destination with more than miles of trails. If you time it right, you might even catch the wildflower season — yet another thing the town is known for. If you don't want to stray too far from the city, head to Manitou Springs, which is an easy, minute drive from Colorado Springs.
Manitou is just far enough outside the city to provide that mountain-town feel without losing its accessibility. In the high country, September is often the sweetest month: The clouds and crowds have mostly gone while the sun shines abundantly on. That intoxicating combo of hazy amber days and newly chilled nights is a little like a good whiskey on ice. Some of my old favorite haunts have gone commercial and crowded, alas, and some old wide spots in the road that I used to rip through in my Jeep at high speed have suddenly become cool.
I include our purely subjective reasoning with each entry. Durango, for example, is disqualified from our list in that it is more city than town now, with nearly 20, people.
A mountain town has to be the opposite of the bustle and stress of a city: a restorative escape from all congestion and urbanity. Similarly, it must be away — far away — as the getting there is part of the attraction. Other instant disqualifiers include an outlet store within 5 miles, and an interstate highway ripping through it. And a true mountain town has a certain scruffiness, a honky-tonk rejection of polish and civilization that encourages us all to let our hair down some and our inner hippies out.
And lastly, of course, the town must be so staggeringly beautiful it sends lightning through your veins. Unspoiled is the operative word: Crested Butte is still unvarnished and laid back in a way Telluride and Aspen were 40 years ago, somehow resisting corporate forces that have overrun others.
Telluride No. Bounded by 13, and 14,foot peaks, and tucked into a box canyon with a veil-like waterfall draped at the end, there is no more picturesque place in the state. Main Street has somehow maintained its Victorian charm despite the powerful forces of gentrification — so much so you can still squint your eyes and imagine Butch Cassidy coming into town to rob his first bank. Like Crested Butte, Telluride also found a different spot to stash all its new development and condo complexes, up at the mountain village north of the canyon, which you can commute to by gondola.
Telluride is only second to Crested Butte by a whisker, and then only because it lost its innocence some when Oprah and Tom Cruise started buying houses there, driving prices higher than Wilson Peak. Cowboy boots and ski boots pardner up wonderfully well in Steamboat Springs, which is still a true Western town, with wide streets for accommodating cattle herds, and even wider mountain vistas visible for degrees.
The tree skiing at Steamboat is the best in the state, if not the world, and the northern star of our mountain towns is known as the native home of champagne powder. Once again, the ski village grew up a bit away from the wild cowpoke heart of downtown Steamboat, allowing it to stay a bit country and funky. And the eclectic Strawberry Hot Springs just outside of town has remained steadfastly open to all comers — nature lovers, oddballs and real-live cowboys — lending Steamboat its egalitarian vibe.
And Ouray with its art deco wedding cake mountains on all sides is still those things, but its bustling now with a kind of funkadelic vibe all its own.
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