Just a little over a month ago, I traveled to one of my favorite towns for some spring skiing. Breckenridge, CO has become a home away from home for me. But even as familiar as I am with the ski resort, I still find new runs to explore every time I go. I mean, this place is HUGE! The ski resort covers five peaks and is also conveniently close to other world-class resorts (Keystone, Vail, Copper Mountain, A-Basin). The hardest part about coming here is knowing that you’ll have to eventually say goodbye (or a “see you later”, as I like to put it).
Struggling to find the perfect place to stay, I ended up choosing Beaver Run Resort, which is a ski in-ski out resort. I had never stayed here before, since every other time I’ve been to Breck, I’ve stayed in condos and homes. But I decided to change it up a little this time, since I was traveling “solo” (although I did meet up with some friends to ski). My only requirement was that the place I stayed it had to have a kitchen, since I prefer to make my own food for the most part due to my ridiculous stomach sensitivities…and it’s cheaper. My studio from Beaver Run was perfect. I had a full fridge, microwave, stove top, microwave oven and dishwasher. And it came fully equip with nearly every kitchen utensil you’d ever need! So overall, I loved Beaver Run. The only complication I had was finding my building (FYI the check-in building is not the same building you are staying in, so don’t drag all your luggage in with you while checking in like I did!).
Besides Breckenridge, I also went to Keystone for one out of the three days I skied. I had never been to Keystone before but will definitely be returning. The runs are not as long as Breck and the vibes are more apres-ski friendly. Just note that there is a free parking lot at the base. I didn’t realize this and paid $20 for my parking down the road at the “Discovery Center”…never doing that again!
The town of Breckenridge is so cute too! They’ve got a plethora of fun, quirky shops and homey, delicious restaurants. On this trip, I only went to Crepes a la Cart and Swiss Haven but I’ve been to many others on my past trips to the town.
Breckenridge is also close to incredible hiking opportunities, which I wouldn’t recommend during the winter, since the snow gets so deep, but it’s amazing for any other season. Since I was technically experiencing Colorado’s “spring”, I decided to try to hike around Blue Lakes and Quandary Peak but this resulted in both blocked roads due to the lack of snow plow-wage and deep snow that I kept getting stuck in. However, I’ve hiked both trails during the summer and they’re both spectacular!
Since I was bored one night and didn’t want to go to the hot tub alone again (weird experience), I decided to drive to Fairplay and take some sunset pics along the way. Fairplay is the home of “South Park”, being where the show’s founders based the town off of. Because of this, Fairplay has a VERY extensive amount of South Park shops and memorabilia. Which is cool for any South Park fan out there. They also have an open air museum of old “Wild West”-era buildings called South Park City, which was closed when I arrived but I jumped the fence (sorry Mom) and walked around for a bit. Fairplay also has a wine tasting room for Continental Divide Winery and a taphouse for the South Park Brewing Co. I went to the wine tasting room, which was pretty decent and well priced. As a wine enthusiast myself, it was cool to check out because the Continental Divide Winery is actually the highest elevation winery in the world!
On my drive back, I saw some amazing sunsets too!
I loved Breckenridge and my time there this past March. Check out some of my favorite restaurants below:
Breakfast
- Gold Pan Saloon & Restaurant
- Salt Creek Steakhouse. Try to get a rooftop table if the weather is warm.
Lunch
Dinner:
Apres Ski/Bars
…but my trip didn’t end there! I spent one day in Boulder, since my flight wasn’t until 8pm that night. Per the recommendation of a friend from Denver (s/o to Nick), I hiked up Rattlesnake Gulch in the Eldorado Canyon State Park. This spectacular park offered views of Boulder and Denver, the Continental Divide, the golden red rock of the canyon itself and the South Boulder Creek (it’s a river) below. The hike is a bit strenuous going up–I’ll blame it on the high altitude. But the views are worth it. And it’s an easy hike down.
Afterwards, I spent the rest of the day shopping on Pearl Street in Boulder (can I move here?!) and grabbing lunch at the the Organic Sandwich Co and gelato at Fior Gelato (both were excellent–10/10 would recommend).
I already can’t wait to come back to Colorado!
PS if anyone wants to see what I do in my free time when I’m a few beers deep…lol.
xoxo Kasia
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