Colorful vivid village houses and downtown street in summer in Crested Butte, Colorado. Image credit Kristi Blokhin via Shutterstock

9 Best Colorado Towns For A Weekend Trip

A weekend in these Colorado towns is a great place to start, but chances are, you'll want to stay longer. Buena Vista sits at the foot of the Sawatch Range, within a short drive of Cottonwood Pass and a summit day on Mount Princeton. Glenwood Springs can easily fill a Saturday with a soak in the largest mineral hot springs pool in the world and an afternoon rafting the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon. Crested Butte offers wildflower meadows on the Lower Loop in summer and groomed Nordic trails once the snow flies.

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Aspen

Aspen is the obvious choice, but it is a Colorado classic for a reason. It offers endless outdoor opportunities and a weekend of luxurious living. Look no further for luxury than Little Nell, Aspen's only five-star, five-diamond hotel. Rooms, suites, and private residences are all available. It is equipped with Aspen's only ski-in/ski-out spa experience, offering facials, massages, and other treatments. Gorsuch started with ski gear but now sells high-end casualwear and mountain-lifestyle clothing. At Clark's Oyster Bar, visitors can enjoy oysters for lunch while a sommelier tops up their champagne.

Telluride

Telluride was founded as a mining camp in 1878, and its history can still be experienced today. Guests of the New Sheridan Hotel, which has been in operation for over 100 years, can stay in a building that has since been restored to resemble its 1895 form. The Telluride Historical Museum is housed inside a restored 1896 miners' hospital, featuring ten themed rooms and a gallery of rotating exhibits. The Sheridan Opera House was built by miners in 1913, but is now operated by the Sheridan Arts Foundation. The opera house hosts concerts, movie premieres, theater performances, and more. The Last Dollar Saloon has been a bar since 1978, but its building dates to 1899. The original wood floor, brick walls, and pressed tin ceiling prove it.

Estes Park

Estes Park gives visitors a taste of the Rocky Mountains without having to venture far from town. Rocky Mountain National Park allows visitors to experience diverse mountain environments, including montane forests, subalpine landscapes, and alpine tundra. To more easily traverse the terrain, visitors can join guided horseback rides with National Park Gateway Stables. The Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King's The Shining, and guests can even stay in the supposedly haunted Room 217, which is prominently featured in the novel. Lake Estes is at the edge of town, a popular destination for picnics, fishing, and boating.

Crested Butte

Many people want to spend a weekend outdoors, but not everyone is willing to take the off-the-beaten-path journey to Crested Butte. Crested Butte provides a peaceful weekend trip free from crowds that usually appear in resort towns. The state legislature named Crested Butte the Wildflower Capital of Colorado in 1990, and the Lower Loop trail passes through expansive wildflower meadows. But even a quiet mountain town has its popular spots. Emerald Lake is one of them. That is why it is best visited in the morning or early evening for kayaking and canoeing. During the winter, the Crested Butte Nordic Center maintains miles of quiet and well-groomed snowshoeing and cross-country skiing trails. A quiet night's sleep is guaranteed in Vaquera House, a boutique hotel with only ten rooms.

Ouray

Ouray goes by different names, including the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Colorado and the Switzerland of America. It is the place to go for a weekend spent outdoors. The Ouray Via Ferrata proves that the San Juan Mountains in Ouray match the Alps in Switzerland. Visitors can experience vertical climbing, technical traverses, and wire bridge crossings. It is a true outdoors town. It has no ski resort; instead, it is a hub for backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering in the surrounding 12,000 to 13,000-foot peaks. Red Mountain Alpine Lodge offers guided ski touring trips led by certified mountain guides. The accommodation at the Beaumont Hotel and Spa contrasts with the backcountry terrain that outdoor enthusiasts navigate, with 14 luxury rooms and spa treatments for after a day out in the mountains.

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Silverton

Silverton still exudes the Wild West. While Greene Street, the main drag, is paved, the rest of the roads in town are still covered in dirt and gravel. Remnants of the Wild West include Shady Lady on Blair, which was once the last bordello in town but is now a family-operated restaurant and bar. Gertie's Gifts at the Old Arcade occupies another building from the same era and now operates as a gift shop, holding a variety of souvenirs, collectibles, and cowboy hats. The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is a steam-powered line that winds through the canyons of the San Juan National Forest. The Avon is a historic boutique hotel housed inside a former saloon with an on-site bar and music venue.

Glenwood Springs

Above ground, Glenwood Hot Springs Pool is the largest mineral hot springs pool in the world. Below ground, the Yampah Spa and Vapor Caves are one of only a few known vapor caves in North America, naturally producing their own therapeutic steam. Hotel Colorado opened in Glenwood Springs in 1893. It is regarded as the Little White House of the West because it hosted three different US Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Herbert Hoover. More than 130 years on, it is loaded with modern amenities. Glenwood Canyon was carved by the Colorado River and allows for hiking, biking, and river rafting.

Buena Vista

Colorado has more than 50 peaks that rise above 14,000 feet in elevation, colloquially known as Fourteeners. Chaffee County, which includes Buena Vista, has 15 of them, more than any other county in Colorado. Mountain lovers can spend a weekend in Buena Vista and access peaks like Mount Princeton, which rises above town. Cottonwood Pass, at 12,126 feet, is the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide in the United States. It is a scenic drive in its own right, but it also provides access to Taylor Park Reservoir, which is popular for camping, fishing, and boating. Even after a day in the mountains, visitors can return to the Surf Hotel and sit on their balcony while taking in views of the Collegiate Peaks.

Salida

As it is fronted by the Arkansas River, Salida has abundant opportunities for recreating on the water. Salida Whitewater Park encompasses 1,200 feet of river in downtown Salida and has used rock and concrete to create whitewater features on the river for kayaks, paddleboards, surfboards, and bodyboards. Downtown Salida is home to Colorado's largest state-certified creative district, including over 50 galleries, like Four Winds Gallery. It features oil paintings and mixed media paper collage paintings of landscape-themed works, as well as pottery, photography, and jewelry. The creative district is just steps away from the Manhattan Hotel, a boutique property with balconies over the Arkansas River.

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What Weekend Do You Want In Colorado?

Colorado's small towns are more than mountain resorts, whether they sit under the Sawatch Range or on the banks of the Arkansas River. They each have their own identities. Aspen trades ski boots for designer clothes and fine dining for those who want a weekend trip with style. Ouray sends visitors up a via ferrata and into backcountry ski terrain instead of onto a resort chairlift. Salida packs a whitewater park and the state's largest creative district into the same few downtown blocks. Whatever the agenda of the weekend trip, Colorado has a town for it.

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