The 10 Can't-Miss Towns In The Rockies
Winter is the Rockies at their best. The lifts are turning again, and some of the finest things these mountain towns are known for happen only once the snow falls. Outside Jackson, horse-drawn sleighs cross the National Elk Refuge among thousands of wintering elk. In Durango, a vintage steam train rolls out of downtown and up the Animas canyon through the snow. Telluride's free gondola is back over the ridge, and fresh powder is piling up on summits across the range. Each of these ten towns is built around one experience worth the trip, and the cold months are when many of them are at their finest.
Red Lodge, Montana
Driving the Beartooth Highway is the reason most people first come to Red Lodge, a small town in south-central Montana. The All-American Road connects the town with the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone National Park and tops out at Beartooth Pass, nearly 11,000 feet up, with Rock Creek Vista as the recommended stop along the way. The season depends on the snow and generally runs from around Memorial Day into October, and in 2026 an incoming storm closed the highway on October 9, five days earlier than scheduled.
Winter trips center on Red Lodge Mountain, a ski area of more than 1,600 acres that averages about 250 inches of snow a season and is scheduled to open on November 27, and the town's Christmas Stroll follows in December. Broadway is the main street, with the Montana Candy Emporium for anyone with a sweet tooth, and Red Lodge Ales pours its beer at Sam's Tap Room & Kitchen, a year-round restaurant at the brewery on North Broadway.
Cody, Wyoming
Cody is Yellowstone's eastern gateway, about 55 miles and an hour's drive from the East Entrance, and a summer day here usually starts at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. The center is a Smithsonian affiliate made up of five museums, and one admission is good for two days, which makes it easy to split the visit. Downtown, the Cody Gunfighters put on a free show on the porch of the Irma Hotel Monday through Saturday between June and September, and the Irma's restaurant is an easy place to eat before the rodeo.
The Cody Nite Rodeo begins at 8 p.m. every night between June 1 and August 31, with the gates opening at 7 and the show lasting about two hours, and there is time beforehand to meet the cowboys and bullfighters and get a photo with Norman the bull. Wyoming's tourism office calls it the longest-running nightly rodeo in the United States. The Buffalo Bill Center stays open in winter, Thursday through Sunday between December 1 and February 28, though the road through Yellowstone's East Entrance closed to regular vehicles on November 1.
Jackson, Wyoming
Roughly 5,000 elk spend the winter on the National Elk Refuge at the edge of Jackson, south of Yellowstone, and a sleigh ride out among them is the town's best-known winter outing. The ride itself lasts about 45 minutes to an hour, and the full tour, including the shuttle from the Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center at 532 North Cache Street, takes about an hour and a half. Sleighs go out daily between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. from mid-December through early April, depending on the weather and the herd, and the only day off is Christmas.
Town Square is a short walk away, with arches made from shed elk antlers over the entrances at all four corners, and the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is the place for live country music and western swing dancing. Snow King, the ski hill right in town, has one of the steepest sustained top-to-bottom pitches in the Lower 48 and night skiing on weekday evenings. The National Museum of Wildlife Art has a free Sculpture Trail outside, and over in Teton Village, the Aerial Tram at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort rides up to the Grand Teton SkyWalk.
Ketchum, Idaho
Thanksgiving Day, November 26, is when the lifts on Bald Mountain, the main ski mountain at Sun Valley, are scheduled to start turning for the season, and Ketchum's downtown sits right at its foot, west across the Idaho line from Jackson. The Roundhouse Express gondola leaves from the River Run base, and after a day on the mountain, the Pioneer Saloon downtown serves prime rib and steaks. The paved Wood River Trails cover more than 30 miles around the valley, and every October, hundreds of sheep are herded down Main Street in the Big Sheep Parade during the Trailing of the Sheep Festival. Ketchum and Sun Valley are also inside America's first Dark Sky Reserve, so a clear night after skiing is a good one for looking up.
Park City, Utah
Watching freestyle aerial skiers launch off ramps and splash down in aerated pools is the summer draw at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, and the Flying Aces show puts them in front of a crowd on Fridays and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. The summer bobsled rolls on concrete and takes about a minute to reach the bottom, with a pilot and up to three passengers in each sled. In winter the bobsled runs on ice, and last season rides were offered during the day and in the evening after the ski resorts closed, at $225 per sled with preregistration required. Two museums at the park, including the Alf Engen Ski Museum, have touchscreen displays and a virtual reality ski theater. Down on Main Street, the Egyptian Theatre is one of the West's great historic theaters, and visitors can take a tour of the Park City Museum. In August, the Kimball Arts Festival closes Main Street to cars for three full days.
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Strawberry Park Hot Springs is a set of pools in the forest about 7 miles from downtown Steamboat Springs, in northwest Colorado, and the water is warmest in the top pools, at around 102 to 104 degrees, cooling as the pools step down toward the creek. After dark, the pools are clothing-optional and limited to visitors 18 and older. Reservations are good only for the time slot booked. Between November and May, Routt County requires four-wheel or all-wheel drive with snow tires or chains on the road in, so the shuttles run by Hot Springs Shuttle and Sweet Pea Tours are the simpler option for anyone who would rather not drive.
Closer in, the paved Yampa River Core Trail is used for biking, and Fish Creek Falls, about 4 miles from downtown, drops about 283 feet at the end of a quarter-mile walk from the trailhead. The Steamboat Winter Carnival runs February 2 through 7, 2027, with horses pulling kids on skis down Main Street and skiers jumping through fiery hoops on Howelsen Hill.
Estes Park, Colorado
Estes Park is the town just outside the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park, and the walk through it follows the Big Thompson River. The Riverwalk runs along the river through downtown beside Elkhorn Avenue, where The Taffy Shop is one of several candy stores and the Big Horn Restaurant serves breakfast. The Stanley Hotel is open to non-guests for a ghost-themed night tour, and the Elkins Colorado Whiskey distillery is across from the shore of Lake Estes.
The park's Beaver Meadows Entrance, the closest one to town, is about 4 miles from the Estes Park Visitor Center. In the fall rut, which peaks between mid-September and mid-October, elk gather on the 18-hole golf course back in town, and inside the park, the edge of Moraine Park, a mountain meadow, is a good place to watch for them.
Salida, Colorado
Every June, kayakers and paddlers come to the Arkansas River in downtown Salida, in central Colorado, for FIBArk, a whitewater festival with races on the river, a parade, and live music, held June 18 through 21 in 2026. Outside festival weekend, the Salida Whitewater Park covers 1,200 feet of the river at 200 North G Street, with features built for surfing kayaks, paddleboards, surfboards, and body boards, and in summer the banks become a beach scene 7,000 feet above sea level.
Along F Street, many of the old downtown buildings now hold art studios and galleries, and Moonlight Pizza & Brewpub keeps 13 rotating beers on tap. S Mountain, also called Tenderfoot Hill, is an easy hike up from downtown, topping out at 7,504 feet.
Telluride, Colorado
Telluride's free gondola carries riders over the mountain to Mountain Village in about 12 minutes, and dogs are welcome in the cabins marked with a paw print. Riders board at Telluride Station on Oak Street, pass San Sophia Station partway up, and step off in Mountain Village, where a three-minute hop continues to Market Plaza. After its fall closure, the gondola reopens on November 20 and runs daily, 6:30 a.m. until midnight, through April 4, 2027. Bridal Veil Falls, Colorado's tallest free-falling waterfall, is a moderate 1.2-mile hike one way to the top. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival comes to town in late June, and the Telluride Film Festival screens more than 60 feature films, shorts, and revival programs in early September.
Durango, Colorado
South of Telluride, in Durango, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad starts its holiday season on November 20, when The Polar Express begins boarding at the depot at 479 Main Avenue. Rides run through January 2, 2027, with hot cocoa, Santa, and the first gift of Christmas.
After the holiday run, winter trains follow the Animas River 26 miles each way to Cascade Station on a five-hour round trip. In summer the train goes all the way to Silverton, 45.4 miles each way, crossing the river five times.
Snowdown, Durango's winter festival, runs in late January and early February and brings a Light Parade down Main Avenue, where Carver Brewing Co. pours its beer. The 7.1-mile Animas River Trail follows the same river as the train, right through town.
November 20 turns out to be a busy date in these mountains. On that Friday, Telluride's free gondola starts its winter run, The Polar Express begins boarding on Main Avenue in Durango, and both Park City Mountain and Purgatory, the ski resort north of Durango, are scheduled to open. Six days later, on Thanksgiving, the lifts on Bald Mountain above Ketchum are set to start turning, and Red Lodge Mountain and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort are both scheduled to open the next day, Friday, November 27. The sleighs on the elk refuge outside Jackson join in by mid- to late December, and for anyone planning a winter trip around one of these towns, that stretch is when the calendar turns over.
