If not Crested Butte, where? (Boulder, Grand Junction: living, wealthy, friendly)

[whbenson]

Very much enjoy Crested Butte, but have some concern that summer may be too short and winter too bitter and long. We enjoy the small town, friendly atmosphere, hiking, scenic beauty and mountain biking. First, is it true that the summers are short and, if so - - - if not, Crested Butte, where can one get the same atmosphere of small twon, firendly, mountain biking, etc.?

[delta07]

Crested Butte is beautiful and one of my favorite Colorado mountain towns, but yes, the winters are very long! Plus, CB is very expensive and hard to work and live there unless you are independently wealthy. If you like Western Colorado, you might look into Montrose. The town has grown quite a bit, but still has some of that small town character you are looking for. The scenery is beautiful and you have access to thousands of trails, and are within a couple hours drive of CB or Moab. I would also suggest looking into Salida, as it is a mountain town, but known as the banana belt of CO. Again, you would be within a couple hours drive to CB, but are very close to Monarch Ski Area. There are also hundreds of hiking trails and easy access to the outdoors. It's one of my favorite CO towns! It can be tough to make a living there though.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by whbenson

Very much enjoy Crested Butte, but have some concern that summer may be too short and winter too bitter and long. We enjoy the small town, friendly atmosphere, hiking, scenic beauty and mountain biking. First, is it true that the summers are short and, if so - - - if not, Crested Butte, where can one get the same atmosphere of small twon, firendly, mountain biking, etc.?

Crested Butte is definitely a beautiful place and a neat town. But you're right, it's short summers and long, cold winters. It's usually one of the coldest spots in Colorado in the winters.

So, you know CB is at a high elevation, about 9,000. There are other mountain towns that are lower, which means that they are a little less harsh in the winters.

Take a look at Boulder, Granby, Glenwood Springs.

[lalahartma]

Salida/Buena Vista, Durango, Grand Junction/Fruita, Woodland Park

[CosmicWizard]

Moab - Utah
Cedar City - Utah
Paonia - CO
Cedaredge - CO
Glenwood Springs - CO

[CBMT]

Moved from CB to Gunnison...much friendlier town, earlier summers and later arrival of winter.

[80skeys]

Crested Butte is at 9,000 feet and surrounded by high mountains. You'll have to look for towns that are much lower in elevation and not immediately adjacent to high peaks to find milder weather.

I wouldn't say Gunnison is a valid alternative. Yeah maybe it's a little milder than CB, but in the scheme of things that's like comparing apples to apples. Gunnison winters are heavy duty winters.