Small Hiking Town Summer Recommendations

[suzco]

Originally Posted by TonyVaz1009

Leadville is a fantastic place for a trail runner.

And that's an understatement.

[RescueDogs]

Thanks so much to everyone that took the time to respond. It sounds like May and then the summer months are different animals which makes sense. We've actually spend a lot of time in Santa Fe during both April and May. It seems like Santa Fe would be similar to Salida in terms of temps for May and during the summer. We LOVE Santa Fe in May, but the summer is just too hot. Also, someone posted concerns on elevation. I think we would be fine since we had no issues with Santa Fe and in the mountains around there. So if we were going for just May, it seems like Salida would be a good fit, and if we were going for the whole summer, then we would settle in to some other town with a higher elevation (lower temps) and deal with May being muddy. Any guidance on towns that might be in the 70's during June, July, August or are those days behind us since things are changing so fast. I forgot to mention in my initial post that while hiking, trail running, and small town feel is important. We'd also very much appreciate a town that has a decent gym as we enjoy lifting weights, etc. as well. We also like hot yoga, steam rooms, saunas although those places are mostly closed because of Covid right now. Reasonable grocery stores and maybe a trader joes would be great too. I understand fully you can't have all of these things but just trying see if some places are better fits than others. Any ideas? Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by RescueDogs

So if we were going for just May, it seems like Salida would be a good fit, and if we were going for the whole summer, then we would settle in to some other town with a higher elevation (lower temps) and deal with May being muddy. Any guidance on towns that might be in the 70's during June, July, August or are those days behind us since things are changing so fast. I forgot to mention in my initial post that while hiking, trail running, and small town feel is important. We'd also very much appreciate a town that has a decent gym as we enjoy lifting weights, etc. as well. We also like hot yoga, steam rooms, saunas although those places are mostly closed because of Covid right now. Reasonable grocery stores and maybe a trader joes would be great too. I understand fully you can't have all of these things but just trying see if some places are better fits than others. Any ideas? Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

There's certainly no lack of choices, and many good suggestions have been made already. Given a few months to enjoy one of Colorado's mountain towns, I'd be tempted to choose Telluride. It offers nice hiking trails directly from the town itself. During mud season you can run on paved surfaces around town and still be right in some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in the country.

The free gondola (would need to check if it's running, due to COVID?) takes you from the town up to more than 10,000 ft elevation at Mountain Village in just a few minutes. So on days that you might find too warm you can take that ride and get a temperature reduction of perhaps 5 degrees.

Of course it's not a normal town in any sense, and not a particularly cheap place to live. There's no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. I wouldn't want to live there full time (not that I could even afford it), but in the past I have spent a summer week there and could easily see extending the visit to a couple of months. Of course a similar experience can be had at other ski resorts but the scenery in Telluride is just tops in my opinion.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

The only Trader Joe's in Colorado are in the major Front Range cities.

Almost all of the Whole Foods stores are in the Front Range cities, with the exception of Frisco and Basalt.

The small towns like Salida have their own natural foods stores that are mostly locally owned.

[hikernut]

One other thought is to look for trails that are better for mud season. A quick search found this article, which mentions alternative activities, but also mentions a few specific trails that are mostly sun-exposed and tend to dry out faster.

https://www.5280.com/2018/03/the-528...to-mud-season/

[RescueDogs]

Thank you very much for that info hikernut! I read that article, very interesting. Do you, or anyone, have an opinion on Crested Butte and also the Durango area? Those were two other spots recommended by people. Continued thanks!

[hikernut]

Sorry, it’s been ages since I was in Crested Butte, and I’ve only driven through Durango.

For mud season I’d look for towns that have some hard surface paths, so at least you have that option if the trails are really bad.

I personally love visiting the mountains during mud season. The temps are not too hot, and crowds are smaller. I don’t run any more, but hiking is fine with good boots and walking poles. Trails can be a mixture of dry, muddy, and icy. Seek out local knowledge once you get there... forest service ranger stations, gear shops, etc.

[COcheesehead]

For mud season check out the Colorado National Monument, Dominquez-Escalante, McInnis Canyons, Black Ridge, Rattlesnake. All spectacular, low to no crowds and lower/drier.

https://www.gjhikes.com/p/colorado.html

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by RescueDogs

Thank you very much for that info hikernut! I read that article, very interesting. Do you, or anyone, have an opinion on Crested Butte and also the Durango area? Those were two other spots recommended by people. Continued thanks!

I don't think I would pick Crested Butte if you want to stay lower key / still affordable because it gets really crowded Sept / Oct as it's one of the premier aspen viewing spots and it would be a genuinely muddy / snowy spot well into June, it's colder and wetter there than other spots.

FWIW, 14ers did a poll on favorite mountains in CO, San Juans came first, mainly due to the Needles area by Durango, Sangres came in 2nd, (Front Range came last ). Durango is far from everything and not cheap, but it's the most renown spot in the state for scenery nearby.

Ski towns are money pits in the winter, but they are actually very pleasant in the spring and fall, there's all the infrastructure and there's tons of lodging they offer for cheap to get vacancies down. Places like Buena Vista are more year round so you won't get quite the same deals.

I did 16 days in Copper Mountain WFH/staycation this summer in June and it was fantastic. The lodging was really cheap, there's many trails you could walk out of the condo to, no beetle kill (something to watch out for in other spots), and there were tons of great hikes, both above treeline and below from Vail to Leadville. It's not the most rugged or wettest part of the state, but for spring, that's actually a bit of a plus. It's not hunting territory either. I'd really recommend Copper or Leadville for easy accessed above treeline terrain, down to earth vibe, and easy to get to convenience, all while still being relatively empty (if your not doing 14ers). Below is a shot of one of the 360 views from Jacque Peak that Copper is built on. Also notice the amount of snow for 20th of June.

[AGRusco]

Originally Posted by RescueDogs

Thank you very much for that info hikernut! I read that article, very interesting. Do you, or anyone, have an opinion on Crested Butte and also the Durango area? Those were two other spots recommended by people. Continued thanks!

Where did you end up?