Summer Adventures at Winter Park Resort
When we asked our friends for suggestions for our Colorado road trip, we had many people recommend Winter Park. We knew Winter Park was a top tourist destination in the winter due to their well-known ski resort, but we weren’t really sure if there would be much to do in the summer. We started doing a little research and reached out to the tourism board in Grand County and we found they actually had quite a bit to offer. So, after camping for 4 nights in the wilderness of Colorado, we packed up the camp and started heading back north. We decided to hit Estes Park for breakfast and then take a drive through the famous Rocky Mountain National Park in hopes of spotting a moose…
Rocky Mountain National Park in the Summer
Not only did we spot one moose, we actually came across 6 throughout the duration of our drive! Unfortunately, they were too far away to snap a photo but we did get a good photo opp of some elk. At the very end of our drive, a herd of about 40 decided to cross the road and hold up traffic. Obviously we didn’t mind 😉 Although it was bad news for one guy on a motorcycle when this majestic site caught him off guard causing him to slam on his brakes and his fellow biker ran into the back of him. It was that cool.
RMNP really is as beautiful as every one says and we were glad we took the detour to drive through it. However, seeing snow on the mountains in AUGUST still blows my mind!
We headed towards Winter Park, anxious to get checked into our condo for the next few nights. After sleeping in a tent in 30 degree weather any bed would have been heavenly, but we were even more stoked about our arrangements at Founders Pointe Condominiums right across the street from the Winter Park Village. These condos were equipped with a full kitchen, fireplace and large balcony and slept 4 people very comfortably. Check out the video at the bottom for a video tour – they are seriously so beautiful and COZY!
Winter Park Village is full of shops and eateries and is a great place to hang out for families, friends or couples. We had fantastic meals at the Pizza Pedl’r and the Cheeky Monk and I loved having my salted caramel latte from Starbucks every morning. Much better than the instant coffee I had when camping!
Summer Activities at Winter Park Resort
We had passes to the Winter Park Resort which allowed us unlimited access to all activities (including mini-golf, the human maze, the gyro ball, ski lift and more), but we had only one thing on our minds: the alpine slide. This is probably Winter Park’s most popular attraction in the summer. Winter Park Resort has claim to the longest alpine slide in Colorado and let me tell you…its a freaking blast!! We spent most of the day riding the ski lift up and racing down on the alpine slide. Somebody had a minor derailment on the slide, but I won’t mention any names. You’ll have to watch the video to find out who 😉 Don’t worry…there were no serious injuries!
Charlie and his dad decided take a spin on the gyro ball not too long after we finished breakfast. Not a good decision on their part. Just take a look at Charlie’s face at the very end of the video – his expression is priceless! I planned on giving it a try until they only lasted a whopping 25 seconds and then decided I’d rather keep my breakfast. We also managed to find time to take the scenic ski lift ride up to the lodge which provided amazing views. The lodge was pretty quiet being summertime and all, but we could just imagine how beautiful it must be in the winter covered in snow and flooded with people bundled up in their ski gear.
While we had a blast visiting Winter Park in the summer, we know that a visit in the winter is in our future. Charlie’s ready to break out his snowboard and I’m…well I’ll be good just sipping hot chocolate in the lodge. Or maybe I will finally head to ski school and get out on the slopes. Either way, Colorado is just one of those places you have to experience in both seasons and I can hardly wait to go back.
If you’re heading out to Colorado, make sure Winter Park is on your itinerary! It was the perfect end to our spectacular 3 weeks in Colorado!
Don’t miss the video of our adventures (and misadventures) at the Winter Park Resort – especially Charlie’s priceless face at the end 😉
Have you ever been to the Winter Park Resort? Would you want to visit?
*A huge thanks to Winter Park Resort and Visit Grand County for hosting us!
About the Author Charlie and Brittany
We are Brittany and Charlie - we traded the 9 to 5 and the so-called "American dream" to live our own dream and see the world. We sold all of our belongings and left the US in August 2013. For 5 years, we lived primarily in Thailand and built our online business and location independent lifestyle while we traveled to over 30 countries. We’ve had house sitting gigs on 3 different continents and we’ve even appeared on HGTV’s House Hunters International.
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