24 Hours in Crested Butte, Colorado

Fall Trip to Crested Butte, 24 hours of Bliss.

Crested Butte how I love you.

Uncrowded trail, stunning wild beauty, amazing food, independent and unique you are the most spectacular little town in Colorado.

Crested Butte is four and half hours from Denver, the journey takes you away from the hustle and bustle of I-70 and down the winding highway of 285. We departed from Denver on a Wednesday afternoon, there were only a few other cars on the road. Such a nice change of pace from the traffic and construction on I-70.   

The changing aspen dotted the roadway. We stopped at The Blend in Buena Vista, for a quick smoothie and hopped over Cottonwood pass, view of the colligate peaks spanned the horizon. 4 hours and 10 minutes later we were pulling into one of the most beautiful valleys in Colorado.   

Our home for the night was the Vaquera House.  A modern take on a Bed and Breakfast.

We had a King Suite, complete with 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms and a balcony. The beautiful mountain cowboy decor had me feeling right a home.   

One of the many amenities we used a the Vaquera House was the free bikes. For me, Crested Butt is the perfect town, it is completely accessible by bike and foot. After a long car ride. It was time for a sunset bike ride. We took the lower loop trail for 4-mile ride.   Lucky me, no car ride necessary. The lower loop trail like many of the trails in Crested Butte begins in town and runs up the valley weaving in and out of the golden Aspens.

After working up an appetite, we headed over to The Breadery for Dinner.

The Breadery a locally run restaurant, which prides itself on using local, and seasonal ingredients and most notably bakes several varieties of fresh sourdough daily.

We ate like kings! Salads with local peaches, Pizza, a loaf of fresh sourdough and warm butter, and how can I forget the perfect glass of Sauvignon Blanc. We had a long hike planned for the next am so we turned in early!

When the sun rose over the mountains the next morning, we were up and ready to go.

Vaquera House had a lovely fresh breakfast, and coffee all included with the stay.

We fueled up for our hike; warm coffee, turmeric energy shot, smoothies, and freshly made egg sandwiches.    

We headed up toward Keebler pass to hike the Dyke Trail Loop, an 5.9-mile loop, with moderate incline. Since it was the end of September, we knew we were in for a treat. We were not wrong.  Mother Nature was prancing in all her glory! 

Aspen trees were at peak color. We followed the Dyke trail and took a few wrong turns it was worth it.

Make sure you download the map from All Trails before heading out of town and you can avoid getting lost.

Despite some wrong turns, yellow leaves dotted almost the entire path, and we had some breath-taking vistas.

After a long hike we hit Bones in downtown Crested Butte for a much-deserved meal of a margarita, queso, guacamole and enchiladas. With both our belly and soul full we made the trek back to Denver.