COME TO LIFE Top 5 Colorado Trails Mount Crested Butte Crested Butte Trek up Crested Butte Mountain Resort by foot from the base area to a vast network of trails, or ride the chairlift up for a shorter hike, since you’ll just be going down. No matter your method for reaching the top, you’re in for startling mountain vistas swathed in green grasses and blooms — and marmot sightings, too. “It’s a great way to get up above 12,000 feet,” Holland said of the summer chairlift offerings, adding that there’s an element of safety for newcomers to the outdoors, who are still out there building confidence, given the trail network is part of the resort. NELSON HOLLAND’S Mount Crested Butte Mount Sniktau near Dillon More than once, Holland mentioned this easy-to-access thirteener. The nearly 4-mile, round-trip hike can be tackled all year (yes, you can do it with snowshoes!), and even the trailhead is high up — 11,990 feet to be exact. As far as thirteeners go, it’s a shorter hike to the summit with a less-intense (but still challenging) elevation gain of 1,555 feet. “It’s just about the easiest thirteener you could do,” he said. “I think I might like thirteeners more than fourteeners, not just because they’re less crowded but because the backdrop is a fourteener right next to it. … You get to the top, and I can’t think of anything more beautiful.” FROM TOP: NOAH WETZEL; CELIN SERBO According to him, hikers should watch for Torreys Peak while hiking Sniktau’s marked trail. It’s one of those neighboring fourteeners — peaks that are more than 14,000 feet — that reminds him of the Swiss Alps, especially during winter and early spring. Near Loveland Pass 66 1-800-COLORADO
Colorado Official State Vacation Guide 2024: Page 66
