A Short Weekend Getaway to Crested Butte!
I went to Crested Butte in January for my brother’s birthday weekend. It was FREEZING (like -4!) but so beautiful. It is a cute, quaint little town full of character. There is so much to do there, we only scratched the surface. From skiing to snowshoeing in the winter, hiking and camping in the summer, you can really do it all! We would love to go back and explore in warmer temperatures, but we really enjoyed the snow globe-like atmosphere this time around. The houses and buildings were all very historic looking and colorful, like straight out of a movie. The local people were very friendly and welcoming too. I would highly recommend this town for a weekend getaway to anyone looking for adventure and stunning mountain views!
Where we stayed:
We stayed in this cute and cozy cabin we booked through Airbnb. I die for a good cozy cabin, especially in the snow. This place had just enough amenities for a short weekend visit. It was also a great location because it was a short 5 minute walk to the main town. You can see in the photo below the giant mound of snow piled up in the front yard. This is what all the sides of the streets looked like! I’ve never seen that much snow before. Which is not saying a lot since I live in Souther California lol.
What we did:
On Saturday we did some snowshoeing near the mountain. We rented show shoes and purchased a day pass for access to all the trails. We only lasted about 2 hours on the trail though because it was more tiring than we thought! We had no idea lugging around snowshoes in the thick snow would be so strenuous haha! It was cold but also sunny so we got really hot really quick. I’m not sure I’d do it again, but it was worth it to be outdoors and enjoying the pretty mountain views.
After snowshoeing, we shopped and walked around the town. There are a plenty of good t-shirt and gift shops. We saw one great home decor store that if I had more time I would have really dug into. There were also plenty of stores for all your outdoor needs (clothing, fishing, skiing).
What we ate:
Our only eating out night was Saturday and we ate at The Slogar. It was really delicious! They serve their meals family style, so you order one main course, and a few sides, all sharable. For dessert they serve little ice cream sandwiches which I thought was a little basic compared to the main courses. We cooked at home for all of our other meals in efforts to save money. But there are plenty of great restaurants in town for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as cute coffee shops!
What I wore:
It was honestly hard to stay warm enough, so time spent outside of the house and stores were pretty limited. I definitely underestimated the cold temperatures, but you live and you learn! I had at least three layers on at all times- the long johns, the wool socks, hand warmers… I am laughing to myself because if you live anywhere else in the country you are probably thinking like yeah duh we know how to dress for the snow! Haha. But I had one game changer in particular that I am obsessed with. My mother in law bought me some rechargeable electric hand warmers which are life changing. I’ll link similar ones here. They fit perfectly in all my jacket pockets so I just keep them in there to warm my hands up. I even put them in my boots while in the car! They last about 6-8 hours. It also never hurts to have a hot yummy drink in hand at all times. 🙂
Jacket (similar) Hat, Pants, Boots
Travel Tip:
Traveling to Crested Butte in the middle of winter was no easy feat! We flew into Denver Friday afternoon thinking we would get there before dark but that did not happen. It was snowing a lot so we had to drive pretty slow, it ended up taking close to 5 hours. You also drive through a few mountain passes with windy roads and in the dark it was hard to see. I’d recommend checking the road conditions ahead of time. A 4 wheel drive vehicle definitely came in handy! Also make sure to have plenty of safety supplies and warm things just in case. Unfortunately our car heat was not working so I was pretty chilly in the car. Thank goodness for my hand warmers! 😉
We can’t wait to go back and visit this cute town again, next time I’d love to ski or visit in the summer and do some hiking. We love visiting Colorado because there are so many different places to go! Next on my bucket list would be Breckenridge or Telluride!!