Area: Winter Park, CO

Expert: Sarah Bradford

Years living in Winter Park, CO: Three

Company: Winter Park Lodging by Owner

Sarah, what makes Winter Park, CO a great destination to visit and stay in a vacation rental?

Winter Park is a family-oriented place surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains.  In the winter, we have one of the best ski areas in the state often with the most snowfall of all of them.  The terrain ranges from easy groomers to steep bumps. Mary Jane, part of Winter Park Resort, is famous for it’s non-groomed hills and runs like Outhouse and Tressle that challenge even the best skiers and boarders.

In the summer, we’re known as the Mountain biking capital of the world/country/state – however you want to name it.  Incredible trails again for the experts all the way to the kiddos.  Great hiking, whitewater rafting, and fishing.  President Eisenhower frequented this area (Grand County) often through his life to fish the great waters here.  Plus, there are three lakes for boating, sailing, and even the occasional water ski outing (if you can put up with chilly waters!). 

The lodging is inexpensive compared to other mountain towns like Aspen and Vail and to be honest, the people here are more down to earth (no furs!) and fun to hang out with – we don’t get pretentious in Grand County – we all just love the outdoors and getting out there! 

Specifically on lodging – the base of the resort has some great new ski in/out options like the Base Camp on Jane Creek townhomes that make you feel like you’re in Aspen when you’re in your fancy digs.  Or, the Fraser Crossing/Founder’s Pointe new ski in/out condos are luxurious and have great views (not as fancy as Base Camp). 

What are the top things to do (attractions, activities, events, etc.) in the area?  Are there any hidden gems that people may not be aware of?

Oops – just covered that above, but basically it’s: 

• Skiing/snowboarding
• Cross-country skiing
• Hiking
• Mountain biking
• Whitewater rafting
• Boating, sailing
• Fishing

As for hidden gems, yes, we actually blog about that at www.wplbo.com/news (click “hints” or “tips”) but a few highlights are: 

• Hot Sulphur Springs (soak in over 30 hot springs on a mountainside)
• Dog Sled Rides: http:/www.wplbo.com/news/category/dog-sled-rides/
• Ski Train from Denver: http:/www.wplbo.com/news/2009/03/take-the-scenic-route-to-winter-park-on-the-ski-train/

What are the top 5 ‘must-try’ restaurants in the area?

Ah, good question…we blog about that too at: http://www.wplbo.com/news/category/winter-park-restaurants/

But here’s my list:

1) Tabernash Tavern

2) Brickhouse 40 (a bit of a drive)

3) Devil’s Thumb Ranch

4) The Cheeky Monk

5) Hernando’s Pizza and Pub

What popular entertainment/nightlife options in the area would you recommend?

I would suggest the Winter Park Pub (good ole bar with lots of draft beers), The Sushi Bar (also a good bar).  For entertainment, I would recommend Mo’s BBQ where they have a lot of live music and good grub.  A unique/unknown nighttime activity is to take the lift to the top of the mountain and dine at Sunspot. Pretty cool! 

You rent homes to hundreds of guests each year….so you must have a funny story or two about people that visit Winter Park, CO:

Oh yeah…In fact, we chronicle them in our newsletter to owners. I guess the funniest one lately was a lady who was staying at one of our properties called after midnight one evening arriving late from the Denver airport.  She was sweet as pie but said “I can’t get the garage code to work where I am staying in order to get in!”.  We said “The place you are staying doesn’t have a garage, so you better get out of there quick!”.  She laughed and we led her to the correct property.  Once there, she said “I am putting in the code to the lockbox on the wall (note the word “wall” not “door”) and the door is not opening!!!”  We had to explain to her that there is a key inside that lockbox and she has to then take it over to the door and put it in the keyhole.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.