With a name like Winter Park you might expect that we lock the gates, shutter the stores, and close down until the snow season rolls around again, but you could not be further from the truth. Winter Park is a year round vacation destination, offering something unique, fun, and exciting to do every season of the year and as we all begin to start making plans for our summer getaways, we at Visit Winter Park Lodging think you should turn your interest to our direction; this guide to all that makes Winter Park an amazing summer getaway will help give you a gentle nudge into doing just that and our comfortable and luxurious properties are destined to help make your summer in Winter Park vacation even better!
Charlie’s Frozen Treat Shop, 78966 US-40
Some of life’s best memories are made from the smallest moments and the age old treat of enjoying something frozen on the hottest days of summer is one of those moments that Charlie’s Frozen Treat Shop specializes in! Offering a taste of summer in Winter Park every day of the year, your favorite fro-yo, ice cream, and gelato can be purchased here and if you are traveling with your fur children, they also sell pup cups and doggie bone’s sure to bring your pet pure bliss!
Fantasy Meadow Hiking Trail
summer in Winter Park temperatures rarely get to be too hot, making outdoor activities your favorite thing to do, including a hike along the Fantasy Meadow Hiking Trail. As the name suggests, the enchanting beauty of this trail will amaze as you hike along cheerful streams, frolic in fields of wildflowers, and explore the quiet beauty of the wildlife that make their home in this exquisite fairy land. Take the Gondola to the top of the mountain and step into a magical landscape that will burrow its way into your soul.
Winter Park Uncorked
As we make our way through the end of the pandemic, many festivals and events are making their way back to the towns and cities across America and Winter Park Uncorked is one summer event that shouldn’t be missed. Taking place on July 30th this year, live music, great food, and wines from all over the country ensure that this will be the most idyllic day of your summer getaway. Also offering a Cork Off in which participants try to pop a champagne cork further than anyone else, the Rendezvous Event Center in Winter Park will be selling tickets at a later date, so be sure to check back often!
Fore!
As the sun stays out longer and the grass grows green and lush beneath our feet, residents and visitors start polishing their clubs in anticipation of opening day of golf season. The Pole Creek Golf Club in Tabernash, the Granby Ranch Golf Course in Granby, and the Grand Elk Golf Club, also in Granby, all offer golfers the opportunity to enjoy the perfect day. For families who like the idea of golf but have kiddos that may make a day on the greens a bit uncomfortable, the Meandering Moose Mini Golf course, 528 Grand Avenue in Grand Lakes, promises a pint sized adventure that may help your children blossom into a love of the grown up version of the game!
Mad Adventures with MAD Adventures
White water rafting offers the ultimate in thrills and MAD Adventures, 78311 US-40 Suite 200, offers the opportunity to experience those thrills safely. Featuring rafting trips on the upper Colorado River that take you on a peaceful trip through some of the most beautiful landscape in the state but also give guests a taste of the rapids, this is one experience that will make you the envy of your friends back home.
Shopaholic Paradise
Although shopping is an activity that can be enjoyed all seasons of the year, the mild temperatures make it more pleasant as you walk in and out of the stores. Stop by the Lavender Elephant and check out their summer collections of women’s fashions, visit Uptripping and explore their whimsical art and home décor, or lose yourself in the wares (including souvenirs) offered by Moose Hollow Trading Company, all stores located right here in Winter Park. And because our Visit Winter Park Lodging seasonal sanctuaries offer washer and dryers, you can pack lightly and save room for all the treasures you can’t live without!
Summer Adventures in Comfort
Not all the fun has to be enjoyed outside your Visit Winter Lodging escapes. Sometimes a day spent lounging at home can be the best day of all! Choose a sanctuary that offers a community pool and spend your day splashing with the kiddos or soak in the hot tubs on cooler summer nights. Every day and every night is an adventure in comfort when you choose our Winter Park summer sanctuaries for your seasonal escape. Reserve your favorite today!
Like snowflakes, every traveler is different and just because some members of your family love to ski, it doesn’t mean that everyone is amenable to the idea! The cold, the snow, and the way it hurts when you fall, well, we understand that snow isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but that does not mean you have to skip Winter Park for your winter vacation! We are more than just a ski town, offering a plethora of exciting things to do in Winter Park and see, and this guide to everything that makes Winter Park wonderful only improves as you discover how staying in one of our Visit Winter Park Lodging vacation escapes will enhance your getaway!
Shopping
Our second favorite vacation activity, no matter what our destination happens to be, is exploring the shops that make up the landscape of the towns we visit. And although Winter Park is not a large town, the variety of stores we offer will more than keep you occupied while your snow loving family hits the slopes. Art galleries featuring the works of local artists (Karen Vance Fine Art is a local favorite!) boutiques that encourage you to be yourself (Be…Boutique accepts you just the way you are) even sweet shops like Treeline Treats will help you feel so much better about not joining in the fun on the slopes!
A Taste of Culture
Museums are another popular way to get to know the town of Winter Park better and two vastly different establishments jump into our minds, the Cozens Ranch Museum and Headwaters River Journey. Cozens, located in nearby Granby offers a fascinating portrait of early life for local settlers with the building it is housed on actually being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Headwaters River Journey, located right here in Winter Park, however, is an altogether unique museum, offering an interactive experience that explores the rivers that run through the Colorado landscape. Designed to impress both kids and adults, it is the perfect place for you and your child, a fellow non-skier, to tighten your bonds as you learn about the world’s most precious resource.
Mountaintop Après & Fun Things to Do in Winter Park
Just because you don’t want to ski, it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the most popular pastime of all, the après ski “party” held at Sunspot Mountaintop Lodge at Winter Park Resort. Taking place every Friday and Saturday from January through April, access to the Gondola is free after 4, allowing non-skiers to enjoy the fun. Offering live music (a different band each night) cocktails, and views of the most beautiful sunset you have ever seen in your life, Mountaintop Apres is about to become your new obsession!
Spa Day for the Win
What’s better than being warm and cozy inside during your escape to Winter Park? Being warm, cozy, and pampered by the amazing staff at Blue Sky Massage. Located at 21 Kings Crossing Road Unit 201 in Winter Park and offer a wonderful range of services that include multiple ways to be pampered, your skin, muscles, and body will thank you for the experience! Their Winter Wonderland package offers a body massage with peppermint oil, a foot massage in which your tootsies will be exfoliated, massaged with shea butter, and relaxed with hot compresses that will make you forget that just minutes ago you were trudging through the cold snow. The scalp massage included in this package will make you forget everything else except just how good it feels!
The Romance of Ice Skating
People who don’t like heights are prone to not like skiing, but skiing isn’t the only winter sport that you can try out during your stay in Winter Park. Ice skating still gets you out there in the crisp air and when you ice skate holding hands with your favorite traveling partner, your winter getaway becomes a romantic journey you will never forget. The Village Ice Rink, located in Winter Park, opens as soon as the ice is hard enough and stays open until warmer days arrive once again!
Eternal Summer in the Mountains
And finally, for the travelers who always have their faces turned to the sun, the Grand Park Community Rec Center allows you to experience summer in the depths of winter! Offering waterslides, pools, a lazy river, and everything you need for a resort vacation in a winter playground, the rec center is designed to keep you entertained and fit; it also offers a rock climbing wall, fitness classes, and a host of other things to do in Winter Park that will definitely counteract all the calories you have been ingesting while on vacation!
Stay at Home and Play
Let your family brave the wilds on the ski slopes as you soak in the hot tub, nap on comfy sofas, or sit in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine and a good book! Reserve your favorite Visit Winter Park Lodging winter escape today!
With a name like Winter Park, you might expect that summers would be pretty dead, but the opposite is true! Our small winter town is truly an all-seasons vacation destination, and as much as you will love the cold and snow in the winter, the cool and fiery colors of fall, and the promise that spring offers, your summer journey to Winter Park promises to make you fall even deeper in love with the beauty that is an essential part of the town! This guide to the top summer outdoor things to do in Winter Park will give you a new appreciation of the season as you play as hard as children on a jungle gym!
Fore!
Summer offers the perfect weather for a round of golf, and the Granby Ranch Golf Course located at 2579 County Road 894 in our neighbor town of Granby is the first place you should unpack your clubs! Offering a course that is built to be challenging without intimidating novice golfers, the beautiful views and glimpses of wildlife that occasionally will stroll across the greens will make you forget the shot you are trying to make and have you reaching for a camera instead! The Fraser River runs through this landscape of lush and verdant green adding to its charm, and if you feel as if you need some extra tips on your swing, their PGA professional staff offers lessons; just make an appointment!
The Not So Wild West
Every Western you have watched has a four-legged supporting cast, and although Winter Park is not really considered the Wild West any longer, you can have your own four-legged supporting cast when you check out the horseback riding tours offered by Snow Mountain Stables at 1101 County Road, also in Granby. Enjoy a two-hour guided horseback ride through the Colorado countryside, or if you really want to give your youngest child (between the age of 3 and 8) a thrill they will never forget, let them ride atop their own gentle “giant,” a pony being led by a responsible adult!
Cast a Line or Two
Perhaps the only sport more frustrating than golf and more loved as well, fly fishing is a popular activity in the summer in Winter Park. Whether you stand alone on the side of the river in hip waders, casting your line into the waters in the eternal battle of man versus fish or you sign up for a fly fishing trip with the amazing guides at Mo Henry’s Trout Shop, 78902 US Highway 40, every minute of your fishing adventures will be memory makers you will never forget! If you did not happen to bring along your own fishing gear, Mo Henry’s has everything you need and is located right here in Winter Park.
Bob Sledding in the Summer?
No, we aren’t crazy, we are just extremely excited about the Winter Park Alpine Slide! Located at 85 Parsenn Road, this exclusively summer activity begins with a touch of the winter season as you take the Arrow Chair Lift to the top and glide down over 3000 feet of “slide” perched atop your own “bobsled.” This is Colorado’s longest alpine sled, but no matter how long it takes you to get to the bottom, it is never long enough, so be sure to purchase an Activity Day Pass and ride it as many times as you wish! Tickets must be purchased online at least 48 hours in advance, so plan accordingly or risk missing out on this super fun summer activity!
No Special Equipment Needed
Sometimes the simplest things to do in Winter Park end up being the most impactful, and a hike along the Winter Park trails can be the perfect example. Grab a water bottle, a hat and sunglasses to block out the sun, and your most supportive shoes, and just walk! The Fraser River Trail is one of the easiest, offering very little altitude gain and a scenic amble along the Fraser River and continuing on for about 5 miles (round trip). If you are looking for something a little more, the Yankee Doodle Trail is also 5 miles long but offers a little more challenge to experienced hikers as you climb higher, seeking the most beautiful views!
Ride the Waves
For the ultimate in summer outdoor adventures, you need look no further than MAD Adventures, 78311 US Highway 40 Suite 200, for a white water rafting trip that promises to make your heart beat a little faster! Offering a variety of classes of rapids, photo opportunities, and the chance to get a little wet and cool on a beautiful summer day in Winter Park, this daredevil activity will give you bragging rights with your family back home.
Summer Nights with Visit Winter Park Lodging
When the sun sets and the sky lights up with the twinkling of a million stars, you will be snug, cozy, and comfortable in our Visit Winter Park Lodging sanctuaries. Reserve yours today! Contact us now.
There is nothing we love more than a good rainstorm here in Winter Park—except maybe a good snowstorm—and when the skies turn a gloomy gray and that wet stuff falls from the clouds during your Winter Park vacation, we can promise that you too will soon feel the same way! Yes, even if it dares to rain during YOUR vacation, these fun activities in Winter Park will keep you warm, dry, and entertained as you shop, explore, and dash between the raindrops as you come in and out of museums, restaurants, and whatever else we find for to do. This guide to rainy day activities in Winter Park in our favorite mountain village will ensure that EVERY minute of your getaway, not just the dry ones, will be even better than you imagined!
A Step Back in Time
As the rains fall, you will stay dry as you spend the hours exploring the Cozens Ranch Museum, 77849 US-40, learning how life was so much different for the early settlers who made their home in this area. Times were rough, especially during the winter, but when Cozens Ranch Museum was simply another stop on the stage coach trail, visitors could always count on a hot meal and a warm place to relax before continuing on with their travels. Today, the buildings that make up the museum have been restored to their former glory, bringing to life the days when travel was by stagecoach, heat was provided by fireplaces, and air conditioning wasn’t even a glimmer in anyone’s eyes. Take a step back in time and enjoy the simpler life for a few quiet hours during your Colorado vacation.
The Heart of Downtown
Serious shoppers never let anything like a few raindrops interfere with their habit—er, we mean hobby—and the downtown area of Winter Park will definitely be your new happy place, rain or shine! Pick up a new tee shirt or some cool souvenirs at Moose Hollow Trading Company in Cooper Creek Square or find a sweet gift for your sweet mom who is babysitting her sweet grand puppies at the General Store, also in Cooper Creek Square. Your children are being relative angels as they splash in mud puddles while you rush them from store to store, so we think a stop at Imaginations would be a worthy reward. Also located in Cooper Creek Square, this fun toy store has a great collection of board games, so pick up a few of your favorites and get competitive in your Visit Winter Park Lodging rainy day sanctuary after you have finished with your shopping expedition! Looking for some winter clothing, ski gear, or other outdoor accessories but don’t think you will use them enough to pay full price? Winter Park Trading has a fantastic selection of gently used clothing and equipment that won’t break your bank and is located next to Cooper Creek Square!
Taste-FULL Adventures
Our favorite part of any vacation is the food; being able to try out new restaurants, new foods, and yes, new beverages makes our hearts beat a little faster, and on a rainy Colorado day, trying out a new restaurant can be a great way to stay dry! Sip and snack at Adventures Decanted, where wine, cocktails, charcuterie boards, pastries, and small plates will make you forget about the dreary weather outside. Located in Cooper Creek Square, their menu changes with the seasons, but is surprisingly well rounded for an establishment that is mainly there for the wine! Paella’s Restaurant and Bakery has a fantastic seafood selection, but we want to be 100% honest with you: We go there for the bakery treats, because how can you go wrong with chocolate and ice cream and sweet cakes? Although we have had a simply wonderful time in Cooper Creek Square, it is time to venture out of its boundaries as we choose a nice Italian dinner from Volario’s, located at 78786 US Highway 40. Offering the best of Northern Italy cuisine, you could spend hours here, sipping red wine and enjoying your favorite dishes; pizza, pasta, and veal Milanese are what’s on their menu! Their dessert menu offers a twist to our favorite Italian sweet, serving strawberry mint cannolis and their ricotta cheesecake will make you wonder why every cheesecake isn’t made with ricotta!
Keep It Cozy with Visit Winter Park Lodging
The rainiest of days offer a sweet comfort when spent under the protective roof of our homes and condos, so unwrap the games you just bought, light a fire in the fireplace, and brew yourself a fresh pot of coffee. We can’t predict when the rain is going to stop, but we can predict you will have the time of your life when you choose Visit Winter Park Lodging for your rainy day adventures. Reserve your stay with us today!