Crested Butte, Colorado. The weekend guide.
How to Spend a Weekend in Crested Butte, Colorado
Crested Butte is a beautiful mountain town, 4 hours from Denver. It has so much charm to it which makes for a relaxed atmosphere. Whether you choose to camp, stay at an airbnb, or stay in a cabin, you’ll have an incredible time. Since it was my first time visiting, I wanted to stay close to the town. We stayed at this dog friendly cabin, it even had a yard for the dogs.
There were so many campsites, and many other accommodations closer to the ski resort. Crested Butte is slightly spread out, so you will have to drive to the town, or drive to the trailheads/ski lifts depending on where you stay. It’s a short drive, however parking can be a pain. Luckily there’s a free shuttle service available that can take you from mountain village to the town.
How to spend a weekend in Crested Butte, Colorado: What to do
We hiked Scarp Ridge Trail which was a total of 5 miles and a 30min drive from the town. The hike itself was incredible. I recommend going counter clockwise, and veering off at the end to go to the summit. However, the hike can be longer depending on where you park. I recommend a 4×4 vehicle to reach the beginning of the trailhead. However, we saw a lot of people parking at Irvin Lake then hiking up to Scarp Ridge which added an extra 1.5 miles. We did stop at Irvin Lake after our hike, there were many people paddle boarding and swimming!
On the way to Scarp Ridge Trailhead, we drove on Kebler Pass. It was beautiful to see the Aspens changing colors. Another beautiful drive was to Gothic. We drove this way to reach the trailhead for Jude Falls. The trail ends at a waterfall, but in the summer, the trail has beautiful wild flowers and in the fall the trail is full of yellow Aspens.
Another hike close to Gothic that is more of a ‘full day’ hike at 9 miles is Rustler’s Gultch. There are so many hikes within CB that we considered doing such as Emerald Lake, Oh be Joyful, Brush Creek, Snodgrass, etc. Typically the best time for wild flowers is mid July and August, and the best time to visit in the fall is mid/late September to early October.
There are also a ton of other activities to do in Crested Butte like mountain biking, fly fishing, or skiing/snowboarding in the winter.
How to spend a weekend in Crested Butte, Colorado: Where to Eat
For on the go breakfast, Butte Bagel serves delicious breakfast sandwiches. I’d suggest ordering online as there was a very long wait. The best coffee we had was from Camp 4 Coffee. If you’re interested in a sit down brunch, Sunflower’s back patio would be a great option. We also had smoothies from the Daily Dose.
We ate at Stash Pizza for dinner one night, so many people recommended this pizza joint to us. However, my favorite meal was from Bonez. Bonez is a Mexican restaurant that serves WHITE QUESO. I also had the enchiladas and a margarita! This is a popular restaurant and was rented out for private events Friday through Sunday night, so be sure to call ahead to find out, or have a back up plan! My back up plan was to dine at Public House and it did not disappoint. I had Buratta and Fish & Chips.
For a classic beer, I had one on the patio at Brick Oven Pizzeria. They had a variety to choose from on tap! My favorite drink of the trip was a cocktail from Montoya Distillery, they also had delicious sweet potato ‘animal fries’.
We were also there on Sunday, which happened to be during the Crested Butte Farmers Market. They had so many vendors, from produce, fresh flowers, to pastries!
If you’re wanting to check out more Colorado mountain towns, read my guide to Telluride, Colorado or Steamboat, Colorado.
Stay Fearless Fam,
Michelle Foster