Colorado’s Favorite – Winter Park Resort

winter park resort colorado

Once the snow melts at Winter Park Resort, the mountain turns from white to green and comes alive with colorful wildflowers.  The sun stays high in the sky, and the warmer weather is perfect for enjoying the many outdoor activities that Winter Park has to offer during the summer months.

Winter Park is a year-round resort, and there are outdoor activities that will satisfy everyone from adrenaline-seekers to those who enjoy tamer options like taking a scenic chairlift ride.

With the longer days, outdoor enthusiasts will have plenty of time to try as many outdoor activities as they can in one fun-filled day.  There are also plenty of options to keep the young adventurers busy too.

Winter Park Resort, known as “Colorado’s Favorite,” transforms into a mountain biking paradise in the summer and is aptly named “Mountain Bike Capital USA.”  There are over 600 miles of mountain biking trails in the Winter Park / Fraser area.  Within Winter Park Resort itself, mountain bikers will love riding the trails of Trestle Bike Park.

Trestle Bike Park has over 40 miles of freeride bike trails and access to three chairlifts.  A season pass will grant bike lovers unlimited access to all of the trails.  The summer season starts on June 16 and runs through September 23.  Trestle Bike Park School offers mountain guides / coaches as well as Bike Camp for all ages, skills, and levels.  Bike rentals and demos are also available.

The whole family can have fun at Trestle Park especially on Freeride Fridays, which gives families extended hours until 7 p.m.  As part of the package, families can play mini golf, find their way out of the Amaze’n Human Maze or take a scenic chairlift ride up the Zephyr Express.  To top off the evening, families can enjoy a free movie on the lawn.

Colorado's Favorite - Winter Park Resort 2Winter Park Resort is also the home of the Colorado Freeride Festival, held from July 26-29, 2012.  The festival features some of the best mountain bikers in the world, all competing for $40,000 in prize money.  Exciting events include Air Downhill, Cross Country, and Intergalactic Pond Crossing Championships (bikers attempt to cross a narrow track which floats across the village pond!).  It’s an event you will not want to miss.

If you have the “need for speed,” Winter Park Resort is home to Colorado’s longest Alpine Slide.  After taking the Arrow chairlift, speed demons will twist and wind their way down the 3,000 foot long slide, dropping 610 vertical feet while controlling their own speed.Colorado's Favorite - Winter Park Resort 3

For more thrills, the Leaps & Bounds Bungee features four trampolines linked by one central tower.  Jumpers can practice their acrobatic moves while secured by a special harness (attached to a giant bungee cord) which allows them to easily perform all sorts of flips and twists.

For more flips, twists, and turns, wannabe astronauts can experience the sensation of what it feels like to float in space on the GyroXtreme, which is located at the resort’s base.  Similar equipment is used to train U.S. Air Force fighter pilots and for NASA astronaut training.  The rider moves in three directions (with the stomach at the center) so motion sickness does not occur.

For those who love thrills but like to stay vertical, there’s an outdoor Climbing Wall right next to the Leaps & Bounds Bungee where climbers can test their climbing skills.

For less thrilling vertical action (which stays on the ground), try the Amaze’n Human Maze.  Frequent visitors will not master this maze as it is re-configured frequently.  The challenge of finding four check points while trying to beat the clock adds another level of fun and excitement to this human maze.

Winter Park is conveniently located only 67 miles northwest of Denver and 90 miles west of Denver International Airport.

IF YOU GO:

Winter Park Address and Info
85 Parsenn Road
Winter Park, CO  80482
www.winterparkresort.com

Winter Park Central Reservations
For lodging, reservations, and activity information
(800) 979-0332

Trestle Bike Park
(800) 729-7907
www.trestlebikepark.com/index.html