Winter Park is a great ski destination close to Denver, Colorado! It is about 1.25 hours – 1.75 hours away depending on where you are coming from in the city and traffic! If you are flying in for your skiing vacation, you should also consider taking the Amtrak from Union Station. The Amtrak will drop you off directly in the middle of the ski resort. The only downfall is the limited days and times it runs into Winter Park.
We visited over MLK weekend as Winter Park was one of the few resorts we could access on our Ikon Base pass. We were NOT alone! The resort was packed; actually too busy for us and we will probably avoid this holiday weekend going forward. Just keeping it real…
With the packed ski resort aside, we have a great time exploring Winter Park for apres and dinner, in addition to our bluebird ski days!
Here’s what we did:
Friday, January 15
- Drove from Denver to Winter Park mid-afternoon to arrive by dark. We stayed in Old Town Winter Park right next to the ski resort.
- Happy Hour at Big Trout Brewing Company – love porter and stout season!
- Dinner at Paellas Restaurants
Saturday, January 14
- Ski Day at Winter Park Resort
- Hot Tub Happy Hour
- Dinner at Hernando’s Pizza Pub – a “must-stop” for every Winter Park visit!
Sunday, January 16
- Ski Day at Winter Park
- Hot Tub Happy Hour
- Dinner at Smokehouse BBQ – I finally found my Skrewball Peanut Butter whiskey!
Monday, January 17
- Ditched the skiing due to a broken thumb and head back to Denver early in the day
It was a roller coaster ride of a weekend – awesome skiing and great food but the large crowds and a broken thumb made the “ride” come to a crashing halt!
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