One of the primary reasons people love Colorado is because of the ski scene. That doesn’t only include downhill or snowboarding of course. Cross-country, or Nordic skiing, is having more than a moment, and with good reason. Guest contributor, Carole Jacobs, has focused on six local places to go to take advantage of the sport’s many pluses.
Embrace the Magic of Winter in Colorado with these Cross-Country Skiing
Long to ski without embracing “Zuck’s” mantra to move fast and break things?
Welcome to cross-country skiing (aka Nordic skiing), a kinder, gentler take on winter that lets you savor the fantasia of a snowbound winter.
What the sport may lack in thrills, chills, and spills, it more than makes up for in elegance, grace, and quietude, all while simultaneously turning your bod into a calorie-burning furnace that vaporizes the pounds of Christmases past! Try doing that on a chairlift!
Meanwhile, did we mention the safety factor? Downhill skiing is renowned for turning novices into runaway freight trains, barreling haplessly down the mountain at warp speed and oblivious to everything save the fear of wiping out — and taking a slope’s worth of skiers down with them.
Nordic skiing, on the other hand, is poetry in motion, a sport that epitomizes the lightness of being as you glide gazelle-like across glistening meadows, through fairyland forests, and past creeks tinkling under snowbanks.
And with daily lift tickets costing hundreds, Nordic skiing is also more affordable than its downhill cousin, leaving you with more money to spend on a cross-country ski vacation you’ll never forget.
Colorado is renowned for its majestic mountains, world-class ski resorts, and abundant snow, all of which translates into phenomenal cross-country skiing.
We’d need a book to cover all the wonderful Nordic resorts in Colorado. (For a complete listing, visit the Colorado Cross Country Ski Association.)
The following six Nordic ski havens offer everything you need for a Nordic ski vacation, from miles of groomed trails for all levels and Nordic centers with equipment rentals, lessons, tours, cafes, restaurants and more to easy access to name-drop ski towns like Aspen, Snowmass, Winter Park, Crested Butte, and Breckenridge, all offering a bevy of ops for lodging, après ski, wining, dining, spa-ing, shopping, and snow sports.
Whether you want to ski up a storm or cocoon by a roaring fire, these winter wonderlands will make you believe in the magic of snow again. To learn why Nordic skiing is booming in America (hint: it can burn 500-1,000 calories an hour!), see 15 Health & Fitness Reasons to Make Nordic Skiing Your New BFF in 2025.
6 Places to Go Cross-Country Skiing in Colorado
ARAPAHO VALLEY RANCH, Granby, Colorado
Looking for a pristine place to embrace the magic of a snowbound winter? Look no further than this historic family-owned guest ranch set amid snowy peaks and glinting lakes in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. There’s even a river (The South Fork of the Colorado) running through it.
Set at 8,333 feet in a wilderness where snow hangs onto the Rocky Mountains well through spring, this sky-high dude ranch is also a real steal, offering myriad ways to embrace the chill without tanking your bank account.
You can cross-country ski or snowshoe the ranch’s own trail to a “kissing swing” overlooking the headwaters of the Colorado River Valley; tube down its blanketed slopes; twirl around the private ice-skating rink, or follow prints to their cryptic endings, with an eye peeled for denizens of the realm like moose, elk, coyote, fox, and yellow-bellied marmots–cartoonish critters that let out a shrill whistle as you approach. Or icefish for lake trout (they don’t hibernate) at Lake Granby and Monarch Lake.
Just outside the ranch, Monarch Lake Loop trail winds through hushed forests to frosty waterfalls, frozen lakes, and the old townsite of Monarch. The 1880s boom-to-bust mining camp roared on Saturday nights before withering away to slag heaps and broken bottles, although “boom” was somewhat of a misnomer: No more than $150 a year in copper was extracted from the mines. Today, Monarch rests in peace beneath Lake Granby, Colorado’s largest man-made lake.
Settle in: Originally a homestead (an early rancher put in an air strip so his piloting instructor and buddy Charles Lindbergh could fly in over the Continental Divide and down to the ranch for weekend visits), The Ranch evolved over the years into a beloved outdoor retreat for generations of families and friends. Today, The Ranch is anchored by an historic lodge with a stone fireplace, two living rooms, a bar, billiards room, trading post, and outside decks and patios with a firepit. In winter, there’s lodging in cozy log/wood cabins with kitchens. Spring through fall, you can also opt to stay in a furnished glamping tent or tipi, BYO tent for riverside or dispersed camping, or your RV for camping by the lake. RV sites have water and electrical hookups, and The Ranch also has a bathhouse with restrooms and showers.
Après ski: Arapaho’s 80-square-foot bar Red Dog Saloon is Colorado’s smallest watering hole. Grab one of the four stools and sip a Copper Mug Mule or local craft beer. On weekends, The Ranch builds a bonfire for roasting marshmallows. Beyond the resort, you can thaw out at Hot Sulfur Springs Resort & Spa (35 minutes away) or get down for the lively après ski scenes in Granby (30 minutes away) or Winter Park (45 minutes away).
Feast: The Ranch doesn’t have a restaurant, but you can buy groceries to make meals in your cabin at City Market in Granby (similar to Whole Foods and Trader Joes) or dine out in Granby and Winter Park’s many stellar restaurants.
Play in the snow: In addition to Ranch activities, there’s Nordic skiing at Grand Lake Nordic Center and Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic Center at The YMCA of the Rockies, both 40 minutes away. Snow Mountain also has downhill skiing, ice skating, tubing, dog sledding, sleigh rides, and snowmobiling). Take the kids and family downhill skiing at intimate Granby Ranch, or head to Winter Park Resort for world-class downhill and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, lift-assisted tubing on Coca-Cola Tube Hill, evening snowshoe tours; sunset snowcat tours, and ice skating on the village pond.
ASPEN SNOWMASS NORDIC SKI TRAIL SYSTEM, Aspen, Snowmass Village and Basalt, Colorado
One of the largest free trail systems in the country has 60-plus miles of groomed trails that wind through snow-covered meadows and dense forests, connecting Aspen, Snowmass Village, and Basalt. The system also has two cross country centers.
Stay: Voted the best Colorado Resort by Travel & Leisure, the Viceroy Snowmass Resort is a ski-in luxury hotel located on Snowmass Mountain, with a restaurant, 7,000-square-foot spa and a heated outdoor pool, all steps from the ski trails. For info on special winter packages, including VIPets, Stay & Spa, and fifth night free, go here.
Après ski: Head to the spa for pampering, yoga and fitness classes or a swim in the waterfall-fed infinity pool. For a different kind of liquid refreshment, lean into the Aspen Snowmass Après Series, featuring rotating afternoon parties with DJs at The Cabin on Snowmass and other venues.
Feast: Grab breakfast at the café at the Viceroy Lounge, ski in for healthy lunches at the resort’s NEST Bar & Grille, and cap the day with Latin contemporary cuisine at Viceroy’s Toro.
Play in the snow: Tromp past elusive wildlife on 2-hour naturalist-led snowshoe tours; snowmobile into pristine back country for close-ups of Maroon Bells, or glide across the ice at the village’s two free ice rinks.
BRECKENRIDGE NORDIC CENTER, Breckenridge, CO
Nestled at the base of the Ten Mile Range, the Nordic Center is located in a log lodge with a fireplace, bar, and grill for warming up after your ski adventure. The center has about 19 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails for all levels, plus equipment rentals; and group, private and semi-private lessons. You can read about the Nordic Center’s humble beginners in an 1880s repurposed miner’s cabin with a leaky roof here. Dubbed the Hallelujah Hut, it was moved to Heaven’s Gate ski trail for its second life as a destination hut after the owner/founder built the existing lodge, which opened on Christmas Day 2013 and was christened “The Oh Be Joyful Lodge.”
Stay: Like most ski resort in Colorado, Breckenridge has a wide variety of lodging ops, from swank lodges, boutique hotels and condos to intimate B&Bs, and cabins. The award-winning Gravity Haus, located at the base of Peak 9 has plush rooms, a dry sauna and hot and cold soaking tubs in a mountainside Japanese-inspired onsen, a café, and restaurant.
Lunch/Après ski: Ski into the Nordic Center’s Black Forest Tavern and Bar for hot fresh soups, Bavarian pretzels with cheese dip, loaded baked potatoes, German bratwursts, and signature drinks like “The Fire on the Mountain, plus gorgeous mountain views. Enjoy live music on Friday evenings during the ski season. Happy hour runs from 3 p until closing, with a wide selection of beer, wine, and signature cocktails and live music by local artists from 3-6 pm on Friday evenings during the winter season. Or head into Breckenridge, which has many après ski bars.
Feast: If you’re staying at Gravity Haus, get your morning buzz at Unravel Coffee, a coffee roastery serving eco-friendly coffee; and enjoy locally sourced organic and vegetarian brunch, lunch and dinner at Cabin Juice Elevated Eatery & Bar. For more dining ops in Breckenridge, check out this best restaurant list for foodies.
Play in the snow: The Nordic Center o offers snowshoeing on groomed trails, plus luxury snowcat tours in their state-of-the-art Prinoth Snowcat, designed and built in Italy with a heated, all-glass cabin. The 90-minute tour along Nordic trails includes a stop for hot chocolate, schnapps, and s’mores at the Nordic center’s historic backwoods mining cabin.
CRESTED BUTTE NORDIC, Crested Butte, CO
Known as the Nordic Ski Capital of Colorado, Crested Butte has 34 miles of groomed trails for classic, skate, and snowshoeing for all ski levels, equipment rentals, some of the best Nordic ski lessons in the state, including free skate lessons, and tours.
Stay: The town of Crested Butte has hotels, B&Bs and private home rentals with restaurants, shops and more within walking distance. Try the Purple Mountain Bed and Breakfast, an in-town intimate lodge with a spa.
Après ski/feast: Ski or snowshoe into the Magic Meadows Yurt, nestled in pine and surrounded by snow-covered peak, for a gourmet dinner by a roaring fire prepared by private chef Tim Egelhoff and fine wines, beers, and Montanya Rum cocktails. The yurt holds 40 people and reservations are required. The yurt is open seven days a week in winter as a warming hut and is heated by a wood stove, lit by solar-powered lights, and has a deck, outhouse, and basic kitchen. Or head into Crested Butte, where the après ski scene runs the gamut from the funky Secret Stash, renowned for its pizza, large selection of beers, live music and more; to the upscale the Dogwood, a restored miner’s cabin nestled in the West Elk Mountains that serves signature cocktails, whiskey flights, and small plates.
Feast: Ski into the Backcountry Bistro at the Magic Meadows Yurt for Sunday brunch between 10 am and 2 pm through March. The gourmet spread includes fresh juices, pastries, soup, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Gluten—and dairy-free options are available. Crested Butte has more gourmet restaurants than any other Colorado town its size (population about 1,436). For a list of great places to wine and dine, go here.
Play in the snow: Fat Bike on 6.2 miles of groomed trails (rentals available locally in Crested Butte); enjoy skiing with your dog (skijoring) on selected trails; and go ice-skating in The Big Mine Ice Arena in Crested Butte adjacent to the Nordic Center. BYO skates and you can use the rink for free.
DEVIL’S THUMB RANCH RESORT & SPA, Tabernash, Colorado
The Cadillac of destination Nordic resorts nestles on 6,500-plus acres of Rocky Mountain highs just 75 miles from Denver near Winter Park, with the peaks of the Continental Divide less than 10 miles to the east. More than 75 groomed trails snake through snow-shrouded forests, along gurgling creeks, AND past moose loose in the meadows, affording views of the resort’s namesake Devil’s Thumb, a solitary rock column rising from the crest of a distant ridgeline.
Stay: Luxury digs include elegant lodge rooms, private cabins, and guest houses equipped with stone fireplaces and dude ranch to earthy bohemian furnishings.
Après ski: Head to the hand-hewn log spa with a crackling fire for luxury pampering or warm up in the geothermally heated saltwater pool. Or unwind over craft beer at Heck’s Tavern, a monument to the mountains with giant posts and beams built from 800-year-old Douglas fir, a floor-to-ceiling fireplace fashioned from a nearby rockslide, and a geothermally-heated reclaimed spruce floor.
Feast: Chow down on “pasture-to-fork” Western cuisine with views of the Continental Divide at the Ranch House Restaurant and Saloon, the lodge’s 1930s homestead. Dive into 100% Wagyu beef from the resort’s own herd (Devil’s Thumb is one of the few ranches in the U.S. to breed purebred Wagyu cattle) and fine wines that routinely win Wine Spectator’s Best of Award Excellence. For dessert, enjoy fireside s’mores by the stone hearth.
Play in the snow: Enjoy snowshoeing tours, horseback riding, storybook sleigh rides, snowcat tours, tubing, guided fat bike tours, “skijoring” with your pooch, or ride the resort’s hay wagon out to the back pastures and help feed the horses. For tubing, scenic gondola tours, snowcat cat tours and more, head into Winter Park.
YMCA OF THE ROCKIES, Snow Mountain Ranch, Granby, Colorado
Spread out over 5,100 acres of rolling meadows, aspens, and spruce forests, with more than 60 miles of groomed cross-country skiing trails, this Nordic ski ranch 14 miles from Winter Park transports skiers around towering mountains, through wooded forests and along creeks, for a chance to spy on elk and moose. Snow Mountain offers single and multi-day passes, annual memberships as well as gear rentals at its Nordic Center. Overnight guests at the ranch get free trail passes as well as free ice skating, snowshoeing, and tubing at the resort.
Stay: Lodging at the ranch includes 225 guestrooms with microwaves to cabins with cozy fireplaces. The resort also has restaurants, a café, and laundry facilities.
Après ski: Ski in to the Nordic Center’s Skinny Ski Café for hot chocolate, soups and chili; head to nearby Granby Ranch’s Après Ski & Live Music through March 8 at the ski resort’s 8350 Lounge; or drive 14 miles to Winter Park and ride the gondola up to 10,700 feet for Mountaintop Après at the Lodge at Sunspot, held Thursday-Saturday from 4-8 pm through April 5 from 4-8 pm. Enjoy live music, food, drink specials, and stunning alpenglow views of Parry Peak. Or try Door 222 in nearby Loveland, featuring handcrafted tapas and a wine bar. For a list of more great après ski bars in Winter Park, go here.
Feast: Schlessman Commons, the ranch’s rustic dining hall, offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner service in an all-you-can-eat, buffet-style dining hall, with hot and cold menu items that include vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian options. All meals include the salad bar, entrees, dessert, and beverages. Or ski in to a hearty lunch at the Nordic center’s Skinny Ski Café, with soups, chilis, bread bowls, turkey wraps, salmon bagels, snacks, beverages, and more. If you rented a cabin, stock it with groceries from the City Market in nearby Granby and cook your own meals. Or head into Winter Park and warm your innards on eclectic ethnic fare that runs the gamut from Indian and Nepalese food at Durbar to Mexican-Japanese fusion fare at Pepe Osaka’s. For info on more restaurants in Winter Park, go here.
Play in the snow: Overnight guests at the ranch get free access to the ranch’s on-site ice-skating snowshoeing and tubing. Or go ice fishing on Lake Granby.
For more information on cross-country skiing, the various types, necessary gear, health and fitness benefits, and a listing of Nordic resorts in the U.S. and Canada, visit the Cross Country Ski Association.
-Story by Carole Jacobs
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