Vail

Bus to Hike

Did we mention a free bus runs to many of Eagle County’s best trailheads? Not just one bus, but enough that they come every half hour. Day parking is free in all three of Vail’s public parking structures—Vail Village, Lionshead, and Red Sandstone—and each offers easy access to a host of trail options via the town bus system. Starting upvalley, the East Vail bus (blue route) takes you to stops that are all within a few minutes’ walk of the four best Gore Range trailheads. To hike the Booth Lake Trail (which no longer allows trailhead parking), get off at the Booth Falls stop and hike a quarter mile up Booth Falls Road; to access Pitkin Creek and its stunning alpine wildflowers, get off at the Falls at Vail stop and walk up Fall Line Drive until you see the trailhead; the ascent of Bighorn Creek starts a quarter mile up Columbine Drive (under the overpass) from the Columbine bus stop; and the doubly awesome Gore Creek/Deluge Lake trailhead requires just a five-minute walk from the Main Gore/Bighorn bus stop, up Bighorn Road and under the overpass.

Meanwhile, in West Vail, the same bus system serves a slightly lower elevation but nonetheless gorgeous hike on the North Trail. You can access it from a number of points along the West Vail Red and Sandstone routes, but the easiest are via the Buffehr Creek and Chamonix stops. Hike a quarter mile up Buffehr Creek Road to the Buffehr Creek trailhead, and from Chamonix, walk down North Frontage Road for 200 yards, where you’ll hit the Arosa trailhead. Of course, any of these portals can lead to a day as long or strenuous as you want it to be. 

Parking at Vail Village allows the easiest access to East Vail trails; from Lionshead or Red Sandstone you can take a free bus to the village. To hike the North Trail, the fastest access is from Red Sandstone (which also allows free overnight parking, ideal for backpackers). All buses to trailheads depart from the western end of the village transportation center’s top level. 

Vailgov.com has complete bus schedules, maps, and trailhead-specific directions. And while you’re at it: Tell somebody where you’re going (and when you plan to be back), and even if you don’t intend to be out after dark, take a headlamp, a charger for your phone, and extra layers (and water), just in case. If you have an emergency and need help, call or text 911, and Vail Mountain Rescue Group volunteers will come to your aid, free of charge.

Vail Mountain Rambles

The dirty little secret of taking a free bus to a sweet hike is that you don’t need to board a bus at all. Just park at Vail Village or Lionshead for free and hike up the ski resort—or, if you need to expedite access to the upper mountain trails, ride a lift. There is enough beautiful, meandering, view-and-wildflower-choked singletrack on Vail Mountain to keep a trekker happy for a week. 

Some of the classics include the Strawberry Lane-Berry Picker loop between the village and Lionshead. It won’t destroy your legs, but it’s still enough up and down to make you feel like you’ve earned the tasty lunch you’ll relish wherever you end the hike. Both Berry Picker (from Lionshead, 3.2 miles and 2,200 vertical feet one way) and Cabin Trail (from Vail Village, 3.4 miles, 2,300 vertical feet) are beautiful ways to climb the entire frontside if you’re looking for a stouter challenge. On the easier end, the 1.2-mile Ptarmigan Loop smacks you in the face with its views of the 14,005-foot Mount of the Holy Cross, as well as thirteeners like Notch Mountain and the Gore Range to the north. You can ride the Eagle Bahn gondola to the quick and equally beautiful Ridge Route to access Ptarmigan. Trail maps are at vail.com. 

Prokofiev Nature Walk

If you’re in town the weekend of July 22 and 23, consider a unique way to experience classical music in nature. During four walks starting at the Vail Nature Center—two on Saturday, two on Sunday, at 9:30 and 11 a.m.—participants are led by New York Philharmonic Archivist Gabryel Smith and a guide from Walking Mountains Science Center, with live musical excerpts from the late Russian composer and pianist Sergei Prokofiev. The walks “explore the composer’s unique ability to capture gestures, characters, and animals in the natural setting of his inspiration,” according to Bravo! Vail. The live excerpts come from Prokofiev’s masterworks Peter and the Wolf and Romeo and Juliet. Tickets are $10. bravovail.org.

Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

In the natural-kaleidoscope category, perhaps the most vivid scene in the valley can be found tucked in a corner of Ford Park that, not by accident, attracts 120,000 visitors each summer. The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens (bettyfordalpinegardens.org) comprise the highest botanical garden in North America, showcasing a vibrant collection of more than 3,000 species of plants sourced from around the world, but mostly local. The reason the name is plural is because the site includes four distinct gardens, all of which change in appearance as the season progresses. “Each week provides a different, more beautiful picture,” the gardens’ namesake, and First Lady, once said. Visitors come to the gardens for horticulture therapy, education, or simply to gape and marvel. Self-guided tours are welcome (admission is free, but the nonprofit suggests a $20 donation), while guided tours take place from Memorial Day to Labor Day, every day except Fridays and Sundays, starting at 10:30 a.m. from the Education Center. $10 per person. 

Town of Vail Public Art Walk

Lest anyone overlook the world-class art to be seen on foot, the Town of Vail offers one of the coolest cultural experiences in the village with its weekly public art tour every Wednesday from July 5 to August 30. As part of the Art in Public Places Program, the town’s collection includes more than 70 pieces—from sculptures and murals to paintings and playground components—each specially placed in a site where it enhances the observer’s experience. Meet at 11 a.m. at the Vail Village Welcome Center for the one-hour tour, which wends through the village and covers the history of Vail and master planning of the village. This summer’s tour features four sculptures from the contemporary collection of Vicki and Kent Logan that the couple gifted to the town. You can also take a virtual tour but, for the purposes of this story, only if it’s raining. artinvail.com

Vail Village BAR Crawl

Hiking makes us thirsty. The end. Luckily there are plenty of places, and tastes, to quench that thirst. Anyone like an old-school bar-slash-wine-bar crawl? Start at Root & Flower, a contemporary unicorn on Bridge Street that serves hard-to-find wine, oysters, craft cocktails, and usually has tasty happy hour specials (rootandflowervail.com). Then head across the street to 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit’s intimate tasting room (10thwhiskey.com/pages/tasting-room), where you can sip barrel-aged cocktails or spirit flights … until it’s time to tone it down with a frosty Flat Light Hefeweizen at Vail Brewing Company’s tap room at the Solaris off East Meadow Drive (vailbrewingco.com/vail-village-tasting-room). The final stop: Revel Lounge at the Hythe on West Lionshead Circle (thehythevail.com/dining/revel-lounge). Order a Figgie Smalls (fig-infused Gray Whale gin, strawberry syrup, lemon juice and a balsamic glaze). Then head for the hot tub.

Not a bar-crawl person? 

Consider this alternative: The Hythe offers an afternoon hike called the Vail Mushroom Foray, wherein a group of up to 10 follows expert mycologist James Chelin around the forest foraging for fungi. Learn where to find edible mushrooms and what you can and can’t eat (a.k.a. the key to mushroom bliss). If your group finds enough to consume, Chelin preps and cooks the harvest after the hike. $715.

Post-walk Vail spa treatment 

Oh, the things we do to our bodies that can be improved in a spa. From calf aches to barking hip flexors to weary, 60-year-old knees and backs, maintenance tends to carry more value as we age. Treat your hiked-out muscles to a High Altitude Adjustment at the Sebastian’s Bloom Spa: It starts with a foot soak and oxygen therapy session, then a full-body massage with extra attention paid to your feet.