Edwards

Arrowhead Hike & Dinner

Arrowhead will always be one of the valley’s quiet nooks when it comes to sunset hikes, but your date doesn’t have to end there. Follow a trek up the Village to Village Trail or Arrowhead Mountain Trail with dinner at Vista at Arrowhead, inside the Country Club of the Rockies (vista-arrowhead.com). The longtime favorite specializes in Colorado lamb and local trout, as well as live music from piano man Mickey Poage, and as the name suggests, magnificent valley views from a linkside dining terrace. 

Wolcott

Glamping Weekend

For those who want to escape the hustle and bustle, head downvalley to Wolcott and pass a couple of days glamping at Collective Vail. The luxury-tent enclave (operated by Collective Retreats, an outfitter that runs similar tented summertime luxury resorts on Governor’s Island in New York City, Texas hill country, Sonoma wine country, and other venues) is perched atop a bluff on a working ranch with an aptly named Wellness Trail to get your foot-travel fix. Gaze at New York Mountain’s rugged, snowcapped crown while centering yourself in peace. The retreat also hosts nightly multi-course dinners under the stars at Three Peaks Lodge, a backcountry dining room. Tents range from the Journey (from $209 for a queen with a shared bathroom and shower) to the Summit (from $409 for a king-sized bed and en-suite bathroom with a flush toilet and hot water). Either way, it takes a 15-minute hike to reach your accommodations. collectiveretreats.com/vail

Vail Valley

Eagle Valley Trail

Projected to be completed, at long last, in 2024, the 63-mile Eagle Valley Trail will allow for pedestrian travel between Garfield and Summit counties’ on paved pathways—and let an ambitious cyclist ride from Vail to Aspen in a day, perhaps the coolest century in Colorado (OK, 101.5 miles). Two milestones: The 27-mile Vail Pass Trail, the first and easternmost portion of the Eagle Valley Trail, was constructed between 1977 and 1980 (using federal funds to build a pedestrian trail along an interstate was revolutionary at the time); the final 10.3 miles to completed by next summer include a 1.5-mile stretch from Eagle-Vail to Dowd Junction, 7.5 miles from Horn Ranch to Edwards, and 1.3 miles for the Minturn Connection from Dowd Junction to downtown Minturn. 

Walk a 3.4-mile there-and-back loop from Dotsero to the Gypsum Duck Pond Open Space (or vice versa) to sample the newest section of the trail, which was finished in November before snow started to fall. eaglevalleytrail.org