Several months ago, some friends told us about Beaver Creek.
They described this cute town in Colorado. They said it’s “easily accessible” and a must-see. They insisted that we give it a try, as a great place to vacation and a great place to learn to ski. My husband and I are decent skiers, but we haven’t been since having children. So naturally, we were a bit nervous . Especially because our kids had never put on skis on before this trip. But our friends insisted that Beaver Creek is the perfect place to learn to ski and that we were missing an opportunity.
After considering it for a few minutes, we realized they were right. What were we hesitating about? Kids learn to ski so much faster than adults. With a 5 and an 8 year old, this was the time to start. Even though we aren’t spontaneous people (how can one really be spontaneous with children?), we booked a rather last-minute trip to Colorado and visited Beaver Creek for the first time.
And I have to say , our friends were ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
Beaver Creek is great. It’s adorable. It’s family friendly. It’s fun. It’s easy. It’s doable and did I mention fun? Because it’s super fun.
I highly recommend it.
Take your family here. You won’t regret it.
We definitely plan on returning.
So without further delay, here are some fun and low-key things you can do as a family in Beaver Creek.
1- Ski
Of course, skiing tops the list. Someone told me Beaver Creek has the best ski school in the country, and after spending time there, I can see why they have that reputation. My kids were going up chairlifts and down green slopes after the first day. THE FIRST DAY.
Seriously.
They had learned to put on their own equipment, stop, turn and snow plow after one day of ski school. Also, my kids aren’t athletically inclined so if they can do it, so can yours.
Let me warn you about one thing though: ski school isn’t cheap. It’s about $300 per day, per kid. This includes lift tickets. It runs from 8:30am to 3:30pm every day and they feed your child lunch and snacks. I definitely had some hesitation for enrolling them but it was. So. Worth it.
If you’re not big into skiing, you can just enroll your kids and have some time to yourself during the day. Or, there are other snow activities (dog sleigh rides, snowmobiling, snow-shoeing etc…) that you can do as well. Or, if you’re like many of the other adults we saw, you can enroll in adult ski school and go at your own pace!
2- Ride an arctic cat up to Allie’s Cabin
There are three fun restaurants atop the hills in Beaver Creek. We tried Allie’s Cabin. The best way to book dinner reservations for one of these hilltop restaurants is online. Basically, once you make your reservation, you meet an “arctic cat” at the bottom of the mountain about 15 minutes prior to your reservation time.
What’s an arctic cat, you ask? I didn’t know either. Basically it’s a bulldozer that pulls a sleigh up the mountain. You sit with a bunch of other people in the “sleigh part”, with blankets (bundle up, it’s cold up there) and they pull you up the mountain for about 10 minutes or so.
The kids just love it. The star gazing is pretty incredible too.
Once you reach the restaurant (Allie’s cabin), you can enjoy a delicious meal with a gorgeous view. They have a buffet for children (mac &cheese, ice cream bar, the works), and a traditional menu for adults.
3- Make S’mores
Cute fact: there are random fire pits all over Beaver Creek.
Also: there are random s’mores kits at every convenience store and hotel in Beaver Creek.
Put the two together and what do you get? A fun night time activity that the kids will love.
If you add a gin and tonic into the mix, the adults will love it too!
The rest is pretty self explanatory.
4- Watch fireworks
Beaver Creek sets off a pretty nice fireworks show every Thursday night. We watched them while roasting s’mores by the fire (see activity 3).
Free and fun for all!
5- Ice skate
There is a decent sized (not too busy) skating rink in Beaver Creek. You can pay $10 for skate rentals or you can skate for Free every Monday between 6-9pm. We let our kids skate around for hours while the grown ups sat by one of the many fire pits located around the quaint town of Beaver Creek.
6- Eat Fresh Baked Cookies
Every day, at 3 pm, the town of Beaver Creek bakes fresh baked cookies (chocolate chip, when we were there) and hands them out. Just because.
I heard one baker telling someone they make almost 5000 cookies per day! People go crazy for these cookies. We didn’t fall into that category, but it definitely made our day!
7- Grab a crepe or gelato at Rimini
As soon as my husband saw Rimini , he said , “this is your type of place”.
He’s right. I’m a sucker for coffee , gelato, crepes and chocolate.
This place is very quaint but amazing. I highly recommend it.
8- Eat at Blue Moose Pizza
Blue Moose is a family friendly restaurant serving pizza, pasta, calzones and other treats. My family wasn’t too keen on trying it (I think they were imaging it would be like a Pizza Hut), but once I convinced them to go, (and they saw how delicious the food was), they became quick fans.
Blue Moon gets bonus points for offering entire pizzas and/or just pizza slices. If your family is like mine (everyone likes different toppings), then you can just order a slice or two of your favorite pizza !
9- Eat an entire fish at ‘Hooked’
Disclaimer: this may not be for everyone.
If you’re one of those people who likes seafood but doesn’t like “see-food”, it may not be for you. But I totally loved it.
Hooked is a seafood restaurant with an interesting twist. Basically, they have a traditional menu but they also have a fish-a-la-carte thing going. Their claim to fame is that they let you pick out a fresh/raw entire fish. Then, they prepare the fish any way you like (they have several options and you can even ask for chef’s choice) and then they bring you the fish back cooked and ta-da!
You eat it.
My husband didn’t like the fish to be looking at him, so it had to be facing me the entire time, so you can see how some people wouldn’t love this. Those people are the “fish sticks” type of people. While I love me a fish stick, I can also appreciate how half the coastal world eats fish just like this.
It was delicious! And very cool!
10- Grab some mouth-watering tacos at Coyote Cafe
I think this picture says it all doesn’t it? If you like Tex-Mex (or is it Col-Mex?), then this place is for you. Their food is fast and delicious and their prices are very reasonable.
11- Go for a Nature Walk
Finally, this is the best part of Beaver Creek. There is so much exploring to do and you don’t need a car for it. Bundle yourself up, start walking and explore all the beauty that nature has to offer. Take pictures, enjoy the gorgeous scenery, the stars and all the wonder. There isn’t anywhere else quite like it.
So overall, Beaver Creek was a huge success for us.
My family and I had an amazing time . I expected complaints from the kids (“the skis are too heavy, the snow suit is itchy, the goggles are foggy, the snow is too cold”), but I didn’t hear a thing. We were all happily exhausted every night and we woke up with excitement every morning.
As a family of four, we typically tend to gravitate towards beach vacations (this type of trip felt too labor intensive for us) , but we were proven wrong.
Despite it all, we really had a relaxing and magical time.
We truly didn’t expect to have so much fun which is why I think you should try it too!
Looks absolutely amazing !