My lady wants to spend Christmas in Colorado this year. She's only lived in Louisiana, Hawaii, and Texas so she's never had an actual winter Christmas.
It'll be our 2 boys (5 & 11), her, and I. We'll be driving from San Antonio, we like roadtrips a lot. I do have snowchains in storage somewhere, if needed.
Any recommendations? Especially cabins/air bnb/resorts. I'm just in the planning phases so all questions if it'll help you help me.
I'm trying to avoid Denver to be honest lol.
You can do old colorado city in Colorado Springs. The resorts will be EXPENSIVE that time of year where as the springs is a lot less. The Cog (https://www.cograilway.com/ride/schedule/) should be running by then and I think the Summit house on Pikes Peak should be done so you can go to the top there.
Pagosa springs. It'll take some work to find a condo free, but for a winter wonderland it's hard to beat. Deep snow, skiing, sleigh rides, etc
Do you want to ski? That's the big geography question.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
That would be nice but not a MUST
For scenery, I really like Estes Park. It's surrounded by some beautiful mountains and not very far from I-25. We've also rented a cabin near Buena Vista which is right next to the Collegiate Peaks (several 14ers). Pagosa Springs is nice, too.
Something to consider is that you may have trouble with the altitude, so don't expect to do a lot of hiking.
That's peak season at ski resorts, so the answer to Seth's question has some serious repercussions.
What part of Colorado do you want? The red rocks and high desert? The part that is really a mix of Nebraska and Kansas? The classic Rocky Mountains? If you want to go skiing, do you need a big name resort or will something a little less known do the trick?
(translation from Joe's post: a 14er is a mountain that is over 14,000' high. We have a few of them)
In reply to JoeTR6 :
Thank you. I've had multiple deployments to combat zones with similar or higher altitudes so I def know my lungs will be like wtf 
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Less known is fine. Not trying to "keep up with the Jones" here, but near/in mountains are a must.
Skiing is cool but not a must, we're indifferent to it.
I'd definitely run some numbers on the skiing. Durango or Ouray may be good options - Ouray is absolutely gorgeous but goes to sleep in the winter, so it could potentially be a nice small-town Christmas without the ski crowd. I like it there in the winter. We've stayed at the Weisbaden hot springs there in the past and they have an entire apartment on the main street that you can rent. I don't know Durango as well but it's a bigger city. It's closer to skiing.
May I recommend a snowmobile trip since the family is not use to snow & skiing. A nice trip with a group on a nice trail into a resort restaurant for an overnight stay or just lunch & return.
I grew up skiing & snowmobiling & skiing is not usually something that can be mastered in a day or even 2. Have seen many miserable couples & families on the bunny hill slopes trying to enjoy a day of skiing.
The snowmobile trips on the other hand are really cool & easier on the family. The kids will love it also.
Deciding a budget will decide aot for the trip. Big resort areas like Vail or Aspen will be packed and big money.
It really is nice to do things in fancy areas but fun can be had without the jet set crowd.
In between empty cheap versus packed and expensive i would definitely look in either Estes Park area for natural beauty or Breckenridge for winter activities. We have had fun "Glamping" in those areas and renting snowmobiles or riding the gondas is nice for both young and old.
My nanny was from SA and did the drive plenty of times. Called it uneventful but long and boring; can't think of anything worth mentioning along the way...
Skiing at Christmas around here can be really dodgy. Snow has been coming later and later every year, I wouldn't be willing to come from out of state here with the hopes of a great Christmas ski vacation, same with snowmobiling. Heck, sometimes it's not even all that cold here around Christmas.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is if your goal is to experience a "White Christmas" and do snowy things for sure, don't come here at Christmas because you could be disappointed. The Back Bowls in Vail weren't open this past Christmas for instance, to give you an idea of the lack of snow coverage...
How much you want to spend and distance to activities/towns/restaurants matters. Breckenridge is nice but will be more money than, say, Leadville. But there's way more to do in Breckenridge than Leadville. Are you coming to see scenery or do stuff?
In reply to mdshaw :
Sums up my skiing experiences. I'm much better in a snowboard lol
Snowmobile trip does sound awesome
Keith Tanner said:I'd definitely run some numbers on the skiing. Durango or Ouray may be good options - Ouray is absolutely gorgeous but goes to sleep in the winter, so it could potentially be a nice small-town Christmas without the ski crowd. I like it there in the winter. We've stayed at the Weisbaden hot springs there in the past and they have an entire apartment on the main street that you can rent. I don't know Durango as well but it's a bigger city. It's closer to skiing.
Ouray sounds great. My lady doesn't like large crowds too much. I was looking at Durango too.
In reply to docwyte :
Not going for snowboarding/skiing. We're indifferent to that, I've done it plenty and it's honestly something I do with friends.
But we'd like snow and mountains, so scenic.
Another comment on the Ouray area - we have ice climbing right in town (!) and a number of good cross-country ski areas that are free. Lots of VRBO and B&B options in the area, too, I know several homeowners in my subdivision are part-timers and rent their houses to make their house payments (and more), they are always busy.
We really enjoyed Telluride.
No help with where to go, though I have friends that live at 9,000ft above Colorado Springs (no thank you) but we"ve had really good luck using VRBO.
Dan
book now..
Jim Pettengill said:Another comment on the Ouray area - we have ice climbing right in town (!) and a number of good cross-country ski areas that are free. Lots of VRBO and B&B options in the area, too, I know several homeowners in my subdivision are part-timers and rent their houses to make their house payments (and more), they are always busy.
The last time I went to Colorado (which is measured in decades ago, so bear with me) we skied at some resorts and ice climbed in Ouray. The vibe between resort towns and Ouray was staggering. I like the above recommendation.
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