Welcome to Summit County, Colorado, home to five ski areas, six towns, and a reservoir sitting at 9,017 feet. This complete Summit County guide covers everything a first-time visitor needs: where to eat, how to do apres-ski, which town to stay in, family activities, day trips to waterfalls and alpine lakes, and the local tips that save time, money, and a day lost to altitude.
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Apres-ski is the county's signature ritual: the lifts stop spinning around 4pm, you walk in still wearing your boots, and you order before you have taken your gear off. Every resort base has its own version, and the best ones are a hundred feet from where you click out of your bindings.
The spots worth planning around:
One warning: alcohol hits roughly twice as hard at 9,600 feet. Drink water between rounds, especially on night one.
Main Street Breckenridge is the strip. Roughly a mile of restored 1880s Victorian storefronts from South Main to North Main, with Peak 8 rising straight behind them, and it holds the densest run of bars, restaurants, and shops in the county. It is all walkable, and it is worth doing once from end to end.
The classics: Gold Pan Saloon (one of the oldest continuously operating bars west of the Mississippi, original back bar intact), Burke & Riley's Irish Pub (upstairs balcony over the street), Napper Tandy's, RMU Tavern (run by the Rocky Mountain Underground ski builders, dogs welcome), Blue Stag Saloon (elk, bison, wood-fired pizza, fire pits out back), Downstairs at Eric's (basement sports bar and arcade, 100-plus beers, family-friendly early), and Cecilia's Martini Bar, which stays open after everything else in town has closed.
Decks and rooftops stack the strip too: Fatty's Pizzeria on Ridge Street, South Ridge Seafood Grill, and The Canteen Taphouse & Tavern on North Main. For tasting rooms without leaving the sidewalk, there is the Breckenridge Distillery Main Street Tasting Room, Mythology Distillery in the historic barn on North Main, Continental Divide Winery, Steep Brewing & Coffee Co., and the Broken Compass Main Street taproom. Eat at Empire Burger, Fatty's, Crepes a la Cart on the walk home, or book ahead at Hearthstone, Briar Rose Chophouse, Modis, Rootstalk, or Aurum Food & Wine.
Do not fight for a parking space. Park free in the F-Lot and ride the free BreckConnect gondola or the free Breckenridge Free Ride bus into town.
An 1859 gold-rush town that never got torn down. One of Colorado's largest National Historic Districts, five ski peaks straight above it, and the most nightlife, restaurants, and shopping in the county. Busiest and priciest, and worth it once. Don't miss the free BreckConnect Gondola, Country Boy Mine (walk 1,000 feet into an 1887 gold mine), the Breckenridge Distillery, Broken Compass Brewing, and the free sledding hill at Carter Park.
The geographic middle of the county, right where I-70 meets Highway 9. A low-key Main Street of locally owned restaurants and shops, a marina on the west side of Dillon Reservoir, and the best value for a group that wants to split time between resorts. Essentials: Butterhorn Bakery & Cafe (the county's breakfast benchmark, no reservations, get there before 9am), Outer Range Brewing Co. in its A-frame taproom, Highside Brewing, Bagalis, Peppino's Pizza & Subs, Ein Prosit (a real beer hall hidden inside a Main Street antique store), and Frisco Adventure Park.
Built on the shore of Dillon Reservoir after the original town was flooded to make it. Home to the highest deepwater marina in North America, a lakeside amphitheater with free summer concerts, and the best water views in the county. Sleepy after dark, which some people want. Go to Dillon Dam Brewery, the STEEP Brewing Lakeside Tiki Bar on the water in summer, Saved by the Wine, Red Mountain Grill, and Sapphire Point Overlook at sunset.
First exit off I-70 and the most practical town in the county. Outlet shopping, a riverside food hall, a whitewater park, and Gold Medal trout water running right through the middle of town. Lodging and groceries cost less here than anywhere else in Summit County. Eat and drink at Bluebird Market, Sauce on the Blue, Mint (cook your own steak on a 700-degree stone), Timberline Craft Kitchen & Cocktails, Old Dillon Inn, and Angry James Brewery on the river.
A resort-run village rather than a town, and it is built for families. Three mountains, the longest night-skiing operation in Colorado, free Kidtopia programming, and the largest Zamboni-maintained outdoor ice rink in North America. Arapahoe Basin and the ghost town of Montezuma are both a short drive up the road. Dining is the surprise here: Ski Tip Lodge (1800s stagecoach stop turned four-course inn), Alpenglow Stube (two gondolas up to 11,444 feet), Der Fondue Chessel, Kickapoo Tavern, and Snake River Saloon.
A purpose-built village at the base of a mountain that sorts itself: beginners west, intermediates center, experts east. Everything is walkable from the lifts, crowds are thinner than Breckenridge, and evenings are calm. Ten Mile Tavern, Jack's Slopeside Grill, Downhill Duke's, Sawmill Pizza & Taphouse, and Mulligan's Irish Pub cover the eating and drinking. Woodward Barn keeps kids busy the second the lifts close.
Bachelorette weekends, bachelor parties, ski-buddy reunions, and multi-family condo trips all run on the same playbook here. Big groups work in Summit County because the lodging is condo-shaped and the towns are 10 to 20 minutes apart. Here is the complete version:
Five ski areas sit within about 30 minutes of each other, which is the whole reason to come here:
Passes: Breckenridge and Keystone are on Epic, Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin are on Ikon, and Loveland sells its own. Buy any of them online well before you arrive, never at the window.
Want off the resort? Breckenridge Nordic Center and Frisco Adventure Park have groomed cross-country and snowshoe trails, and Colorado Adventure Guides runs guided backcountry days and avalanche courses. In summer the same terrain turns into hiking and mountain biking, with roughly 60 miles of paved recreation path connecting every town.
This whole county is built for families. Free or cheap kid-friendly activities:
Colorado beer country, at 9,000 feet. The county's headliners are Outer Range Brewing Co. in Frisco (hazy IPAs and Belgian styles in a striking A-frame taproom), Dillon Dam Brewery (one of the largest brewpubs in Colorado, open since 1997), and Breckenridge Brewery & Pub, the original 1990 South Main brewpub where Avalanche Ale started. Add Broken Compass Brewing (coconut porter, a chairlift for a bar bench, food trucks most days), Highside Brewing in Frisco, Steep Brewing & Coffee Co. and Syndicate Brewing Co. in Breckenridge, and Angry James Brewery on the Blue River in Silverthorne.
For spirits, the Breckenridge Distillery on Airport Road calls itself the World's Highest Distillery and runs free guided tours, paid tastings, and a full restaurant. Mythology Distillery pours whiskey and rum in a historic barn on North Main, and Continental Divide Winery makes wine at 9,600 feet on South Main. Day trip further for 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Co. in Vail (45 min west), Golden Moon Distillery in Golden (75 min east), or Stranahan's in Denver (90 min east).
Colorado has stunning waterfalls and alpine lakes within day-trip distance, and the first several are barely a drive at all:
The Summit Stage is a free county-wide bus connecting Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon, Silverthorne, Keystone, and Copper Mountain every day of the year, with ski racks on the front and no fare or pass of any kind. Each town layers its own free shuttle on top of it: the Breckenridge Free Ride, the Frisco Flyer, and the Keystone and Copper village routes. Between the two systems you can run a whole ski week without ever starting a car. Uber and Lyft both operate here, but driver supply thins out late at night and surge pricing at closing time is real, so plan the last ride before you need it.
Nearly everyone flies into Denver International Airport (DEN) and drives I-70 west, which takes 75 to 100 minutes without weather. Shared shuttles like Epic Mountain Express run door to door if you would rather not drive. In winter, rent something with all-wheel drive and snow-rated tires, check cotrip.org before you leave, and expect the Colorado traction law to be in effect on I-70 during storms. Avoid heading back east on Sunday afternoons if you can help it.
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