Our Visit To Telluride, Colorado

The first words that comes to mind when I think about our time in Telluride is This place is magic…

Telluride was one of our last stops on a 5 week long road trip through California, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. We are so glad we saved this town for last as it was one of the highlights of the trip.

The Town

Telluride is possibly more well-known for it’s incredible skiing and snowboarding, but we found our summer trip to be filled with endless adventure possibilities. The town itself is so unique in that its tucked up inside a box canyon with steep forested mountains almost completely surrounding it along with a visible waterfall in the distance. Simply sitting in the middle of town and looking at the landscape is breathtaking. It almost doesn’t even feel real. Due to the surrounding mountains, the town itself cannot grow too large, so its managed to maintain its quaint and charming feel despite its popularity.

Where We Stayed

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Without a doubt, the major highlight of our trip was staying at Mountain Lodge Telluride. After several weeks of camping, needless to say, we welcomed the idea of staying at a hotel. Mountain Lodge is far from a regular hotel though. Situated on the actual mountain and within the Telluride Ski Resort, its one of the most unique hotel locations we’ve ever been to. Once we parked our car, we were able to walk to local restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores as well as ride the Gondola down the mountain and get dropped off right in town. This all made for an extra relaxing and enjoyable experience.

Our lodging itself was absolutely incredible as we stayed in one their Luxury Cabins. . It’s an actual freestanding private cabin complete with a full kitchen, fireplace, and some of the best mountain views we’ve ever seen. It also sits right next to a ski run so in the winter, you can walk out your front door and ski down the mountain. In the summer, these runs make for perfect hiking trails. We ended up spending a lot of time in the cabin just relaxing and taking it all in. We could have easily stayed here for a month!

Fun Stuff We Did

Ride The Gondola - The gondola is free in the summertime and allows you to easily get from the upper areas of the mountain and resorts down into town. The kids LOVED riding it and the views were incredible.

Fish at the stocked pond in Town Park for children 12 years and under. Fishing poles are complimentary from the Information Center in Town Park. There is a four trout limit. Note that this was not open when we visited due to COVID but I would expect it to open up again next year.

Float an inner tube down the San Miguel. Tubes are available to buy at Timberline Ace Hardware or for rent at Bootdoctors. We had an absolute blast playing and floating in the river that runs right through town. This is a must-do for all ages.

Hit the pool at Town Park. The outdoor heated pool is perfect for taking a dip on a warm day and practicing some underwater handstands or a game of Marco Polo. The pool was open when we visited but you did need to make reservations.

SUP Paddle Boarding - You can bring your own gear or easily rent it in town. There are several great spots for SUP paddle boarding and few we recommend are Priest lake, Alta Lakes, and Trout Lake.

Bike Trails - Tons of bike trails to choose from but we found the River trail to be the easiest and most pleasant for the kids. You can stop as often as you like and play in the river as well.

Hiking - We didn’t get in as much hiking as we would have hoped on this trip, but here are a few recommendations we received from the locals:

Cornet Creek
Bear Creek Canyon

Market on the Plaza - A fun little market that was walking distance from our lodge. It’s held on Wednesdays in mid-summer from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Heritage Plaza, the center of Mountain Village. Heritage Plaza is steps from the free gondola and is adjacent to the Telluride Bike Park.