Outdoor living in Winter Park’s mountain town and ski resort
Located within the Colorado mountain range, Winter Park was established in the 1930s as an alpine, resort-style destination. Since then, it has grown into an entire town with a population of over 3,400. The Winter Park Ski Resort is the area’s main attraction, and the surrounding mountain landscape provides year-round recreation. Downtown Winter Park is lined with local shops and restaurants that both tourists and residents frequent throughout the year. “It’s a very quiet, very sleepy town, and pretty laid back. It still retains that old small-town feeling, even though you’ve got a world-class resort available,” says Realtor Michelle Clifford with Compass, who has over 30 years of experience.
Recreation in the mountains and at city parks
Winter Park is surrounded by natural recreation. Sitting within the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and along Mary Jane Mountain, the town has miles of hiking and biking trails, including the Fraser River Trail and Idlewild North Loop. A handful of campgrounds can be found in the area.
Confluence Park is one of three green spaces in town. It sits at the junction of the Vasquez and Fraser rivers and has multiple walking paths with bridges and boardwalks crossing over the water. Fly fishing is allowed on the shoreline. There’s also Wolf Park, which has a large turf field and multiple courts for basketball, volleyball and tennis. Hideaway Park has a playground with climbing structures and a skate park. The Rendezvous Event Center is located in Hideaway and operates as a permanent stage for concerts and events. “Every Thursday all summer, you can bring food and listen to music,” Clifford says.
Winter Park is known to celebrate over 40 community events throughout the year, including rodeos, art festivals and wellness classes for yoga and meditation. The Fourth of July Celebration includes sports tournaments, fireworks and a free concert and drone show at Hideaway Park.
Winter Park’s world-class ski resort
One of the area’s biggest draws is the Winter Park Ski Resort. The 3,000-acre facility has roughly 166 designated skiing trails and 23 lifts. Multiple Olympic athletes have trained there, including Elizabeth McIntyre and Michelle Roark. Visitors can also go snow tubing and ice skating within the grounds. During the summer, the resort offers activities such as scenic gondola rides, biking tours, a ropes course, an 18-hole putting course and whitewater rafting.
Cabin-inspired single-family homes and condos
Most housing in Winter Park are located in and around Downtown. Craftsman-inspired townhouses are the most common, with stone accents, slated roofs and tucked-in garages. Some of these properties were built in the 1980s to 2000s and are priced around $750,00 to $1 million, while new constructions cost upward of $2 million. Multi-story homes with cabin-inspired features, like wood exteriors and balconies, go for $1.5 million to $2.7 million. There are also a handful of luxury cabins built into the side of the mountains.
Condominiums can be found in both Downtown and surrounding the ski resort. Older condos built in the 1970s and 1980s have a contemporary design and rustic look. These units cost around $400,000 to $700,000. New construction condos have a modern, geometric design and are priced between $800,000 and $1 million.
“A lot of properties are second homes for people. The beauty of Winter Park is that it does not have short-term rental regulations, so that’s how people afford to buy their house,” Clifford says.
Local shops and restaurants in Downtown Winter Park
Downtown Winter Park is the area’s commercial hub, with multiple shopping centers and standalone ski rental shops. Cooper Creek Square is a shopping plaza with gift shops and novelty stores like Mountain Shire Books & Gifts. Durbar is a Nepalese and Indian bistro serving traditional cuisine. Farther north along U.S. Route 40 is The Village Center, which has Fireside Market & Eatery for groceries. Local restaurants are dotted along the main thoroughfare. Deno’s Mountain Bistro is an upscale American restaurant, while Hernando’s Pizza Pub is more casual. Several coffee shops offer breakfast beverages. “These places are not franchises, they’re all local,” Clifford says. “They get packed in the busy season, so you’ll have to make reservations.”
Winter Park Ski Resort has its own selection of eateries, from dining halls to grab-and-go restaurants. Goodys Mountain Creperie serves all-day breakfast, and Doc’s Roadhouse is diner-style.
Traveling to and navigating around Winter Park
Multiple modes of transportation exist in Winter Park. The Winter Park Ski Resort Amtrak Station allows commuters to travel by train. There’s also The Lift, Winter Park’s local bus services, offering free shuttles through Downtown and to the ski resort. “In the summer, you can just call the shuttle and have it pick you up from your house, but in the winter, they have routes they follow,” Clifford says. U.S. Route 40 is the main thoroughfare, traveling north to south. It connects to Interstate 70 in Lawson, which can be used to head into Denver.
Middle Park Health is the area’s general hospital, located between Winter Park and Fraser. Denver International Airport is roughly 89 miles away.
B-rated public schools in Grand County
Winter Park is served by the East Grand School District, which enrolls roughly 1,300 students across four schools. Fraser Valley Elementary School and East Grand Middle School both earn B-plus grades from Niche. There’s also Granby Elementary School, which has a B. Students attending the B-rated Middle Park High School can participate in programs for technology and automotive skills. The school’s Homegrown Talent Initiative (HTI) program offers hands-on internship experiences.
Another schooling option is Winter Park Christian School, a private institution teaching kindergarten through 12th grade.
The unique challenges of mountain living
The base of Winter Park sits 9,000 feet above sea level, and the mountain’s summit is around 12,000 feet. As such, the area’s altitude can affect air quality and weather. The average annual snowfall for Winter Park is about 136 inches, nearly twice as much as the Colorado average. The town’s Public Works Department has a robust snow removal and plowing service with a priority-based system.
