Summer in Colorado's Winter Park

WINTER PARK, Colo. — Enjoy a surprising valley/mountain full of warm-weather activities when you spend your summer in "winter" — Winter Park, Colo., that is.

Approximately 480 driving miles southeast of Salt Lake City and about 80 miles west from Denver, Winter Park is an oasis of summer fun at high altitude — 9,000 feet above sea level.

"It's unbelievable how a place called Winter Park can have such amazing summers," a tourist brochure from Winter Park Resort accurately states. There are 1.3 million acres of wide-open space in the adjacent Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest.

When summer temperatures sizzle in the 90s, or higher, along Utah's Wasatch Front, it's refreshing to spend time in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, with open spaces, cooler temperatures and spectacular panoramas.

"It's nice because we're in our own little nook — Fraser Valley," said Darcy Morse, communications manager for Winter Park Resort. "We're engulfed in the Rocky Mountains ... not far from Denver. I think it's just a great destination."

She stressed that Winter Park's forested location makes a great home base/hub for central Colorado — it's a mountain playground. The summer season at Winter Park Resort officially starts June 16, when the chairlifts and summer rides/activities begin in earnest, and ends Sept. 3. (The nearby town is also called Winter Park.)

There are an alpine slide, scenic chairlift rides, bungees, mini-golf, a human maze, outdoor climbing wall, gyro, disc golf and more.

Second, there's a wide variety of family style and more adventurous river rafting on the Colorado River and its tributaries.

Next, there's nearby Rocky Mountain National Park (50 miles to the north); bathing at Hot Sulphur Springs; hiking in the Never Summer and the Byers Peak wilderness areas; numerous biking and mountain biking trails (Winter Park is sometimes called "Mount Bike Capital USA" with 600 miles of interconnected trails); golf, rodeos and music festivals all summer.

Farther away, after driving over Berthoud Pass (elevation 11,315 feet) to I-70, you can easily day trip to Denver, Colorado Springs or Pikes Peak; drive the nation's highest paved road (elevation 14,130 feet) to Mount Evans; motor through the country's highest highway tunnels (Eisenhower Memorial at 11,158 feet); visit the many outlet stores in Dillon; ride the Georgetown loop railroad; visit the town of Grand Lake; and day trip to Steamboat Springs.