Vail Summer
Many people have been to Vail in the winter, to ski, for Thanksgiving or Christmas, or just to enjoy the snow, but do you know about Vail Colorado Summer? Have you considered a summer visit to Vail? If not, you should. There is so much to do here in the summertime. The weather is perfect and the skies are a shade of blue only found in Colorado. You and your family and friends will create unmatched memories that will last the rest of your life. Vail locals like to say that winter is great, but summer is why the live here.
Sandstone Creek Club is ideally located right in the middle of all things. You will find us a mile and a half west of Vail Village on the North Frontage Road, only a five minute drive or about a fifteen minute walk to all the action. Parking in the Village is free in the summertime too, so you won’t have to worry about paying too much to park your car. Sandstone offers everything from a hotel room to a 2 bedroom loft condo that will sleep 10. Our condos are updated and well outfitted to suit all of your needs. Our nightly rates are very reasonable too ( https://www.sandstonecreekclub.com/reservations/ ). Sandstone itself has all kinds of summertime activities including mini golf, disc golf, tennis, volleyball and an indoor/outdoor swimming pool set right on the creek.
Come and experience a long Vail Summer day – an evening can end with sunset as late as 9:30 pm. With a 6:30 am sunrise, that is 14 hours of sunshine per day! The average Vail peak summer daytime temperature is 76 and nightime low is 42, so it never gets too hot or too cold. Surrounded by mountain peaks towering up to 14,000 feet in elevation and with the majestic Gore Range at our east end, the magnificent Vail Summer season will leave you awestruck. Immense beauty is everywhere! Do remember to bring your sunscreen though, our base elevation is 8,150 feet, so we are very close to the sun! A raincoat is a good thing to have too, since our weather can be changeable with a quick afternoon cloudburst! Vail Summer is full of surpises. In short, there is no place like it, so come visit us soon!
Things to do in Vail during the Summer
Vail offers so many things to do in the summer! Of course the majority of activities are sports related, but there is also great shopping, sightseeing, art galleries, restaurants, Vail Mountain, music and activities such as farmers markets, organized events and festivals, even a museum!
Vail Summer, Sporting Activities: Some of Vail’s favorite sporting activities are hiking, biking, whitewater rafting and golf. There are approximately 42 hiking trails in and around Vail. Check them out here: https://www.hikingproject.com/directory/8011445/vail. There is a hiking trail, The North Trail, right behind Sandstone Creek Club.
Vail and the surrounding areas are a mountain bike mecca. 49 trails are listed here: https://www.mtbproject.com/directory/8011445/vail.
Vail Mountain itself has many mountain bike trails of different difficulties as well and you can choose to have your bike hauled to the top so you can ride down if you’d like: https://www.vail.com/explore-the-resort/activities-and-events/summer-activities/mountain-biking.aspx.
Beaver Creek Mountain, a 15 minute drive from Sandstone Creek Club, also has mountain bike trails: https://www.beavercreek.com/explore-the-resort/activities/summer-activities/bike-rentals.aspx.
Nearby Eagle, Colorado, a half hour drive to the west, is an up and coming mountain bike haven: https://eagleoutside.com/explore/trails/mountain-bike/.
Summit County resorts such as Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin and Loveland all offer mountain bike trails and there are many others in Summit County as well: https://www.trails.com/us/co/summit-county/mountain-biking.
If you are a road biker, there are many places to ride, including an extensive network of bike paths stretching from Summit County on the other side of Vail pass, all the way to Eagle on the west end. Two of my favorite bike path rides are Lake Dillon bike path and Glenwood Canyon bike path. The bike path between Frisco and Copper Mountain is also fun on a road bike. The bike path to and over Vail Pass is very popular, and local bike shops offer tours which will take you in a shuttle to the top and let you ride a bike down, the easy way to ride the pass! Our favorite tour is here: https://vailbiketech.com/bike_tours/. Vail Bike Tech is a great place to rent a bike while you are here and they offer a discount to Sandstone Creek Club guests. Road bikers can always ride on the road too, Vail’s Frontage Roads are rideable, as is Highway 6 down valley to the west.
Whitewater rafting and/or kayaking is one of the biggest attractions in Vail Summer. There are a wide variety of trips and tour guides, one that we recommend being Sage Outdoor Adventures: https://sageoutdooradventures.com/raft-trips/. Sign up for a raft trip to experience the thrill of a lifetime! Sandstone Creek Club’s concierge or front desk staff can help you book one once you have checked in.
With 17 courses within a 38 mile radius, golf is one of the best reasons to visit Vail Summer. Half of them are open to the public and Vail’s golf courses offer a wide variety- from Vail Golf Club with unparalled views of the Gore Range, to the elevation changes of the course at Eagle Vail Golf Club. Vail’s courses were designed by some of golf’s best – Pete Dye, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Tom Fazio and Robert Trent Jones. Let the staff at Sandstone Creek Club book your next golf adventure in Vail Summer, it is one not to be missed!
Flyfishing is a hugely popular activity in Vail during the summer. Vail has Gold Medal water on the Gore Creek and Eagle Rivers. Whether you are a beginner or a pro with your own rod already, local guide operations can take you out and treat you to one of the best days of your life. Learn more about Vail flyfishing at https://www.vailvalleyanglers.com/.
Have you ever been horseback riding? This is another wildly popular activity in Vail Summer. You can go on a guided tour or ride on your own. The closest outfitter to Sandstone Creek Club is https://vailstables.com/.
Many locals enjoy rock climbing and you can too with a lesson and trip with Apex Mountain School: https://www.apexmountainschool.com/.
Besides all of the ones listed above, Vail Summer offers many other sporting activities. Sandstone Creek Club has swimming, mini golf, disc golf, tennis, pickleball, basketball and volleyball right at your own resort. Vail has soccer fields and baseball diamonds a plenty. There are free outdoor yoga classes every Saturday at the Solaris Plaza in Vail Village. There are many camping areas near Vail too. Boating/canoeing can be found in several places including Piney Lake and Lake Dillon.
Other Summer Activities:
Vail and Beaver Creek Mountains: Both Vail and Beaver Creek Mountains offer a variety of their own activities, from hiking to roller coaster rides. Riding the gondola up Vail Mountain is a favorite activity of both visitors and locals. Once you are up there, there is plenty to do – you can eat lunch at the top, have a picnic, hike any of the many trails on the mountain, ride your mountain bike down, go on a jeep tour, ride the Forest Flyer rollercoaster or a zipline, do the ropes course or simply ride the gondola back down after taking in the breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and Vail Village. You can see forever up there! Beaver Creek Mountain has similar activities. For more information on Vail and Beaver Creek Mountain summer adventures, go here:
https://www.vail.com/explore-the-resort/activities-and-events/summer-activities.aspx
https://www.beavercreek.com/explore-the-resort/activities/summer-activities.aspx.
Vail and Beaver Creek non-mountain activities: Both towns offer summer activities for visitors not on the the mountain too. These activities happen both day and night and range from children’s activities to food festivals to music to fireworks and beyond! Please check their websites for more information:
https://www.beavercreek.com/explore-the-resort/activities/signature-events.aspx.
Rodeos: Vail Summer offers 3 different rodeos:
The Beaver Creek Rodeo, a weekly event that is more of a “show” so that visitors can get a taste of rodeo:
https://www.beavercreek.com/explore-the-resort/activities/summer-activities/rodeo.aspx,
The 4 Eagle Ranch Rodeo, also weekly, but a bit more authentic: https://4eagleranch.com/activities/ (4 Eagle Ranch also offers other wonderful activities, but more on that later.) and lastly The Eagle County Fair and Rodeo, this rodeo is the real thing, with pro rodeo contesants competing. It usually lasts for 2 weeks each summer: https://www.eaglecounty.us/FairRodeo/. So, cowboy up and head on down to experience some real rodeo in July, you can even take a ride or two on the ferris wheel at the carnival if you want to!
Farmer’s Markets: Vail Summer has 3 amazing Farmer’s Market each week! The biggest one is in Vail Village every Sunday, the Vail Farmer’s Market. It is quite the event with everything from produce to food booths to artwork to live music. Hours are 10-3. The Minturn Farmer’s Market is in Minturn, a funky, small town about 15 minutes west of Vail. It is help each Saturday from 10-3 and has more of an artsy feel, but still with great produce, food and music! Lastly, there is the Edward’s Farmer’s Market. It is held each Sunday and is much smaller, featuring mostly produce and food booths. Vail Summer farmer’s market are a great way to spend a beautiful sunny Vail day!
Music: Vail Summer offers an abundance of music – from local musicians playing on outdoor restaurant patios, to free Tuesday night concerts at The Ford Amphitheater to big names at The Vilar Center in Beaver Creek where you have to buy a ticket, to full on music festivals like Whistlepig, Vail Jazz Festival, Bravo classical music festival and the Bonfire Block Party in nearby Eagle. This is only a partial list. There is something happening musically in Vail Summer daily, so ask your concierge or check the internet and the local newspaper during your stay to find out where it is happening!
Festivals: There are many “festivals” (or “Events”) in Vail in the summer, probably one each week actually. These range from sporting events such as The Go Pro Mountain Games in June each year: https://mountaingames.com/, to The Vail Dance Festival: https://vaildance.org/, the before mentioned Bravo Classical Music Festival: www.bravovail.org/, Vail Craft Beer Classic: https://vailcraftbeerclassic.com/, Vail Arts Festival: http://www.vailartsfestival.com/, Vail Automotive Classic: https://www.vailautomotiveclassic.com/ and let’s not forget about July 4th: https://www.vailamericadays.com/. There are many more too – Cover Rock, Vail Bluegrass, Gourmet on the Gore, Oktoberfest, and Blues, Brews and Barbeque to name a few. Too many to list here in their entirety! The point is, Vail Summer offers something for everyone. Check with the concierge during your stay at Sandstone Creek Club to see what appeals to you.
Art Galleries and Museums: Vail has an abundance of art galleries and one museum, all of which are open in the summer. The Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame: https://www.snowsportsmuseum.org/ is intriguing and somewhere everyone should visit. Here is The Vail Daily Newspaper’s list of top Vail art galleries: https://www.vaildaily.com/entertainment/best-of-vail/best-of-vail-best-art-gallery/
Day Trips:
If there isn’t enough for you to do in the Vail area for you during your stay at Sandstone Creek Club, or you just want to explore more of Colorado, there are plenty of day trips that you can take that are not too far to go. Since these can be viewed as a “distraction” from Vail Summer, I am only going to list them here. If you would like more information about them, please see google them or see our concierge or front desk staff.
One Vail Summer day trip not to be missed though is Piney River Ranch: https://www.pineyriverranch.com/. From Sandstone Creek Club just take a right at the top of our driveway and at the end of Vail View Drive, take a left on Potato Patch Road. That road turns into Piney Road, which leads to the ranch. It is a 12 mile drive on a dirt road that takes about 45 minutes. However, it is well worth the the drive! When you get there the sceneery will be astounding – the lake is set in the foreground of the back side of the Gore Range. It is majestice and awe inspiring. There is lots to do up there, hike, fish, take a canoe or horseback ride, or just dine at the restaurant. They also offer camping in various form if you want to spend the night. Sleep over options are explained on the website. If you are really lucky, you may even catch a glimpse of the resident moose!
Other day trips include Glenwood Canyon for a hike up to Hanging Lake. This is a very beautiful hike and lake and is very popular, so much so that, in an effort to control the crowds, the forest service now makes you make a reservation. Again, it is well worth it though and hopefully the new reservation program will result in an enhanced experience for everyone. Glenwood Canyon is very beautiful as well.
If you are going to go to Glenwood Canyon, you might as well keep going on to the small town of Glenwood Springs, which is well known for its hot springs. There are two now, the older Glenwood Hot Springs Pool, which actually consists of two large pools, and a newer hot springs experience called Iron Mountain Hot Springs, which consists of many smaller pools set on a hillside on the banks of the Colorado River. Each pool is a different temperature and have different types of minerals in them. Also in Glenwood Springs is the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park: https://www.glenwoodcaverns.com/. This is a great place to take the kids, as well as fun for adults.
Another day trips is Aspen, which you can reach by continuing on past Glenwood Springs, or via Independence Pass from Vail. To get to Independence Pass from Vail you travel through the small town of Minturn west of Vail, up Battle Mountain Pass, past Redcliff, Ski Cooper and through the old mining town of Leadville, where there is plenty to do too, including a mining museum, shops, restaurants and the Leadville Railroad: http://www.leadville-train.com/. If you choose to travel to Aspen via Independence Pass, you an either return home the easy way via Glenwood Springs, or back over the pass.
Steamboat Springs is another popular day trip from Vail. You reach it by traveling west on i_70, exiting at Wolcott and taking Highway 131 through the Yampa Valley. On the way you will pass historice State Bridge Lodge. The drive to Steamboat is a very pretty one. Steamboat has a rustic, natural hot springs too called Strawberry Park. On the way to Steamboat you will pass 4 Eagle Ranch: https://4eagleranch.com/, which I mentioned before, and a zipline, https://zipadventures.com/.
Closer to home, day trips include Beaver Creek, where you can go and spend a pleasant summer day. Also, Summit County, where you can visit the ski areas of Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Loveland. Breckenridge and Keystone have towns where you can walk around and shop, eat lunch, etc., Arapahoe Basin and Loveland do not. Silverthorne Outlet Stores are located in Summit County in the town of Silverthorne. Lake Dillon is beautiful and has 2 marinas – Dillon on the east end and Frisco on the west end. You can rent boats at either marina, from SUPs and kayaks, to motor boats and pontoon boats. Lake Dillon also has a bike path around it and the newly rebuilt Dillon Amphitheater is on its shore, offering great music and weekly movies in the summer with unmatched views of the lake and sunset. The little town of Frisco on the west end of Summit County is adorable and has lots of shops and restaurants on its main street.
A little past Summit County, on the other side of the Eisenhower tunnel is the quant little historic town of Georgetown. There is another railroad that runs between Georgetown and Silverplume, the Georgetown Loop Railroad: https://www.georgetownlooprr.com/, that children especially enjoy. It is an old steam train.
If you like to gamble, Black Hawk is not that far past Georgetown. It would make a fun day trip, but you might want to stay overnight!
Idaho Springs and Denver are also close enough to be day trips from Denver. Idaho Springs has another hot springs, TommyKnocker Brewey and Beau Jo’s Pizza. You may want to go take a summertime trip to Denver for a Colorado Rockies game or a concert at Red Rocks.
Lastly, but surely not least, Colorado State Parks make great day trips. There are several near Vail, my personal favorites being Sylvan Lake in Eagle and Stagecoach Reservoir on the road to Steamboat Springs. There are many more too depending on how far from Vail you would like to travel. There is good fishing in both of these lakes as well, as there is in Black Lake at the summit of Vail Pass.
This is by no means a complete list of day trips, nor a complete list of all there is to do in Vail Summer. You better plan more than a week if you even want to put a dent in it! Book your reservation at Sandstone Creek Club now: https://www.sandstonecreekclub.com/reservations/ and enjoy Vail Summer, you won’t regret it!