ekh

In the midst of planning a little getaway for last week in August which sometimes is hard with such young children. Am thinking Vail/ Beaver Creek and/or Breckenridge. Activities we would be interested in are light hikes with infant in backpack, finding a stream or somewhere to casually fly fish from bank(in other words, not a guide), outdoor parks, live music, wandering around the town, and just breathing the wonderful mtn air! It appears both places will offer what we are looking for.

I would be interested in specific suggestions as to activities above and other ideas with young children. Lodging ideas- Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek (like their nightly s'mores, Friday concerts, pool) and either Valdoro Resort or Mtn Thunder Lodge in Breckenridge.

Thanks so much- this forum has been very helpful!

GoTravel

ekh, with an infant and a toddler, book a condo and skip the hotel room.

ekh

GoTravel, I think that is a good idea. Ideas on best sites to look at for bookings?

CAPH52

You could try checking Americana Properties in Dillon. We've rented the same condo in Frisco through them twice. We learned about them through my brothers who've used them several times, winter and summer. However, my brothers seem to think they don't have quite as many properties as they used to. And it may be too late to find anything in August. Worth a shot though.

GACOIAFL

We used to live in Breckenridge and also have an infant and 4YO. We stayed at the Mountain Thunder Lodge for our last visit. It is very nice, new, friendly service and an ideal location right on Main Street. You can easily walk anywhere in town. Grab breakfast at the Blue Moose across the street. Good breakfast with great view of the mtns.
There is a book you can get online that details all of the hikes in the area and has a section dedicated to hikes with kids (The Summit Hiker). There is a stream that runs through town to play in that is surrounded by great rocks to climb for the kids. On Peak 9 (I think) they have the Alpine Slide and several other activities your older child would enjoy. www.gobreck.com will have a list of all the great summer events. It is a wonderful town and the hikes are amazing. Have a great trip!

CAPH52

I'm also a big fan of the Summit Hiker. We used it both for hikes and for beautiful drives.

ekh

Thanks- this is very helpful. I am sort of leaning towards just staying in Vail, but the Mountain Thunder Lodge looks so nice- better than anything I have found in Breck. Will do more searching... appreciating all the helpful comments.

GACOIAFL- since your kiddos are the same ages, do you have any thoughts as to other kid activities? And my husband really wants to easily fly fish, which it looks like is easy to do in Vail from several properties located on Gore Creek. Can you do this in the stream you mention that runs through town?

BetsyG

ekh,
You might look at www.snow.com for lodging. We have always liked the Village in Breckenridge for condos. Stayed last summer in Beaver Creek at Kiva condos, beautiful & good location, not far from the plaza. You might get more ideas if you started over with Vail in the heading.

Lexma90

I'm also familiar with having young kids in Breck and in Vail; our kids are 12 and 8 now, but we've had a condo in Breck since the oldest was 3.

As you point out, both places will serve your needs.

The river in Breck, the Blue River (yes, it's a river though it's stream-sized) can be fly-fished (catch and release, of course) outside of town. He can fish it at any point, either closer to town or up in the Silverthorne area.

Peak 8, where Breck's alpine slide is, also has mini-golf, a maze, a zip line, etc. I don't know what the current youngest age for the slide is, but your 4yo should be able to ride with a parent.

The Summit Hiker is good. Also check with the tourist office in Breck (or Vail), as there are some hikes not shown in the Summit Hiker. There's a companion book for the Vail area, I think it's called the Vail Hiker (amazingly enough).

I may be due just my familiarity with the area, but I think there are more easy day hikes in the Breck area than in Vail. And keep in mind that wherever you stay, you can easily visit the other town for a day. Kids usually like to ride Vail's gondola, and there are activities up at the top for kids, as well as some hikes.

Also, if you care about this kind of stuff, Breck is an actual former mining town (gold and silver), and the town is doing a very good job of preserving the old buildings; a number of them are open for visits (not necessarily an activity to do with young kids, but I think it adds to the atmosphere of the town). Vail was built as a ski resort in the 1960s, so while it's cute as a button in a Swiss Alpine style, there's nothing historic about it!

Other activity ideas: Country Boy Mine, outside of Breck in French Gulch, offers tours inside the mine, then gold-panning afterward. In Leadville (between Breck and Vail) there's a narrow-gauge railroad. Kind of a yawn for adults, but the kids LOVE it. Skip the mining museum unless you're really into mining history (which I am, actually). There's also a narrow-gauge railroad in Georgetown, but that's further away.

There are bike paths all over. You can rent bikes in both Breck and Vail, and in towns all over the area. Depending on how fit you are, you could put both kids in trailers and bike from Breck all the way to Frisco, have breakfast or lunch there, go to Frisco's great playground, and bike (slowly) back. (My daughter was able to ride a tag-along when she was 4yo, but not every kid can.) From Frisco, you can bike around the north end of Lake Dillon to Dillon (this is the prettiest bike route, IMO), and all the way to Keystone if you so desire. You can bike in Vail on the bikepath there, but as Vail Pass is on one side, there are fewer places to bike to.

In Vail, there are a number of playgrounds. Right in town, by the Mexican restaurant, there's a ship-themed small playground (you can have drinks or meals at the Mexican restaurant and take turns with the kids at the playground). At the Betty Ford park, there's a large playground (and the gardens are nice to walk through too). In Breck, there's a small play area in the center of town, by the river, as well as the playground at Carter Park that's shared with the elementary school.

Oh, and in both places, there are also ice rinks, if you want to spend some time on the ice!

Enjoy - I like Breck and Vail even more in the summer than I do in the winter!

furledleader

Your husband can flyfish Gore Creek right in Vail. You can also head just west of Vail to the town of Minturn where Gore Creek joins the Eagle River and fish the Eagle. Get onto Hwy 6 here (which parallels I-70 and the Eagle River and look for public access (or check at a flyfish shop as to where the public access is.

The Blue River from the town of Breckenridge is all public access for about 2 miles downstream.

BlueSwimmer

My husband and I stayed at this vacation townhome in Vail last fall: http://www.vrbo.com/76442

It was very convenient, quiet, and comfortable and I remember thinking it would great for a family vacation.

It isn't super fancy but had cute decor and was truly comfortable in every way.

There is small deck with a two person hot tub (nice for mom and dad to relax in the evenings!) and a beautiful creek running right behind it.

It is at the very western edge of town, and from the parking area of the townhouses, you can walk onto a great trail for hiking.

I am pretty sure the owners must have kids because there were a lot of Disney videos in the entertainment unit

The owners were really nice to deal with and I was very pleased with the value. We were in town for a wedding and four nights at the townhouse ended up being cheaper than three nights at the Cascades, where the wedding party was staying.

ekh

Wow- thanks again. All this is very, very helpful! Having young children definitely requires more planning than I have done for other non-kiddo trips!