Parks and Recreation Areas

The Vail Valley has two wilderness areas in close proximity—the truly untrampled Eagle's Nest Wilderness Area to the northeast in the Gore Range, and the more-popular Holy Cross Wilderness to the southwest.

White River National Forest. The land in between, including much of the ski resorts' slopes, is part of the White River National Forest. 970/945-2521. www.fs.fed.us/r2/whiteriver.

The Eagle River, whose headwaters are on the north side of Tennessee Pass, is an excellent fishing stream, mostly for brook and brown trout in the 6- to 12-inch range. Public access is easiest upriver of Red Cliff on Forest Service land. There's some superb rafting in Gore Canyon on the Colorado River west of Vail, particularly in spring when the river is boiling with snow runoff.