Help us Decide Where to Live this Summer!
 

Help us! My husband and I are planning to "move" to a "cool mountain town out west" (as my husband likes to say) for a month this summer. Our top choices are places we've been to before but also happen to be the most expensive (Banff, Telluride, and Jackson Hole), so we are looking for other suggestions. Our ideal location would have... lots of great day hikes within a reasonable distance, a walkable downtown area with restaurants and bars and maybe some fun summer activities like festivals and farmer's markets, but mostly we want easy access to outdoor activities and beautiful scenery. We are also looking at Park City (not sure how great the hiking is in the area though?), Boulder (great town but may be too big and is not really "in" the mountains), and Summit County CO (don't know much about this area but it was suggested by a friend who lives in Denver). We are really open to any locations at this point- Colorado, Utah, Pacific Northwest, California, Montana...

Any other suggestions or comments on the towns we're already looking into? We currently live in NJ, so we would probably be happy anywhere in the mountains since we have zero access to any at home!

Sun Valley, Idaho? I think my husband would move there in a heartbeat...

http://www.sunvalley.com/SunValley/info/act.hb.aspx

Bend, Oregon? Some friends of ours just moved there from Southern California.

http://www.visitbend.com/Bend_Oregon...g/default.aspx

How about Vermont or New Hampshire where there are many vacation rentals owned by folks who mostly use them in ski weather?

Another vote for Bend, OR (or nearby Sisters). It is exactly what you are asking for. We go several times each year and never tire of it!

I have to put in a plug here for my favorite mountain town Crested Butte, Colorado. Much smaller than all those other places. though not much smaller than Jackson, Wyoming. Fantastic hikes all around the town, some right out your back door. Beautiful scenery. Quaint and charming downtown. Great restaurants, a little bit of shopping. Alpenglow which is a free outdoor concert every Monday night that the whole town turns out for, free concerts at the ski mountain which are gaining steam every year, a pretty good farmers market on Sundays, plus farm stands other days of the week. Great festivals and shows at the arts center. and if you want to get to know some people sign up for various dinners through the Tour de Forks at the Center for the Arts.

Crested Butte is known as the wildflower festival and the flowers are gorgeous in July. The Arts Festival the first weekend in August is great. Can you tell Crested Butte is one of my favorite places in the world?

Check out www.skicb.com for info on the ski mountain and www.prproperty.com for houses to rent. If you have more questions, please feel free to email me at screen name at yahoo.com

Oh, yes, Crested Butte! How could I forget...

Banff would be my top choice here, but Bend is also a good bet if you've not been there before. Expect a different but very enjoyable experience there.

Thank you for all the suggestions! We have good friends who live in Bend and we've always been meaning to go for a visit... Sun Valley and Crested Butte sound wonderful too! And saige, Banff is our top choice too (it's one of our favorite places and we spent a large part of our honeymoon last year in the Canadian Rockies), but I think it's just out of our budget. We've contacted a few people in Banff about monthly rentals and the cheapest we've seen (for a studio) was $3600, which is actually not too bad considering it is high season there but we just don't have that much to spend. Does anyone have any experience with Park City in the summer? On VRBO, we've seen some very affordable rentals (many less than $1000 for the month).

If you have friends in Bend, I'd go there! Locals will be able to give you tips on the best Bend has to offer. There is plenty of varied outdoor activity in the area and good food and shopping in town.

Love Colorado.
Have you considered Sedona, AZ?
We've only been to the Four Seasons at Jackson Hole but would love to stay there for the summer.
Coure de Lane in Idaho is gorgeous!
McCall Idaho is another fave amongst our friends here in SD.

Bozeman montana is a nice town also. Bend is also nice.

We live a couple of hours from Sun Valley and they are really struggling so you can find some great deals on VRBO house rentals.

Park City is also a good place to consider. There's a lot going on in the summer, yet it is more low key than in the winter. There are concerts, festivals, a farmer's market every Sunday and lots of great restaurants. Their Fourth of July celebration is a fun small town event. You can rent bikes and ride or walk on trails right from town. There are lots of other places to hike that aren't that far away. We try to go there for a weekend or two every summer.

Ashland would fit the bill better than Bend.

Whitefish or Big Fork Montana

Your post perfectly describes Bend. Lots of great hikes nearby, beautiful scenery, a good sized river and lots of lakes, and a vibrant downtown with loads of summer festivals. Bend is also home to a number of world class golf courses, and almost all of them are now open to the public as they all try to survive the downturn. You might consider staying in Sunriver, which is about 15 minutes South of Bend, and has an enormous supply of vacation rentals available. http://www.sunriver-resort.com/

Big Sky, MT if you like fishing, hiking, Yellowstone, golf, etc.

What about Whitefish, Montana... lovely small town, close to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, Big Fork..... and you could drive up to Canada and go to Waterton National Park for hikes (overnight trip).

Some additional locations to research:

Port Angeles and Sequim ("Skwim") WA on the Olympic Peninsula - mountains, beach, rain forest, ferry to Victoria BC, vampires down the road...

Coeur d'Alene ID - cute downtown, huge lake, resorts, mountains close by, easy access through Spokane.

Nelson BC - very cute town, fabulous access to the Kootenays and Pend Oreille country on both sides of the border. Banff on the cheap.

Missoula MT - nice college town, close to umpteen attractions - rivers, mountains...

Hood River OR - Mt. Hood, Columbia Gorge, Mt. St. Helens day trips, Portland 40 min., river canyons, orchards, wind surfing...

Missoula, MT
Bozeman, MT
Whitefish, MT
Big Fork, MT

Wherever you go, can I please come with you? Pretty please? Also bookmarking as this is a great idea!