Breckenridge
An 1859 Gold Rush Town At 9,600 Feet With The Largest Historic District In Colorado, And One Of The Most Visited Ski Resorts In The United States. Its Imperial Express Chairlift, At 12,840 Feet, Is The Highest Chairlift In North America. · Breckenridge, Colorado
Breckenridge was a gold town from 1859, and unlike most of them it never quite emptied - which is why it has the largest historic district in Colorado, a main street of Victorian storefronts still in daily use rather than restored for visitors. The ski area opened in 1961 on the peaks behind and has grown across five of them; the Imperial Express chairlift reaches twelve thousand eight hundred and forty feet, the highest lift-served point in North America, and above it the terrain is hiked. It is among the most visited resorts in the United States, helped by sitting an hour and a half from Denver on the interstate, and it draws a startling amount of international traffic - Australian and British accents outnumber Colorado ones on a February lift queue. The town sits at 9,600 feet, which is higher than Vail or Aspen and high enough that arriving from sea level and skiing hard on the first day is how visitors spend the second one in bed.
Breckenridge, Summit County, Breckenridge, Colorado, 80424, United States
A year-round town. The ski season runs roughly mid-November to late May, among the longest in Colorado, with the high terrain opening late and closing late. Summer brings hiking, biking, the Breckenridge Music Festival and the International Snow Sculpture Championships in January. The free town shuttle runs year-round. Access is by Interstate 70 and Highway 9 over Hoosier Pass or through Frisco, and the I-70 Sunday eastbound congestion applies here as much as at Vail.