Parks

*Rainbow Park - Great place to take the kids to the playground and soccer field. This is the biggest park in town located at 8th and Maroon on the east side of town.  Views are incredible and the kiddos will have a fantastic time!

Crested Butte Town Park, Tennis Courts, & Pirate Park - Crested Butte Town Park - Between 6th street and 7th street from Elk Avenue to Belleview Avenue.  The Town Tennis Courts are free to use on a first come, first served basis.  There is also a softball field, horse shoes, sand volleyball court, and a basketball court at the Town Park. About 100 feet away from the basketball courts is Pirate Park which is behind the Arts Center. Pirate Park is a great playground for little kids.

Ted Scheske Park - 911 Gothic Rd It’s a bit of a drive from the house since it’s past the ski-mountain base area but it’s a super cute little park with great views - 2 playgrounds, 2 tennis courts and an outdoor calisthenics gym. I would check out the other parks in town first but this is a great option to mix it up. This is a hidden gem that we take our kids to with excellent mountain views and not a lot of people come to this park.

CB Community School Playground - 818 Red Lady Ave This is the school’s playground but it’s open to the public.

CB Skatepark - 620 ½ 2nd St. next to the CB Nordic Center. The Big Mine Skatepark, locally known as “Crank’s Tank” is filled with skaters during the spring, summer, and fall months. The Skate Park features a street course, a deep 9’ bowl, two small 6' bowls, and a 2' mini bowl, providing challenges for all skater levels.

Frisbee Golf - 620 2nd St. next to the Nordic Center.  This 18 hole course begins on the southwest corner of the Big Mine Warming House. The course then meanders back and forth across the west section of Big Mine Park. Keep your eyes open while searching for your disc in the rough; you may find some historic mining artifacts! Every hole is a par 3, but the Big Mine course can give you the most extreme disc golf experience ever when you have to cut your game short due to a bear on the course!

Lakes

*Lake Irwin - One of my favorite places around Crested Butte. From the house it’s only a 20 minute drive. I stand-up paddle board out here, fly fish, hike Scarps Ridge, have picnics with friends/family, etc. Great summer time picnic spot! Weekends can get pretty crowded and I prefer to go during weekdays. Google Maps

Peanut Lake - A small lake close to downtown that is biking distance. A great summer time activity is to rent bicycles in town and bike out to the lake which is a flat 2 mile trip. You can also get Nordic ski’s in the winter time and go on nordic-trails around peanut lake. Google Maps

Meridian Lake aka “Long Lake” - Beautiful skinny lake that’s a short uphill hike to get to but it’s a cool spot. I like Peanut and Irwin lakes more but if you have been to those 2 lakes already this would be my 3rd lake option close to town. Google Maps

Rivers

Slate River - This is the skinny river you see from the back porch at the house when you look down in the valley. It’s a 24 mile river that eventually feeds into the East River.

  • Gunsight Bridge - Great picnic area to let the kids run around and play in the Slate River. We have family picnics here all the time and Gunsight Bridge is a 25 minute drive from the house. Google Maps

  • Rec Path Bridge - There’s a rec path bridge on the north east side of downtown CB where bikers and walkers go over the Slate River and this is an excellent spot to bring the kids to let them play in the river. You will usually find dogs playing in the river here. Google Maps

  • Paddle Board the Slate River during June and July when water levels are at a safe level. Float Shack will rent you boards and also run shuttle for you - www.float-shack.com

East River - 38 mile river that flows from Crested Butte to Almont that feeds into the Gunnison River. Excellent trout fishing in these waters. Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery is on the East river on the north side of Almont.

Taylor River - 48 mile river that feeds into the Gunnison River and it’s a beautiful drive to follow the Taylor river through the winding canyon up to Taylor reservoir. This is the river where people white water raft class 3 rapids close to Crested Butte. There’s really good trout fishing in the slower moving water.

Gunnison River - The Gunnison (Gunny) River starts in Almont at the confluence where the East River and the Taylor River come together to form the Gunnison River. World class trout fishing on the Gunnison River. Highly suggest booking a guided fishing float trip with Gunnison River Guides and fish from a boat on the Gunny. Tell Jason or Joel with Gunnison River Guides that Jordon says hello - I’ve been fishing with them for 20+ years and float trips are one of my favorite things to do during the summer.