Crested Butte, CO: 8 Reasons we love this colorful mountain town!
May and July 2024: We spent Jason’s birthday weekend in Crested Butte, CO (pop.1,639*) and had a blast! We arrived on a cold and snowy evening in late May, then woke up to a beautiful sunny morning. Welcome to spring in Colorado mountain country! Crested Butte is aesthetically amazing, with its colorful downtown surrounded by beautiful mountains. The restaurant and shopping amenities in town are fun and unique. We returned again over the 4th of July to check out the infamous wildflowers. Keep reading to see why we love visiting this beautiful small town!
Crested Butte is located in Gunnison County at the end of Hwy 135, north from Gunnison.
Crested Butte – A Brief History
(copied from Wikipedia and Crested Butte city websites)
The East River Valley where Crested Butte is located was once used as a summer residence by the Ute people. However, they were eventually displaced when European-Americans first entered the area.
Mining Era
In the 1860s and 1870s coal and silver mines began to open in the surrounding area, and many little mining towns formed. Mining, along with ranching, formed the nexus of the local economy. Crested Butte was incorporated July 1880. The railroad arrived in Crested Butte in November 1881, which ended Crested Butte’s isolation and facilitated the expansion of the coal industry and the simultaneous expansion of the Town. Howard F Smith (founding father) built a smelter and sawmill to service the mining camps located in the surrounding mountains.
Local Mining Story: Tragedy struck on the morning of January 24, 1884 with a huge explosion destroying the mine and killing 63 miners on that fateful day. Roughly two thirds of the miners were buried in a mass or individual graves in the Crested Butte Cemetery, which has a memorial stone carrying all of the names of those who perished (installed in 2017).
When silver mining began to decline in 1893, many regional towns failed. Crested Butte, however, was in a better position to survive the silver mining free-fall because it served as a supply town to the surrounding area coal mines. By 1902, the local “Big Mine” was the third largest coal mine in the state. As was common in the era, tensions between minors and management erupted in multiple strikes in the first couple decades of the 1900s. Big Mine closed in 1952, ending the era of Coal mining in the region.
When the coal mines closed, the town population went into rapid decline, not recovering from this trend until a ski area was built on Crested Butte Mountain in the 1960s.
Ski Era
In 1960, a ski resort was constructed on the former Malensek Ranch, in what is now the neighboring community of Mt. Crested Butte. The Crested Butte Mountain Resort opened in 1962, and rapidly revitalized the town’s economy around tourism.
Tourism Economy of Today
Today Crested Butte and the surrounding area is a year-round vacation destination. Known as “the wildflower capital of Colorado, Crested Butte is not only a heritage tourism site, but a playground for people of all ages and interests, with endless opportunities ranging from snow sports to wildflower viewing, river running to rock climbing, hiking to biking, and festivals and events.”
8 Reasons why we love to visit this beautiful mountain town!
Our first stop in Crested Butte was at a small park that caught our eye on the edge of town – a shiny Dragon and Knight Sculpture!
Continuing on, we headed north to the condo we rented for the weekend in Mt.Crested Butte, an unincorporated community near the Crested Butte Ski Resort. Visiting in late May, we found that the Ski Resort was shut down, but we still had a fun time walking across a foot bridge from the condo to the Resort to look around. We headed into Crested Butte town for the evening for a meal and to explore – only to discover that winter had not yet finished these mountain altitudes! It was a chilly evening, but the snow made for some awesome photos 🙂
#1. Lots of interesting and fun Public Art
Walking around town, we were amazed by the variety of public art and kitschy fun things to look at. Below are a few examples. One of the things that made us laugh was the “Loose Marmots” sign. Art or a Public Service Announcement… we never did figure it out.
- Dragon and Knight Sculpture – Google Maps
- Click here for a photo journey of public art in Crested Butte
#2. Interesting weather – Snowflakes in late May!
As the evening progressed, it began to drizzle and then to snow. It made for a fun moody evening! During our 3-day visit to the area, we enjoyed sunny mild days and several evenings of snow
#3. Unique Food & Drink options – including our favorite types of third places… Local Coffee Shops, Craft Breweries and a Rum Distillery!
Our visit was on Jason’s birthday! We decided to have dinner at the Eldo Brewery downtown, which features a Himalayan menu… Yum! After dinner we walked around, enjoying the fog settling over the town. This fog turned to mist and then to snowflakes! To warm up, we stopped by the Montanya Distillers and enjoyed a tasting flight of rum and their fun vibe.
While in town, we made a point to stop at all 3(!) of their cool coffee shops, as well as several other wonderful restaurants. A shout out to The Secret Stash pizza place, with its unique interior vibe and even more unique pizza toppings!
- The Eldo Brewery – Google Maps – Loved this place! located in an old historic downtown building, with good beer, good food and a fun vibe
- Montanya Distillers | Cocktail Bar – Google Maps – Loved this place! also located in an old historic downtown building, this woman owned distillery has amazing rum drinks and a fun classy vibe
- The Secret Stash – Google Maps – Loved this place too! also located in the old historic Mercantile building, this place has a super unique vibe (oh, and really good pizza)
- Thai Chili 78 (Crested Butte Location) – Google Maps – great Thai food!
- Camp 4 Coffee – Google Maps – Coffee Shop with an excellent patio out front
- Rumors Coffee and Tea House – Google Maps – Coffee shot and bookstore – one of our favorite hybrid businesses!
- A Daily Dose – Google Maps – Good coffee and baked goods in a historic old building
- Irwin Brewing Company’s Public House – Google Maps – A beautiful old hotel with a great coffee shop
- Irwin Brewing Company – Google Maps – we didn’t stop at this brewery (not downtown), but the pictures and reviews are terrific
#4. Free Bus, Walk or Hike from Ski Resort to town
As mentioned above, we rented a condo for the weekend about 3 miles north of town in the ski community of (unincorporated) Mt.Crested Butte. We noticed on our first night that there is a bus (The Mountain Express) that travels between Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte, which we later learned is free! However, Saturday morning we were looking for exercise, so we made use of the Upper and Lower Loop trail. The cool thing about this trail as that we were able to hike the Lower Loop which has a typical unpaved trail through forested areas around the base of Crested Butte, so the views are AMAZING! It dropped us off in Crested Butte, where we immediately found a Coffee Shop as a reward for our efforts 🙂
#5. Gorgeous surrounding mountains with so many outdoor activities!
Our favorite outdoor activity is hiking and running. The Crested Butte area, surrounded by several gorgeous mountains provides ample opportunity for hiking, biking, skiing, camping, climbing and so many other opportunities – so there are so many reasons to visit and explore this area!
“The Gunnison Valley is famous for both summer and winter outdoor recreation. In summer, explore the two million acres of public lands by hiking and mountain biking. In winter, alpine skiing at Crested Butte Mountain Resort is unmatched. There are dozens of miles of scenic cross-country ski trails, too. You’ll find great restaurants, shopping, arts and events in the valley’s unique mountain towns.” (source)
#6. A Colorful and Vibrant Historic Downtown
One of the most striking features of Crestone is the fabulous bright colors of its downtown historic buildings. The colors, the businesses and the people walking around enjoying the many opportunities all add to the vibrancy of this amazing small town.
#7. Crested Butte Museum / Historic walk
Curious about the history we were experiencing, we dropped by the Crested Butte Museum, housed in an old building once known as Tony’s Conoco. You will learn that Tony (the owner’s son-in-law) started working in the Conoco store in 1939 and operated it until his death in 1996. There are displays honoring Tony’s community contributions (including the building that houses the museum!), as well as a history and evolution of the Skiing and Mountain Biking tourism economies.
We picked up a walking tour map and had fun wandering downtown to learn more about the various structures – including a 2-story outhouse!
#8. Crested Butte is the Wildflower Capitol of Colorado!
While visiting the area in late May, we learned that Crested Butte is widely known for its wildflowers – and in fact hosts a Wildflower Festival every July! We had the opportunity to drop by the area again during their July 4th festivities and took the opportunity to hike a nearby trail. Yes, the Wildflowers were AMAZING!
More to explore!
Crested Butte has a mature tourist economy, with lots to offer. There is so much information on-line to explore!
Annual Events
- February: The Alley Loop – “The most unique nordic marathon and costume party around.”
- March: The Grande Traverse – Ski – “An extraordinary Colorado ski route! The Grand Traverse is a point-to-point ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen. Racers travel 40 miles across the Elk Mountain range, climbing over 6,800 vertical feet.”
- April: Crested Butte Music Festival –
- May: Mountain Words Festival – “a multi-day literary celebration at nine-thousand feet, featuring readings, workshops, kids’ events, parties, panel discussions, live theater, and more”
- Summer: Historic Walking Tours at 10am – Tues and Wed, learn more about the history of Crested Butte!
- July: Crested Butte 4th of July Festival
- July: Crested Butte Wildflower Festival –
- August: Crested Butte Arts Festival – sponsored by the Crested Butte Society since 1971!
- August: The Grand Traverse – Run – “a point-to-point ultra marathon from Crested Butte to Aspen, Colorado. The course follows the route of the Grand Traverse Backcountry Ski race. In total, runners travel 40 miles across the Elk Mountains with over 6,000′ of elevation gain.”
- September: The Grand Traverse – Mountain bike – “The Grand Traverse Mountain Bike is no ordinary mountain bike race. It is a point-to-point from Aspen to Crested Butte, Colorado. In total, bikers travel 40 miles across the Elk Mountains with over 7,800′ of elevation gain. The course starts with a 3000′ ascent up Aspen Mountain before continuing deep into the Elk Mountains.”
- September: Pearls & Pioneers Pub Crawl & Townie Takeover – fun fund raiser for the Crested Butte Museum.
- September: Chili & Beer Festival
- September: Crested Butte Film Festival
Organizations that support community in Crested Butte
- Crested Butte City Government
- Adopt-A-Bench Program – Crested Butte (crestedbutte-co.gov) – “The Adopt-A-Bench program was created to provide a meaningful way for people to remember loved ones and share fond memories of Crested Butte, while enhancing our parks and public spaces for the enjoyment of all.”
- Maps – Crested Butte (crestedbutte-co.gov) – a great resource for every kind of area map imaginable.
- Public Art Tour – Crested Butte, Colorado (arcgis.com) – this is a super cool photo tour (and physical location description) of the public art in Crestone… what an Amazing collection!
- Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum – “a local non-profit with the mission to preserve and share the unique cultural history of the Gunnison Valley. We make the past a living part of the future”
- Crested Butte Creative District – Center for the Arts Crested Butte (crestedbuttearts.org) – “The Town of Crested Butte is officially a Creative District. Certified in June 2016… a great example of how the arts create exciting places for people to visit and live. These [types of] districts not only increase quality of life, they also help with the economic vitality of the area and attract people from all over Colorado and the country.”
- Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce (cbchamber.com) – “We strive to provide communication, events, and advocacy services to our members so collectively we can build a better community.”
- Crested Butte Vacation Planning Info | Crested Butte + Gunnison (gunnisoncrestedbutte.com) – A Visitor planning website
- Visit Crested Butte, Colorado your connection to everything in the Butte! – another Visitor website!
- Travel Crested Butte – Discover a Mountain Paradise – and another Visitor website and real-estate guide
