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Sunday, October 14, 2018

The Historic Town of Crested Butte, Part Two



My husband and I were away for a week on Long Island, New York, celebrating our anniversary and a special milestone anniversary of my oldest brother and sister-in-law. It was hot and humid while we were in New York and there were just the beginnings of autumn color. When we returned to Colorado autumn was happily still in full bloom and today we even added a little snow to the mix! I am continuing on this post with our early autumn trip to Crested Butte, Colorado. You can see its famous 12,168-foot (3,709 m) mountain, for which it is named, in the photo above.  (All photos and photo collages will enlarge if clicked on)



There was lots of beautiful autumn color and signs directing us as we approached the historic district in the town of Crested Butte. The park bench we passed in town made me smile--this indeed, was the place!


The East River Valley, where Crested Butte is located, was once used as a summer residence by the Ute people. However, they were quickly displaced when European-Americans first entered the area. The first white people to explore the valley were beaver trappers, shortly followed by surveyors. Captain John Gunnison, after whom Gunnison County is named, was one of the early explorers to enter the area. In the 1860s and 1870s coal and silver mines began to open in the surrounding area, and many little mining towns formed. However, when silver mining began to decline, many of these towns failed. Crested Butte, however, was in a better position to survive because it served as a supply town to the surrounding area. There were proposals in the early 1970's to open molybdenum mines on Mount Emmons (also known as the "Red Lady") near Crested Butte, but the town opted to continue to develop its ski industry instead. 


Crested Butte's Mountain Resort began in the 1960's and its popularity grew.  Hotels and resorts opened on Crested Butte Mountian. The annual snowfall average in the area is 198.4 inches (504 cm) with January recording the highest average snowfall at 40 inches (100 cm), so skiing and snowboarding are full winter activities.



The ski area base is at 9,375 feet (2,858 m). 14 lifts serve 1,058 acres (4.28 km2) of terrain. 448 acres (1.81 km2) of the terrain are double black diamond runs. A large amount of extreme skiing terrain at Crested Butte has attracted the US Extreme Skiing Championships. The longest run on Mount Crested Butte is 2.6 miles (4.2 km). The town of Crested Butte has a Nordic Center which has an ice skating rink as well as many miles of groomed cross-country skiing trails. Recently, Vail Resorts purchased Crested Butte Resorts.  I hope they will retain their nickname as "The Last Great Ski Town" even as part of this resort conglomerate!


When we visited Crested Butte on the first day of autumn, we were surprised and excited to see an annual "Vinotok Festival" in the town.  If you did not read my Crested Butte--Part One blog post--click here-- you may want to see what this fun bohemian Autumn Festival is all about!


The town of Crested Butte is a charming place.  Who wouldn't want to live in this cute little purple house seen in town?


I enjoyed walking around the town taking photos of the historical buildings. The town boasts fabulous restaurants, galleries, and shops


The Victorian era homes and businesses were colorful and well kept.


Real estate has become expensive as Crested Butte's popularity has grown. I was quite surprised at the prices of small houses such as these!

Crested Butte also has the nickname as "The Wildflower Capital of Colorado" as its surrounding mountains are filled with wildflowers in the late spring and summer, and there is an annual Wildflower Festival in July. It also hosts an annual Arts Festival. Film Festival and Music Festival.


Bicycling, camping, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting and kayaking, four wheeling, disc golf, horeseback riding and fishing are all popular summer activities.


The Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum, located at 331 Elk Ave is worth a visit to learn about the history of the town and area. It is housed in what was once a blacksmith's shop and then went on to be a hardware shop that had the first gasoline pump in town.


Ranching has also been a major industry in the surrounding Crested Butte area. We passed many a scenic ranch on our drives.


We also saw such amazing autumn foliage! 


One of the drives we made in the area was on the West Elk Loop Scenic Byway, over Kebler Pass, where there were the largest and highest aspen trees I ever saw and wonderful wilderness!  More about that on my next post.

To read part one of the Crested Butte, Vinotok Autumn Festival click here.


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46 comments:

  1. Pat, Crested Butte is one of our favorite places in CO. We used to go in the summer months when we were both working. It was a great place to spend a summer vacation. Thanks for sharing this!

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  2. ...such a gorgeous part of the country. I love the architecture!

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  3. Definitely looks like my kind of town to visit! And a new word for me molybdenum.

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  4. Loved visiting Crested Butte with you today, what a wonderful place. The little houses so bright and colourful are absolutely charming and the bench made me smile too, if you arranged to meet someone there you'd never go wrong.
    Belated anniversary wishes and Happy MM.

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  5. Hello, Creste Butte is a beautiful place. I like the tiny houses. The views are fabulous! Love the Autumn colors and trees. Happy Anniversary! Enjoy your day and have a great new week!

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  6. How stunning, the colours in those autumn leaves are beautiful.

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  7. What a lovely area! The mountain views are gorgeous.

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  8. Yes, Sir! This Must Be THE Place! All the color ... from the leaves to the buildings. Great spot to visit. You make it come alive.

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  9. I'd rather visit in the fall with the glorious color than during the winter. Not really a snow bunny or skier. Beautiful old homes and buildings.

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  10. Pat, love the ski bench. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Splendid fall color, scenic vistas and lots of charm.

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  12. Lovely colors of fall. Happy Anniversary to you and hubby and I am glad you were able to share it. My husband's family are from New York and we have visited them on Long Island...Michelle

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  13. Oh! I love those colorful houses. They make the street look so much more inviting and interesting. Also love the colorful trees. This is just a post filled with beauty.

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  14. Someplace I'd like to visit for the skiing. Lovely golden aspen pics!

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  15. Pat - Crested Butte looks absolutely adorable. It reminds me of Breckenridge before it got big … maybe we should visit while it still has the cute and unique vibe!!! (Regarding your comment on my recent post - we always carry bear spray on our hikes; I even carry it with me when running/walking in the woods near our house. I don't think adult grizzlies climb trees, but the cubs sure do!) I hope you continue to enjoy glorious fall weather before the snow flies!!!

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  16. It's a beautiful place. I'd live in that cute little purple house. In your photo (which is a wonderful shot), the mountain reminded me of a sphinx without its head. :-)

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  17. Thank you for sharing all of your lovely photographs, it looks a beautiful part of the world :)

    All the best Jan

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  18. Such a beautiful town, and your pictures are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your time with us. Visiting from Grandma's Briefs link up :)

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  19. Colorado is truly an awesome area. I have never been anywhere that it was a egregious to see.

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  20. Yes, that blue bench is exactly the place...for me to sit!

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  21. Your photos of Crested Butte and the fall foliage are just gorgeous Pat.

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  22. What a beautiful town. They have preserved the older buildings well. Those aspens are breathtaking.

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  23. I loved every shot of this wonderful photographic tour! Wow! So much charm and color. Just wonderful. I know we need to make it there one day for sure!

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  24. Lovely photos, such a beautiful mountain and pretty town and I love the bus painted with flowers

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  25. I have never been there! What a gorgeous little town. I love the purple house.

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  26. That's so cute! It doesn't look like a real place- it looks like a movie set!

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  27. What a gorgeous trip and post...your photos are outstanding. Love all the buildings, so well cared for. Thanks for sharing!

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  28. The Crested Butte is beautiful especially with the golden trees nestling underneath it! Glad you took a series of photos, which give a great impression of the town - and it has so many festivals - great post for All Seasons - thank you! Love the purple house, but I might get in trouble with hubs if I came home with some purple paint buckets, haha. Historical towns are so interesting to visit!

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  29. I love visiting little places like this and then doing research on them. Your post is awesome and your photos are, as always, so gorgeous!

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  30. That looks like a fabulous town! I love the colorful buildings and you can not beat all that fall foliage color.

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  31. Oh, the houses are adorable. Love the colorful sky and scenery.

    Peabea from Peabea Scribbles

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  32. I love it! Wish I could go there now! So gorgeous! Thanks for sharing it at NanaHood.com I appreciate it! Do come back!

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  33. This is my kind of place to visit! Thanks for the post, Pat!

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  34. What a delightful place! I love all the autumn colours.

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  35. Love the colors and your post made we want to visit there. Will pin. Visiting from Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, where I posted 5 Self-care Skills You Need to Know. Warm regards, Nancy Andres

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  36. The opening photo is so cool. It looks like the side of the mountain has been sheared off!! Have a great weekend.

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  37. Happy Anniversary to you ~ Gorgeous place and so fascinating ~ Wonderful photos!

    Happy Day to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  38. Beautiful photographs. Such a great little town. Way back when Crested Butte was my only ski trip as an adult when I lived in Dallas. I remembered it as kind of being laid back. I'd love to go back~

    Have a good weekend. I love looking at your photos here and on Instagram.

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  39. Its great that the town didn't die along with the others and that they opted to develop tourism rather than mining. It looks a great town to visit in any season. The autumn colours are so vibrant in the last shot. Just beautiful.

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  40. Congratulations to you, your husband, your brother and sister in law on your anniversaries! I so enjoyed this virtual visit to Crested Butte. What beautiful buildings, and the coloured leaves - oh my! Thank you for sharing, and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Hope to see you again this week. Have a great week ahead!

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  41. Good write-up. I certainly appreciate this website. Stick with it!

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  42. So beautiful -- you were fortunate to be there during "aspen season". All of the adorable little homes and the street views look so familiar. We really loved our visit to Crested Butte! I looked for the charming little B&B inn where we stayed -- it was only a couple of blocks off main street.

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  43. Happy Anniversary! Beautiful photos. The purple house is my favorite. ;-D Thank you so much for sharing with us at the Whimsical Wednesdays link party! Have a wonderful week.

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  44. Such a charming town, and great that you were there during the festival. I love all your shares of this magnificent area.

    Happy Pink Saturday, Pat. Thank you for always making Pink Saturdays special. This post is being featured on my Pink Saturday post this week as "the one with the most clicks".♥

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