WINTER PARK AND FRASER, COLORADO

Elevation, Winter Park  9,060’   
Elevation, Fraser  8,560’

High in the Rocky Mountains, just 67 miles from the Denver metropolitan area, lie two communities that represent the diversity of Colorado’s history as well as the best of its present and future.  

History
Located at the east end of the county, at the western base of Berthoud Pass, Winter Park and the Fraser Valley originally comprised a series of several small settlements founded in the 1880s by ranchers and lumbermen drawn by the lush timber and wide open meadows. Some 50 years later, with the Moffat Tunnel greatly improving rail access from Denver, skiers began discovering the quality of the snow and the speed of the slopes.  


Fun Facts

• Byers Peak Ranch near Fraser was once known as the “Western White House.” President Dwight Eisenhower, President Herbert Hoover, and other dignitaries visited the ranch to fly fish and relax, Colorado-style.
• At the High-County Stampede Rodeo, a bull rider is required to stay on the bucking one-ton Brahma for eight seconds.
• A German POW camp existed in Fraser during wartime years (1945 – January, 1946) to provide much-needed labor for the production of lumber.

What to Do
Today, two towns remain from the area’s early history. Discover each, and along the road between the two towns, get a glimpse of Colorado’s future, where new real estate developments include golf courses and open meadowlands.

Winter Park – Sits among the pines, tucked up against the Continental Divide.

• Downtown – Occupying the original site of Hideaway Park, the current central point for shops, restaurants, and entertainment.  
• Cozens Ranch Museum – Early area history
• Winter Park and Mary Jane
• Winter: Popular ski areas for Rocky Mountain powder and backcountry skiing for more than 60 years
• Summer: Home to several home-grown and world-class music festivals

Fraser – Heading west from Winter Park, Fraser sits in the open meadows of the Fraser Valley, where cattle ranches and lumber mills originally operated.  Today, the valley is the commercial center of the area.

• Supermarket, hardware and department stores, banks, medical services, travel agencies, library, Amtrak station.
• Walk Through History Park – At the west end of the Fraser Valley Trail, the Walk features a collection of life-size wooden sculptures portraying the early days of the American West.
• High-Country Stampede Rodeo – On summer weekends, at Fraser’s John Work Arena.

Lodging

• Rustic cabins
• Guest ranches
• Upscale hotels
• Motels
• Bed-and-breakfast inns.

2009 Summer Special Events - TBD
        

* Denotes tentative date.

For additional information on Grand County, and an online trip planner, contact the Grand County Tourism Board at www.grand-county.com or 800-729-5821.