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It’s a long way from Austin to Avon. A roughly 16-hour drive over part of two days was a tiring experience. But after a week in the Avon-Vail-area, it was worth the effort to get there, and I hope we’ll be able to return sooner than later.
One perk of the driving distance is that we booked a hotel in Amarillo to complete the drive over two days. Arriving in the Amarillo-area around 7:30 p.m., we neared the exit for the road leading to Palo Duro Canyon State Park (where we camped during spring break this year – click here for a post about that trip). On a whim, we grabbed a day pass to take in a quick view of the canyon from the overlook and then drove through the canyon before heading to our hotel.
This trip was a vacation with my immediate family – my parents and siblings (along with their families). Thankfully, Avon-Vail not only provided a break from the 100-plus-degree Texas heat but also a variety of activities for everyone’s interests. Our Airbnb was located at the western edge of Eagle-Vail, which is a few minutes east of Avon, about 15 minutes west of Vail and roughly two hours west of Denver. The drive into the Avon-Vail area is beautiful, particularly the section after Idaho Springs (if you come in / depart on Highway 70) and the final 2-3 hours if you arrive / leave via Highway 24. Also, the drive on Highway 70 (or the adjacent Highway 6) between Vail and Avon is gorgeous. There are tons of hiking trails in the area, as well as an abundance of local restaurants and stores (Vail Village and Lionshead provide a nice combination of both). There are also several golf courses in the area, and four of us played nine holes at the Vail Golf Club one morning, which has excellent views of Gore Creek and the surrounding mountains.
Highway 70 and Highway 6 run adjacent to Eagle River, and they are two of the main roads for moving between the several communities in this area. I’d recommend taking Highway 6 when possible – it provides the best river viewing options and the speed limit is lower so you can enjoy the views. There was also a paved path that ran along the river in Eagle-Vail near our house that was great for walking, jogging and biking. The river is popular for paddling (both kayaks and rafts) and fly fishing – and outfitters will take groups on rafting and fishing trips on portions of the river. My wife and I talked about finding a whitewater kayaking course at some point so we can come back in the future and look for a guided kayaking trip on the river. Gore Creek runs through Vail Village and Lionshead (two popular areas in the valley for shopping and dining), and it combines with the Eagle River near in the intersection of Highway 6 / 70 and Highway 24. It is a wide, fast-flowing creek on which there was a whitewater kayaking contest one day during our trip.
HIKING
Hiking in this area is seemingly endless. Using the All Trails app, along with Google searches, I began searching for trails prior to leaving. I came up with so many trails that it was challenging to select only a few to hike during our week in Avon-Vail. While I’m in decent hiking shape for Texas, I discovered that hiking in Colorado is much more challenging due to the higher elevation and the significant elevation gains on many of the trails. What follows are three hikes that I would consider good for adults and older teenagers, followed by a section of kid-friendly activities that include a few shorter hikes.
EAGLE-VAIL TRAIL
This Eagle-Vail Trail runs between two neighborhoods, and it can be hiked as a point-to-point or as an out-and-back. One of the trailheads is on a street in the neighborhood in which our Airbnb was located, so I hiked it as an out-and-back. From the Grouse Court trailhead, it begins with a steep climb (something very common among the trails I hiked or considered in this area), and then alternates between open-air and tree-canopied sections. This is a single-track, mostly dirt trail throughout, and a few sections are quite narrow, with taller grass and smaller bushes on either side of the trail. There is a picnic table around 0.5 miles, and a bench around 1.8 miles, with views of the valley around 0.2 miles, 0.7 miles and 1.8 miles. While there are a few, brief descents when heading east, much of the outgoing portion is a steady ascent, with a few steep climbs. At 1.8 miles, you begin to hear Stone Creek below, which becomes visible shortly before you descend to a bridge crossing. At 2.3 miles the trail splits three ways. Continuing straight is the Eagle-Vail Trail 2351; to the left is the Stone Creek 2349 trail (which All Trails shows as the continuation of the Eagle-Vail Trail); to the right is the Stone Creek Ditch Trail 2349 1a. There is a small stream here where you can filter water if needed. This and the creek crossing were the only water sources I saw. Needing to get back for dinner, I turned around at this intersection and retraced my path. There is no parking at the Grouse Court trailhead and limited parking at the Eagle Drive trailhead. One item to note that applies to all the trails we hiked: even when it looked like you were walking mostly parallel to the map contour lines, there were very few sections that are level for any length of time.
GROUSE CREEK LOOP TRAIL
The Grouse Creek Loop Trail begins off Highway 24 just outside of Minturn. You steadily ascend from the outset, with a trail split around 0.2 miles (take a right here on the Half Nelson Trail No. 2120 1b if you want to hike the loop counter-clockwise) and another split around 0.5 miles – with Grouse Lake Trail No. 2127 to the left (a nine-mile out-and-back to Grouse Lake) and West Grouse Creek Trail No. 2129 to the right (a 10-mile one-way to Lower Turquoise Lake). An important note for those using All Trails: their map is incorrect for this hike. AT’s map says to take a left at the 0.5 mile split and then, around 1.3 miles into the hike, to turn right (heading northwest). However, that part of the loop doesn’t exist (which two local hikers confirmed for us when they passed us as we were searching for the trail). See the map image above, noting in blue an option for a loop trail in this area and in red indicating the non-existent connecting trail found on the AT map. A few pink flags tied to trees / bushes are the only indication of a possible planned trail where the AT app indicates one should be. However, a path is not visible and going this way is not recommended because it would require a lot of bushwhacking. We turned around 1.3 miles into the Grouse Lake Trail, and then took a left on the Half Nelson Trail (which leads to the Line Shack and Meadow Mountain trails). This trail crosses the creek at a bridge after 0.2 miles, and then begins to ascend up the ridge. Needing to get back for other family activities, we turned around after about 0.5 miles and headed back to our car parked at the trailhead. While it was disappointing to discover the map was inaccurate, it was still an enjoyable hike along the creek and under an intermittent tree canopy of pines and birch trees. To hike a clockwise loop, you’ll string together parts of several trails. From the trailhead, take Grouse Lake Trail until the 0.5 mile-intersection and take a right on the West Grouse Creek Trail. Hike roughly 0.9 miles and take a right on Full Nelson Trail No. 2124, on which you’ll hike until taking a right on Meadow Mountain Trail No. 2124. Take Meadow Mountain until it intersects with the Half Nelson Trail. Take a right on Half Nelson, which will take you back to the Grouse Lake Trail (at which point you’ll take a left toward the parking area).
PITKIN LAKE TRAIL
This 10-mile out-and-back hike was the most challenging, and the most rewarding, trail we tackled during our week in Avon-Vail. The first mile is a difficult steep ascent, but there are several steep and challenging sections throughout. You’re ascending nearly the entire way up to Pitkin Lake, moving from an elevation of around 8,500 feet at the trailhead to around 11,500 feet at the lake. The trail runs parallel to Pitkin Creek for most of the hike, so there are plenty of options to filter water. There are beautiful views of the creek, the trees (lots of pines and birches), the valley, as well as the mountains, two waterfalls and, ultimately, the lake. There are several creek crossings to navigate, as well as a few downed trees to climb under / over. In addition, we encountered snow / ice across portions of the trail for the final 1.5 miles up to the lake, which required that we use our GPS to ensure we stayed on the trail since the path wasn’t visible in these sections. In addition to the snow, we followed a well-worn offshoot a couple of times on the way up and on the way down, recognizing our error by checking our GPS map and then backtracking to find the main trail. As such, I’d highly recommend taking a GPS with you, as there aren’t signs marking the trail after the trailhead. This is not a kid-friendly hike, so I wouldn’t recommend anyone under 13 attempt this trail. I’d highly recommend this trail, and I hope to hike it again in the future, but the “hard” rating given on the All Trails app is accurate and fitting. According to AT, the average time to complete the trail is just over six hours. It took us seven hours – mostly due to our group not being used to tackling steep inclines at high elevation and due to our slower pace as we navigated the portions of the trail covered in snow / ice.
KID-FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES
The gardens offer a great opportunity for families to enjoy time outdoors. There is beautiful foliage and flowers in the garden section, along with a large open field for various activities, a large playground near the bathrooms and visitor’s center, as well as a path that runs along Gore Creek. Be sure to stop by the visitor center to ask if they have any current scavenger hunts for children, and check to see if there are any performances taking place at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater located next to the gardens.
The trails within the Vail Nature Center begin at a bridge directly across from the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, which are mostly dirt, single-track trails. Several trails run alongside Gore Creek, with a good bit of shade on them, and a couple trails are mostly open-air with little shade. All the trails within the nature center area are short and flat, with little elevation change, so this is an ideal place for families with younger children to do some hiking. Several benches and logs are located along the trails, and there is a beautiful view of the creek and distance mountains at the point that the Meadow-Creek Trail begins to turn back toward the interpretive center / museum.
Walking Mountains Science Center Avon Tang Campus
This science center in Avon is owned and operated by Walking Mountains, the same organization that manages the Vail Nature Center. It is very kid-friendly, with many indoor activities and stations (including sand digging, weights and measures, rock samples, and animal scat, skulls and pelts, to list a few of the options) focused on nature and conversation, along with several outdoor trails. The trails near the center are all short and flat, and several sections run alongside a small stream. The loop trail is the only trail near the center that has some elevation gain on the section closest to the road. The overlook trail is challenging, but worth the effort. It requires a steady, steep climb of about 0.5 miles up to a ridge, with an elevation gain of about 400 feet. Once on the ridge, I’d recommend you take a right and hike another 0.2 miles to what the small map provided by the center labeled a picnic area. From there, you’ll have a beautiful view of Avon, including the lake at Harry A. Nottingham Park (see below for details on the park). If you hike all the lower trails near the center, along with the Overlook Trail and the trail leading out to the picnic area and back, you’ll travel just over two miles. While this isn’t a long way, take plenty of water, as the overlook trail is a bit strenuous, even for adults.
This park is a short drive from the science center, located southwest of the center across Highway 70. It has a paved trail around the lake that is 0.9 miles in length, along with two fishing docks, a beach, a playground, an outdoor fitness area, and an outdoor stage with a large field next to it. A local company rents paddle boats, SUPs and kayaks (both single and tandem). The beach area has a place for wading / swimming, as well as two sand volleyball courts. There are benches, picnic tables and port-a-potties in several locations around the park, with a developed bathroom and covered picnic tables near the playground. You can also fish from the docks and shore, and someone with fishing gear that I spoke with said the lake had brown trout.
DINING
A homey diner with a large menu, Route 6 serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a pretty large menu that includes pancakes and eggs, variations of eggs benedict, as well as burgers, sandwiches, salads, fish, steak and pasta dishes. We ate breakfast for lunch one day and then dinner another evening. Breakfast is served until 3 p.m., and the salmon eggs benedict I ordered was very tasty, and my wife said the crab cakes she ordered were excellent. Indoor and outdoor seating is available. Route 6 provides quality food at a reasonable price, and everyone from our group was pleased with what they ate.
This local chain has two locations (one in Minturn and the other in Beaver Creek), with some local restaurants, including Route 6 Café, serving their coffee. They provide the usual variety of coffee drinks, as well as the typical pastries found at many coffee shops, and they roast and sell their own coffee, which is very reasonably priced. Mangiarie Italian Food Market is located in the same shopping center as the location in Minturn (a town between Eagle-Vail and Vail), providing a variety of Italian fare, from fresh cheese and meats to canned or vacuum-sealed food items.
The brewery is located in Eagle-Vail, with a taproom in Vail Village. We visited the brewery for lunch, where there is a food truck that serves excellent tacos, burritos and quesadillas, along with chips and queso, salsa and guacamole. There is both inside and outside (covered) seating, giving you the option to order both food and on-tap beer.
Located in Vail Village, this restaurant provides authentic German food and dessert. The schnitzel and spaetzle I had was excellent, as was the gnocchi with chestnut truffle filling that my wife had, and everyone from our group seemed pleased with their food. My only critique would be that it was pricy – though, to be fair, most restaurants and shops in Vail Village are expensive.
Blue Moose serves salads, sandwiches and pizzas, and they have locations in both Beaver Creek and Lionshead. We ate at the location in Beaver Creek, and the pizza was excellent. I’d suggest ordering family style so everyone can try several different types of pizza. They offer several house-created pizzas with assorted toppings, or you can create our own. The 18-inch size will serve 3-4 people typically.
Located in Vail Village, this restaurant is upscale, pricey and difficult to get reservations. However, it does provide high-quality food and a pleasant dining experience (you won’t feel rushed to order, eat and leave). My parents generously treated us to dinner at Sweet Basil for our anniversary, and everything our group ate was uniquely prepared and tasted excellent. While there is only indoor seating, the tables at the front of the restaurant open to the outside (weather permitting).
CONCLUSION
From the house, temperature and views to the outdoor activities, food and shopping, our family had an outstanding week in the Avon-Vail area. I look forward to another trip to this area, and I have already begun thinking what trails I’d like to hike the next time we’re able to visit. While eating out can be expensive, the Airbnb options are affordable (particularly if you split the cost between several family units) and you can reduce the food expenses by cooking many of your meals at home (there is a Walmart near Avon and a grocery store near Vail). For those who enjoy time in the great outdoors, you’ll feel like you have endless hiking, biking and paddling opportunities (depending on your interests and skills), and for those who enjoy a mountain getaway with amenities, you’ll feel that you also have more options that you can possibly engage in a single trip.
Dawes Outdoors 