3 Days in Breckenridge, CO

This past August my husband and I were in Colorado visiting family, which included a quick stay in Breckenridge. My dad recently purchased a place in Breckenridge for a couple weeks out of the year, and when he invited us to stay we jumped on the opportunity!

We drove in from Denver on a Wednesday afternoon and met my dad at the Grand Colorado on Peak 8, where he’s an owner. I won’t even pretend to fully understand the ins and outs of his ownership at this location and what it means (but what I did learn is that it’s technically not a timeshare), but the resort was definitely nice and the 2 bedroom suite that we stayed in was so spacious and homey, complete with a full sized kitchen. After we had lunch at the resort and got settled into the suite, we drove to Frisco for a grocery trip. On the way we passed Uncle Johns Farm Stand and had to stop. We may have gone overboard on all of the fresh food but it was so tasty! For dinner we went to The Blue Fish for sushi in downtown Breckenridge. It may not have been sushi on the coast but it was still pretty good for the middle of the country. ;) They had a nice dog friendly outdoor patio, and Lacey got plenty of treats!

The next morning we decided to do a little hike to shake out our legs and adjust to the altitude. We read a bunch about what dog friendly hikes were best in the area, and landed on Hoosier Pass. This hike was great! We went early enough and only ended up passing probably 3 people total, and the location was gorgeous. I’d definitely recommend this hike to get acclimated to the area. It’s a 2.8 mile loop, with about 688 feet of elevation gain.

After the hike we had some errands to run (silly me forgot a key component of the water bladder that I brought, and that was kind of important for our plans of hiking a 14er), but as we were out we drove by Lake Dillon and it was beautiful! I do wish we would have stopped for a hike or a bike ride around all or part of this lake. I would definitely recommend it and will be spending more time here when we’re in town next. Maybe we’ll have a kayak or paddleboard by then too!

Once back at the resort, Jon and I went on a hike with Lacey within walking distance, or a short gondola ride, of the Grand Colorado. We were exploring the area and came across a wooded trail so decided to explore. It apparently connects to some other trails in the area and eventually goes all the way to Frisco. We definitely didn’t go far, but it’s nice that there’s so many hiking trails and options for them to connect in the area!

Another perk of the Grand Colorado on Peak 8 (outside of the great location, literally right on the slopes), is the amazing rooftop bar/lounge. We brought our cheese and crackers and ordered drinks while watching the sunset behind the peaks. The perfect end to our first full day in Breckenridge.

Friday morning was an early one! Once we heard there was a relatively easy 14er nearby, we knew we had to do it. So we woke up early and started our ascent to Quandary Peak at 5:15am. I can’t even imagine what this hike is like on the weekends, since it was as crowded as it was that early on a weekday. We still had a great hike and are happy to complete our first 14er! You can read more about that here.

We finished in the late morning and headed back to the resort to take full advantage of all the wonderful amenities. A hot tub and pool that overlook the slopes? Yes please! It was exactly what we needed after a hard hike and an early morning. That evening we drove over to Keystone to have dinner with a friend of my dads, and I am officially ready to live in the mountains after visiting her place. Think cabin, but 10x more beautiful with high ceilings and custom mountainy touches throughout, big open doors that lead to a creek running through their backyard, a large rustic table… I was swooning.

Saturday was another early morning, though definitely not as bad as the day before. One of the must do hikes we heard about in Breckenridge was Mohawk Lakes. Alpine lakes? I can’t pass that up. We heard it gets crowded on the weekends (as it seems like all hikes do in the area), so we tried to get there a little bit earlier to beat the crowds. It was still pretty crowded, but we parked along Spruce Creek Road leading up to the trailhead and although we had probably an extra mile long walk, it wasn’t bad. Pro tip: if you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle you can park much closer! Another pro tip: if you don’t have 4-wheel drive, rather than walking the road the whole time, you can take the spruce creek trail which more or less runs parallel to the road, and eventually dumps you out at the Mohawk Lakes trailhead. This eliminates some of the walk on the road, though not all, and is much prettier and quieter. We hiked this on the way there, and ran on the road the whole time on the way back.

The hike was crowded, but we enjoyed it and were able to be spaced out enough from other people which was nice. The trail was a little hard to follow in some spots, but we downloaded the map ahead of time on the Gaia GPS app and that helped a lot. I’d definitely recommend doing this on some kind of GPS app, it provides nice peace of mind and ensures you don’t miss what you came for! We were able to more easily navigate by following the GPS than we were by trying to follow the trail. It looks like there’s a lot of lakes in the area, but we went to the 2 main ones: the upper and lower Mohawk lakes. Before getting to the lakes, you can also view the Continental Falls, which is about 2.5 miles into the hike. We didn’t bring the pup on this hike, although it is dog friendly. Lacey has some years on her and can’t hang like she used to for long hikes. My Garmin said our total ended up being 7 miles out and back, with 1,819 feet of elevation gain. I may or may not have ran an extra .2 miles after the car, to round up to an even 7 miles. ;)

After our hike, we had the BEST burgers I think I’ve ever had. Could have been because we were so hungry from the hike, or maybe they truly were the best, but we went to Empire Burger and it did not disappoint. I should also mention that I am obsessed with sauces, and they had so many to offer. I’m thankful they didn’t make me chose just one! If you are in the area and want a good burger, do yourself a favor and eat here.

With bellys full of burgers and fries, we drove to Boreas Pass road to do a loop hike. We did the hike going counterclockwise, starting on the road. After a ways on the road, we then cut over and into the forest to finish out the hike where we started. Although the majority of the hike was on the road, it was a pretty nice hike. The road was wide enough to accommodate other hikers (especially in the time of COVID) and cars passing through. There were beautiful views of Breckenridge and all the peaks, and numerous Aspens lining the road. I can’t imagine how gorgeous it is in the fall! We passed a lot of people camping along the road too, which looked so nice. There were some good pull offs to put up a tent and hammock while looking out at the view. The road continued on for much longer than we walked after we got to the trailhead, and I’ve heard it’s a nice scenic drive too if that’s more of your thing! The full loop ended up being 2.7 miles with 332 feet of elevation gain, and dog friendly!

After the hike we headed back to the resort for our last night of relaxation before driving back to California! We went to our favorite spot again, up on the roof, and had wine and dinner by the firepits. There had been a few fires in the area which left the days pretty smoky, and our hikes a bit hazy, but I have to say it made for one gorgeous sunset.

There you have it! Three full days in Breckenridge with a mix of hikes and relaxation. We’ll definitely be back for ski season in the winter!