Other activities

Exploring the old town of Breckenridge is great fun, either with a formal historical tour or on your own armed with a free guidesheet. Don't forget the Main Street Historical Museum with Breck's past in pictures and paraphernalia, the Edwin Carter Museum with its collection of Rocky Mountain fauna, and the Barney Ford House Museum with a fascinating history of a former slave who became the town's first black businessman. The new Breckenridge Welcome Center on Main Street is a 4,000-square-foot building that surrounds an historic mining cabin discovered during the construction process. Here, the town's history is on display, as well as excellent exhibits of local ecology, geography and the town's ski history.

Part of the town's history is with the Backstage Theatre (453-0199), which has been performing award-winning live shows continuously since 1974. It shares a venue on Ridge St.—The Breckenridge Theatre for Performing Arts—with other groups as part of the Arts District

Kids will get a kick out of the hands-on exhibits at Mountain Top Children's Museum (453-7878) in the village on Park Avenue. With special focus areas such as a Wonder Lab, Kidstruction Zone, and Tot Spot, the museum allows kids to create, dream and play.

Good Times Adventure Tours (453-7604) offers thrilling dogsled tours and snowmobile rides. Good Times is very hands-on, letting customers run their own dogsled team or take their own snowmobile for a spin. Guides are professional and friendly, and prices are reasonable.

There are also mine tours and hut trips. For information, call the Activities Center (877-864-0868). Breckenridge Dinner Sleigh Rides (547-8383) fill up quickly, so call ahead. There are two ice rinks, one indoors, for drop-in hockey and free skating (547-9974). The Breckenridge Recreation Center (453-1734) on Airport Road north of town offers an array of indoor activities for non-ski days, such as swimming, tennis, racquetball, wall climbing, fitness center and basketball. They offer child care for kids ages 2 months to 5 years while you work out.

If you happen to be in Breckenridge in mid-January, Ullr Fest (below) with its parade and festivities is a great big hoot. Locals dress up in Nordic costumes, make a parade down the main street complete with naked streakers in sub-zero temps, throw candy and treats from the floats and make a family-wide festival out of the whole town. Don't miss it.

Another popular event is the Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championships at the end of January each year. Teams from around the globe turn 20-ton blocks of snow into art. USA Today named the event one of the top 10 great winter festivals in the country.

Twenty years combined experience stand behind the owners of Blue Sage Spa (547-5926), a small sensuous spa voted Best Day Spa by Summit County locals. Top-notch therapists and aestheticians provide nothing less than a caring, personalized experience - a girlfriend-to-girlfriend kind of session. Special treatments designed to alleviate effects of high altitude are especially welcome at this high-altitude resort.

Shimmy up to the bar—The Elixir Bar—and choose from a menu of exotic teas and healthy tonics before or after your spa treatment at Mountain Sanctuary Holistic Spa (547-1610). Each room of the sanctuary resembles a Victorian bedroom, and upstairs is a large airy salon for wedding parties to "do" nails and hair. Besides massage and skin care, a full range of spa services like ear candling, waxing, and micro-dermabrasion are offered.

At the full-facility Grand Victorian Day Spa & Salon (547-3624) in the Grand Timber Lodge, you choose from a long list of head-to-toe therapies and services, scrubs, peels and polishes for men and women. Included is the Alpha Spa Capsule, a dry-heat sauna for detoxification, the only one of its kind within three counties. The Spa at Beaver Run is new to the spa scene, opening in 2007 (see lodging).

Downtown has scores of boutiques. Some of our favorites on Main Street: Tom Girl; Canary in a Clothes Mine and Goods, both for clothing; Soap & Water, Wildflower and Breckenridge Hat Company for fun gifts; Cookin' Cowgirl for kitchenware; Two Wild Sisters for not-too-expensive jewelry; and Kristina for her gold jewelry designs. We love Caamono's, a fabulous shop brimming with imported sweaters and unique accessories at the entrance of Main Street Station. Check out Hamlet's Bookshoppe on Main Street for local interest books and best-sellers. Peek inside Creatures Great & Small and Breckenridge BARKery if you're an animal lover.

The developing Breckenridge Arts District is between the corner of Main and Ridge on Washington Street. On an off-ski day, you can take a workshop at the Robert Whyte House. For fine art galleries, we recommend: Paint Horse Gallery for western art, Breckenridge Fine Art Gallery, Hibbard McGrath Gallery, and Highlands Gallery.

Breckenridge has bloomed as a destination for weddings, both summer and winter. For a wedding and honeymoon guide, call the Breckenridge Resort Chamber at (877) 864-0868.

Also check out surrounding Summit County for other activities.