Celebrating Colorado’s 150th birthday in the mountains
By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Content Agency
Taking the Kids
Check out the Mule’s Ear! This one is actually a lot prettier than the animal’s ear. We’re talking about the yellow wildflower so named because the leaves are actually similar in shape to a mule’s ear, we learn on a free guided hike, thanks to the Town of Breckenridge, Colorado’s Open Space and Trail.
In Breckenridge, we stayed at Beaver Run Resort (www.beaverrun.com), where we have also stayed in winter (ski in, ski out). It has multi-bedroom, condo-like units, multiple pools and hot tubs, mini golf, an arcade and it’s just a 10-minute walk to Main Street.
On the popular Blue River Trail, our naturalist guide, Ella Garner, pointed out all the wildflowers – white Yarrow (used to staunch blood in the wild), Silvery Lupine, purple larkspur (it’s poisonous), pink wild roses (makes great rosehip tea ), red Indian paintbrush and yellow arnica (commonly made into anti-inflammatory cream).
There are also complimentary programs that teach how to make medicinal teas and others dedicated to maintaining trails. Such hikes are offered nearly every day in summer on different trails from easy to strenuous. Ours, just after July 4, was focused on wildflowers as it was during Breckenridge’s inaugural Wildflower Week. Colorado’s famous wildflowers were peaking early this summer because of the unseasonably warm winter and below-average snowpack.
That low snowpack and resulting low water has made rafting on the Arkansas River, the closest rafting option near Breckenridge, more accessible to beginners and families as there isn’t nearly as much white water this season, according to Performance Tours Rafting, a local, family-owned rafting outfitter with a base in Breckenridge.
Despite the smoke from wildfires, scorching heat in the East and Midwest is sending vacationers to the mountains for cooler temperatures, adventure and a little pampering like at the new 107-room Kindred Resort at Keystone Resort, a short drive away from Breckenridge and just 75 miles from Denver. The resort’s first luxury hotel is adjacent to the River Run Gondola that provides access to the top of Durcum Mountain and its extensive network of hiking and downhill mountain biking trails. We loved the fire pits (s’mores, anyone?), lawn games, pool and hot tubs and Kinji, Keystone’s first and only sushi restaurant. (Take note of the restaurant’s pottery, created by our server, the artist Amanda Scoville – a terrific souvenir.)
Locals and visitors are also celebrating Colorado’s 150th birthday of becoming a state on Aug. 1 with special events, exhibits, concerts and more. (The Statewide Event Calendar offers a lineup of events. Get a digital passport available on Colorado.com to explore Colorado’s hidden gems, as well as exclusive offers.)
At the History Colorado Center in Denver (free admission every day for children and teens 18 and younger), the exhibit 38th Star: Colorado Becomes the Centennial State brings you along for the winding journey. Through a unique collection of photographs, artifacts, and voices. There is also the Moments That Made US exhibit with more than 50 treasures spanning eight centuries of American history.
Colorado boasts 58 “fourteeners,” mountain peaks that rise above 14,000 feet. This summer, as part of the 150th celebrations, you can join the Find Your Own 14er campaign and you don’t have to climb a fourteener. Just share an outdoor adventure on social media with the hashtag #TheViewFromHere.
The historic mining town of Breckenridge, just 80 miles from Denver and 9,600 feet above sea level (12,988 at the peak), and the surrounding Upper Blue River Valley, is a great base, home to hundreds of different hiking and biking trails with more than 70 miles of the network managed by the Town’s Open Space & Trails Program. Breckenridge offers 150 ways to celebrate, including plenty o f lodging deals.
Breckenridge is one of the highest ski towns in North America and it can take you a couple of days to adjust to the thinner air. Drink twice as much water (you’ll find plenty of places to refill your water bottle) and slather on plenty of sunscreen as you are closer to the sun.
Those precautions are a small price to pay for the glorious mountain vistas, the cooler weather, shopping galore and plenty of places for outdoor adventure, including at Breckenridge Ski Resort with the Goldrunner Coaster through the woods, the Alpine Slide, mini golf, lift-served mountain biking trails, climbing wall, bungee trampolines, an Alpiner Challenge Course and a kid-sized Lil’ Climber Ropes Course.
Visitors always make a pilgrimage to see Isak Heartstone, the Breckenridge troll, a 15-foot-tall wooden sculpture crafted by Danish artist Thomas Dambo from recycled materials. It’s just a short walk from downtown on the Trollstigen Trail.
Locals say you won’t want to miss the new Threefold Bakery for delicious sandwiches made on sourdough breads, pastries and cookies or a kid-friendly happy hour at the Breckenridge Distillery with live music, new mocktails and great burgers.
After perhaps the worst ski season in decades, visitors and locals are happy to revel in all Breckenridge and other mountain towns have to offer this summer—biking on the Blue River Recreation Path, a sunrise hike or evening concert, pickleball, fishing, shopping on Main Street or watching the kids navigate from rock to rock in the water at Blue River Plaza,
“Breckenridge checked all the boxes, great restaurants, nature, great for the kids and the dogs,” said Kristin Courtington, here from Evergreen, Colorado, to celebrate her mother-in-law’s 75th birthday.
“We hike as many trails as we can,” said Joel Held, who comes every summer from Nebraska with his family and three big dogs.
“Breckenridge has a lot to do,” promised Haley Childers, 17, from Austin, Texas. “You won’t get bored.”
(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The fourth edition of The Kid’s Guide to New York City and the third edition of The Kid’s Guide to Washington D.C. are the latest in a series of 14 books for kid travelers published by Eileen.)
©2026 Eileen Ogintz. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.