This season I have had the pleasure of frequenting Devil’s Thumb Ranch more than in the past, but I purposefully chose not to write a blog about every visit. That said I would be remiss if I didn’t share a bit about this beauty. I took up cross country skiing in my 20’s and really never saw it becoming such a big part of my life, but over time it has. I truly love that I can go out my back door to ski or I can go on hiking/mountain biking trails or even go to a Nordic center. I also love that while it takes some athletic skill and is more difficult than snowshoeing it is much easier as a beginner than any of the alpine options and gets you further distances and different places than snowshoeing does.
That said one of my favorite places of all is Devil’s Thumb Ranch near Winter Park in Fraser, Colorado. It is a beautiful setting with various trail options and has great food and beverage options for once you’re done. (I recently earned myself their fantastic grilled cheese with tomato basil soup after taking the hardest trail on the ranch Lactic Grande). It also offers a few different options to make it a more affordable place for those of us not staying in their beautiful guest rooms to use it more often like a season pass, 10-day and 5-day punch cards that are actually transferrable too! This year I finally got to get a Friday evening ski in as they are open until 6pm and it has been on my list of things to do for quite some time and it did not disappoint.
So get on out there and check out the ranch and maybe try out some cross country skiing while you’re at it!