Ski village developers want to take Winter Park uptown, with fancier condos and a new slate of luxury entertainments. Even venerable laidback institutions like Devil’s Thumb Ranch are adding wine-tasting rooms and day spas. But the Fraser Valley still has enough year-round residents and working ranches to pay homage to Winter Park’s roots, back when it was a construction camp for the Moffat train tunnel connecting the valley with Denver. You can still bring a sack lunch and your own banged-up Nordic skis to Devil’s Thumb for a day of gliding through the woods. And the snowmobile guides at Grand Adventures make it easy even if you’re bringing your own machine to their groomed trails – they smooth out the path all the way to a public parking lot just down the road from Winter Park Mountain Lodge. From Berthoud Pass to Tabernash, the Winter Park area has so much to offer, you may never hop on the ski lift.
