Here is something the ski brochures do not tell you: you can have a genuinely great week in Winter Park without ever putting on a pair of skis.
Maybe you have never skied. Maybe you are recovering from something. Maybe you came so the rest of your group could ski and you are perfectly happy with a book and a hot tub. Whatever the reason, this valley has more to offer non-skiers than almost any resort town in Colorado, and a lot of it is free.
Start Here: The Best Free Thing for Non-Skiers
Mountaintop Apres at The Lodge at Sunspot
Typically Thursday to Saturday, 4:00pm to 8:00pm, mid-December through early April. Daily during the holiday week.
This is the one to build an afternoon around. Ride the Gondola up above the spruce trees to the Lodge at Sunspot for live music, food and drink specials, and a view across the Fraser Valley at golden hour.
No lift ticket and no reservation required after 4:00pm. You get the same summit view the skiers paid for, with a drink in your hand and considerably warmer feet.
Two things to know: if you want to ride up before 4:00pm you will need a pass, lift ticket or Scenic Gondola Ticket. And the last ride down is usually 8:00pm, so keep an eye on the clock rather than settling in too comfortably.
Scenic Gondola Rides
Want the view during daylight? A Scenic Gondola Ticket gets non-skiers up the mountain any time the lift is turning, no skis required. It is the easiest way for grandparents, small children or anyone who simply does not want to ski to see what everyone else is talking about.
Playing in the Snow Without Skis
Snow Tubing
The best fun-per-dollar in the valley, and it requires zero skill. Three options:
- Coca-Cola Tube Hill at Winter Park Resort, with banked lanes and a lift back to the top. Glow Night Tubing runs under the lights, typically Thursday to Saturday, 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
- Historic Fraser Tubing Hill, locally owned since 1971, lit for night tubing with a warming house. (970) 726-5954.
- Colorado Adventure Park in Fraser, with magic carpet lifts, free sleds for little kids, a fire pit with s'mores kits, and snowscoots. (970) 726-5779.
Book ahead. Resort tubing sells out, particularly over holidays.
Snowshoeing
If you can walk, you can snowshoe. That is the whole learning curve. It is the rare activity a mixed group can genuinely do together, and Winter Park is surrounded by national forest, so trail options are effectively endless.
Try the Fraser River Trail for something flat and easy, or the groomed networks at Devil's Thumb Ranch and Snow Mountain Ranch. Local shops rent snowshoes by the day.
Worth booking: the resort's Sunset Snowshoe Tour takes you up the Gondola and out onto a forest trail at twilight, with a complimentary drink in the lodge afterward. Typically Thursday to Saturday, 4:30pm to 6:30pm.
Ice Skating
Winter Park Resort runs a rink at the Village Pond with skate rentals available, including Glow Night Ice Skating with music and neon lighting on select evenings. The Fraser Valley Sports Complex also has an outdoor rink.
Cross Country and Nordic Skiing
Yes, it involves skis, but it is a completely different sport and far more forgiving than downhill. Groomed track at Devil's Thumb Ranch in Tabernash and at Snow Mountain Ranch, plus miles of quiet forest trail. Beginners can genuinely be competent by lunchtime, and it costs a fraction of a lift ticket.
Guided Winter Experiences
These are the memories people take home, and none of them require any athletic ability at all.
Sleigh Ride Dinners
Bundle under a blanket behind a team of horses, ride out through the snow, and eat somewhere you could not otherwise reach. Options range from a simple ride with cocoa and a campfire to a full multi-course dinner with live entertainment. Devil's Thumb Ranch in Tabernash is a well-known operator.
These sell out weeks ahead over the holidays. Book when you book lodging.
Dog Sledding
Sit back under a blanket and let the team work, or take the runners and learn to drive your own sled. Trained handlers guide you through meadows and forest, and good operators will actually teach you the commands. Reservations required, and access roads are snow-covered, so bring an AWD vehicle.
Snowcat and S'mores Tour
Ride a snowcat up the mountain to watch the sun set over the valley, then on to Lunch Rock for s'mores and drinks before heading back down. Includes the tour, s'mores and a beverage. Requires nothing but warm clothes. Typically Thursday to Saturday, 4:30pm to 6:30pm.
Snowmobiling
Over a hundred miles of groomed trails plus serious backcountry. Guided tours mean you do not need to know the terrain, and most operators supply full winter gear, which matters more than you expect at speed in February.
Winter Fly Fishing
The trout do not hibernate. Guided winter trips on the Colorado and Fraser rivers are quiet, uncrowded and surprisingly productive, and the guide supplies the waders. Book with our preferred partner 5280 Angler.
Indoor Fun and Storm Day Plans
Every mountain trip needs a weather plan. These are the ones locals use.
- The Foundry Cinema & Bowl. The valley's only movie theater and bowling alley, with an arcade and wood-fired pizza. (970) 363-7161 | foundry-wp.com. The single best storm-day answer in Winter Park.
- Fraser Birdie Lounge. Indoor golf simulators in Fraser, which means summer golf in February. Excellent for groups and genuinely fun even if you do not golf. fraserbirdielounge.com.
- Headwaters Center. A hands-on museum about the Colorado River headwaters and the local wildlife. Considerably more engaging than that description suggests, and a good hour with kids. headwatersriverjourney.com.
- Grand Park Community Recreation Center in Fraser, with an indoor aquatic center, hot tubs, a gym and drop-in classes. (970) 726-8968. The pool alone will buy you a peaceful afternoon.
- Shopping and galleries. Cooper Creek Square and downtown Winter Park have a genuine collection of independent shops and art galleries rather than the usual resort souvenir fare.
- Yoga, spa and massage. After a few days at altitude this is money extremely well spent. Book a treatment or find a yoga class.
Eating and Drinking Your Way Through the Week
This is the underrated part of a non-skiing trip: while everyone else is on the mountain, you have the restaurants and taprooms to yourself.
- Six independent breweries and two distilleries within about six miles, several of them dog friendly and open from noon. See our brewery guide, which lists hours and closed days.
- A dining scene that punches well above the town's size, from Nepalese and Spanish paella to Japanese-Mexican fusion and a Wine Spectator award-winning tavern. See our restaurant guide, and check the closed days before you drive anywhere.
- Long lunches. Several kitchens open continuously from 11:00am, which is a luxury only non-skiers get to use.
One honest note: alcohol hits noticeably harder at 9,000 feet. Drink water alongside, especially on your first day. See our guide to adjusting to high altitude.
Day Trips Worth the Drive
- Hot springs. Several are within driving distance, and there is little better on a cold day. See where to soak near Winter Park.
- Grand Lake. Colorado's largest natural lake, at the western gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Snowy, quiet and beautiful in winter, with a boardwalk main street worth an afternoon. Note that Trail Ridge Road closes from roughly late October to late May, so access is via US-40 and US-34.
- Wildlife watching. The Fraser Valley fills with elk in winter as they move to lower ground, and moose are common. Dawn and dusk are your windows. Bring binoculars and keep your distance.
- Stargazing. Genuinely dark skies here, and a clear cold night at altitude produces a sky most visitors have never seen. Step outside your rental, look up, and give your eyes ten minutes to adjust.
Doing Absolutely Nothing
Worth stating plainly, because it is a legitimate plan. A book, a fire, a hot tub and a mountain view is a perfectly good use of a week, and it is the reason a lot of our guests book a rental with a hot tub in the first place. Nobody is checking your vertical feet.
Getting Around Without Driving
The free town bus connects Winter Park, the resort base and Fraser, which covers most of what is on this page. For airport transfers, Home James runs door-to-door service from Denver. Note that Uber and Lyft are unreliable in the valley, so book ahead rather than assuming.
Check current weather and know before you go before heading out.
What Is On While You Are Here
A lot of Winter Park's best moments cost nothing and involve no skiing at all: the Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade, holiday drone shows over the base, live reindeer in the Village, and a free town New Year's Eve party with sledding and a silent disco.
See our annual events guide and the current events calendar.
Where to Stay If You Are Not Skiing
Skiers want to be near the lifts. Non-skiers want something different, and it is worth choosing deliberately.
- Downtown Winter Park is our top pick for non-skiers. Walk to restaurants, breweries, shops and the free bus, and never move the car.
- Fraser puts you near the Foundry, the Birdie Lounge, the rec center, the tubing hill and three breweries.
- Rentals with a hot tub, because the hot tub is doing a lot of the work on this kind of trip.
- Cabins and Tabernash rentals for quiet, trees and Nordic trails from the door.
- Base Village if the rest of your group is skiing and you want to meet them for apres without driving.
- Pet-friendly rentals, since several local taprooms are enthusiastically dog friendly.
Mixed group where some ski and some do not? That is most of our guests. Our Guest Services team can help you find somewhere that works for everyone, which usually means walkable to town and on the free bus route.
Already Thinking About Summer?
Winter Park does not shut down when the snow melts. Trestle Bike Park, the Scenic Gondola, the Alpine Slide, hiking, fishing and a full festival calendar run all summer, and lodging is considerably cheaper. Start planning.
Book Your Stay
Check current specials, browse all our properties, or call us at 800-215-6535.
Tell us nobody in your group skis and we will genuinely have plenty to suggest. It happens more often than you would think, and those guests tend to leave the happiest.
Operator hours, seasons and availability change through the winter, and outdoor activities are weather dependent. Confirm directly with each operator before booking.
