Colorado Getaways July 2021: Vail Valley

A Vail Complement. High-soaring Eagle County abounds in summer fun.

VERTICAL FEAT

The Club at Cordillera’s three 18-hole championship golf courses alight
at different elevations, providing experiences that are as unique as the architects who designed them. The Tom Fazio-designed Valley Course perches 7,200 feet above sea level; Hale Irwin’s Mountain Course sits at 8,250 feet; and the Jack Nicklaus Summit Course crests at 9,200 feet. That equals 2,000 vertical feet of changes in climate, topography and club selection. At the same elevation as the Mountain Course, Cordillera also features the nine-hole Dave Pelz Short Course, where you can master 90 percent of the shots in golf. While private, the courses welcome Troon Privé members and guests of select hotel partners. cordillera-vail.com

A COOL, COOL SUMMER

By July, the snow you skied on has become the water you play in. Vail not only boasts its own Whitewater Park in the center of the village;
it also serves as a great base for Class I to Class V river trips on Gore Creek and the Eagle and Colorado rivers. Lakota Guides, Sage Outdoor Adventures
and Timberline Tours provide rafting, kayaking and SUP resources. Abundant wild brown and rainbow trout in the Eagle River make for excellent fly fishing,
as do the brookies and cutthroat in Gore Creek. Hook up with Vail Valley Anglers or Gore Creek Fly Fisherman for a guide, a float or some local knowledge. visitvailvalley.com

G.O.A.T. PERFORMANCE

On Aug. 15 at the Vilar Performing Arts Center, the Not Our First Goat Rodeo tour will reunite virtuosi Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Edgar Meyer (bass) and Chris Thile (mandolin) for a knee-slapping night of bluegrass, folk and classically inspired music. The concert, featuring guest vocalist Aoife O’Donovan, is one of dozens on a stellar concert calendar. vilarpac.org

’SHROOMS WITH A VIEW

The Commercial Village of Eagle Ranch will abound in fungi and the fun guys and gals who love them at the 11th Annual Eagle Mushroom and Wild Food Festival Aug. 27-29. Attendees hear from experts in mushroom and wild food foraging, cuisine, cultivation and preservation. Mountain forays and a four-course wild- mushroom dinner and wine pairing at The Assembly restaurant are part of this celebration. eaglemushroomfest.com

BONFIRE IN A GLASS

Tucked into a dead-end street in downtown Eagle, Bonfire Brewing opened 11 years ago and has become widely known for its Firestarter IPA
and the 19 other beers that flow in its taproom. Pair any of them with regular live music, a festive patio, food truck and a commitment to building community and you have the recipe for a great place to gather. bonfirebrewing.com

WHERE EAGLES SOAR

One of the most affordable public golf courses in Eagle County is also one of its foremost. The site of a July 13 CoBank Colorado Open qualifier, Eagle Ranch Golf Club nestles in the town of Eagle’s Brush Creek Valley, east of Vail and Beaver Creek. The Arnold Palmer Signature layout spans 5,423 to 7,461 yards. More of a links-style than a mountain layout, the course sports long native grasses, large mounds and wide fairways. Set at 6,600 feet, lower than other mountain courses, Eagle Ranch has play as late as November. eagleranchgolf.com

EAT IT UP

As an international resort town, Vail drips with fabulous restaurants. There’s fine dining at Sweet Basil, Mountain Standard, Matsuhisa, Russell’s, Swiss Chalet and Game Creek Club, and you can’t beat the solid fare at Blue Moose Pizza, La Tour and Bart & Yeti’s. Did you know that the private Country Club of the Rockies (Edwards), Red Sky Golf Club (Wolcott) and Frost Creek Club (Eagle) all boast restaurants that are open to the public? Eagle also features The Assembly, which Vail Daily voted the Best Newcomer for its delectable, seasonal, globally inspired food.

WHERE EAGLES SOAR

One of the most affordable public golf courses in Eagle County is also one of its foremost. The site of a July 13 CoBank Colorado Open qualifier, Eagle Ranch Golf Club nestles in the town of Eagle’s Brush Creek Valley, east of Vail and Beaver Creek. The Arnold Palmer Signature layout spans 5,423 to 7,461 yards. More of a links-style than a mountain layout, the course sports long native grasses, large mounds and wide fairways. Set at 6,600 feet, lower than other mountain courses, Eagle Ranch has play as late as November. eagleranchgolf.com

TAKE A HIKE!

Vail’s mountain grandeur is legendary. If you’re willing to spend four hours on a golf course, you might not want to invest another four to six on a hike to Gore Lake, Pitkin Lake or Lost Lake. Instead, take a half-hour getting views of Mount Holy Cross and the Gore Range on the Eagle’s Loop or spend 90 minutes on the Ridge Route or Strawberry Lane (both 2.8 miles round-trip). Well worth the three hours of your time are both the Booth Creek Falls (4.2 miles round-trip), and Shrine Ridge (4.3). alltrails.com

THE O.G. OF VAIL VALLEY GOLF

Colorado’s first mountain course, Vail Golf Club will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2023, and playing the classic 6,766-yard layout still never gets old. Located just south of I-70 and two miles east of Vail Village, the municipal course always enjoys superb conditions, a swift pace of play and glorious views of the Gore Mountain. Its ski-lodge-style clubhouse, which doubles as a nordic center in winter, features the ambiance of a private club, but Vail Golf Club is avowedly public, with one of the area’s better restaurants, Grill on the Gore, serving spectacular sandwiches and craft cocktails. vailrec.com

LOCAL FAVORITE

A five-minute drive from both Vail and Beaver Creek, EagleVail Golf Club offers 18 holes of affordable, pristine golf. Spanning 6,538 yards, the course created in the 1970s by Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge serves up an authentic mountain golf experience, featuring intense elevation changes—such as the plunging tee shot on the par-3 10th—and the presence of rivers, streams, ponds, wetlands, forests and gardens on both its 18-hole and Willow Creek Par-3 courses. eaglevailgolfclub.com

GOING, GOING, GONDOLA

Take the family to the top of Vail Mountain via Eagle Bahn Gondola (#19) or Gondola 1. The ride rewards you with incredible vistas of the Gore Range and Mount Holy Cross and, upon arrival, exhilarating activities such as mountain biking and a ride on the Forest Flyer mountain coaster. vail.com

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This article was also featured in the July 2021 Issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.

Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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