Summit County Getaways & Keystone Golf Courses

The Ranch and the River. The two courses at Keystone Resort near Dillon offer two very different tests but combine for a great summer mountain golf experience. The Keystone Resort anchors a great place to stay for a summer mountain break. The cooler temps at elevation, great restaurant and resort options, and great golf make the valley an excellent place to beat the heat.

Keystone’s River Course begins mostly level winding up and down the Snake River Valley for its first nine holes. Then the back nine brings in the foothills and provides jaw-dropping vistas behind many of the greens and calls for plenty of high-to-low and low-to-high shot-making. The tee shot from 18 is one to swing from your heels.

Then next door is the Keystone Ranch Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones II and opened in 1980. It is a classic valley course, mostly level but with holes woven around a nine-acre lake. The course’s first nine begins with tight fairways bordered by pine forests, and the back nine opens up a little. Keystone is home to award-winning restaurants with incredible cuisine and patios with views to match. The historic Keystone Ranch Restaurant and the Ski Tip Lodge are two long-popular staples.

The Resort also offers a family Wild West dinner, with a horse-drawn wagon taking visitors out to the Soda Creek Homestead for a hearty meal, outdoor games and live cowboy tunes.

The resort’s festivals feature everything from bacon to bluegrass: Keystonefestivals.com/festivals. The Vail Resorts facility also offers a 20 percent discount on lodging for anyone with an Epic Pass, the Vail ski passport.

THINGS TO DO

Visitors to the Keystone region in the summer get the full experience when they spend some time on the Dillon Reservoir. Fishing, boating, kayaking, canoe and paddleboard options line the shores of the 3,000-acre lake. An 18-mile bike path winds around the entire lake.

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WHERE TO EAT

A summer vacation filled with activities means you’ve earned a good dinner. Good restaurants are found within the resort and nearby towns and villages, including LaBonte’s Smokehouse, Bighorn Bistro & Bar, The resort’s own Keystone Ranch Restaurant, Mexican-fare at Montezuma Roadhouse, Vue Rooftop in Keystone, Sauce on the Blue and Pho Bay 2 in nearby Silverthorne.