Things To Do In Aspen In Summer
When you think of Aspen you instantly think of skiing down some breathtaking pistes and walking around in what effectively looks like a Christmas film. That’s why when I was thinking of things to do in Aspen in Summer, I was pretty unsure.
But turns out there’s all sorts of amazing things to do in Aspen in Summer, and I’m here to share some ‘words of wisdom’ with you & hopefully get you a bit inspired to visit this amazing place at a somewhat ‘unusual’ time of year.
Day 1:
Super chilled evening just spent checking into the house and then a beautiful cosy dinner at Casa Tua.
Day 2:
Half Day Horse Ride at West Snowmass Creek with Snowmass Creek Outfitters.
We pull up to a little nook in the forest, surrounded by aspen trees and are met by a cowboy with a trailer of 4 horses. We are all dressed in jeans and heeled boots to look the part!
It’s pretty no nonsense as we all have riding experience and so it’s pretty much a hop on and go situation.
It’s a pretty chilled ride as the paths are narrow, weaving between the trees. We reach the edge of the forest and it opens up into vast mountains, utterly breathtaking!
We get a picnic lunch that we eat by the river while the horses graze in the shade.
On the way back, my horse is getting pretty fed up of not being in the front.
I ask why, and discover that he used to work on a ranch, rounding up all the other horses, so he was used to being up front.
So Selda and I decide to be rebellious in the home stretch and go for a gallop!
We end up missing the turning, being chased by our cowboy guide!
It was SO liberating!
We got back to the car and the area was flooded with butterflies! I’ve never seen so many in my life! Clouds and clouds of them!!!!
That evening we are joined at The Wild Fig by a friend and have a cosy dinner again as we are all wiped from horse riding!
Day 3:
It’s Hiking time! Hike Up Aspen Mountain.
It takes about an hour and a half to hike to the top where there is a glacier lake. It’s about 40 degrees celsius, so naturally, we jump in the ICE water to cool off!
It’s so warm we dry off in no time as we head back down to Aspen town.
We happen to be in town during the annual food and wine festival, so the afternoon is spent looking around the event, tasting lots of delicious food and wine. Then end up having oysters and moscow mules at the Grey Lady as a little pre-dinner snack!
Dinner at one of my favourite restaurants, Matusuhisa, owned by Nobu Matsuhisa. The spinach salad with shrimp and truffle dressing is DIVINE!
If you manage to go, and it’s on the menu, you need to have it! We have far too much sake so the rest of the order is a blur, but it is always incredible so whatever you order you will not be dissapointed.
Day 4:
Today is the day we hire mountain bikes and venture on the Rio Grande Trail.
The trail can be accessed from multiple points. In Aspen it is normally accessed from the
Mill Street bridge over the Roaring Fork River or from the Cemetery Lane/Slaughterhouse
Bridge.
To access the trail from Mill Street, go north from the corner of Mill and Main about
2 blocks to the Roaring Fork River.
To access the trail from Cemetery Lane, travel west from
Aspen 1/4 mile on Highway 82. Just west of the Castle Creek Bridge, turn right at the
Cemetery Lane stoplight. Follow Cemetery Lane1 mile to Slaughterhouse Bridge.
There is a parking area on the left. Both the paved and unpaved trails can be accessed
from this point
We stop off at lunch at Woody Creek Tavern.
It’s a walk-in only, lunch service but does great margaritas and mexican food!
I’m not going to lie, we ended up cycling about 24km all in all! So by the end we are all aching! Which means only one thing…. Massage time!
We head to the Remede Spa at the St. Regis Resort for what I can only describe as THE BEST 90min custom massage of my entire life!!!! Followed by tea and downtime in the oxygen room where you inhale pure oxygen for health and vitality.
We hop in a gondola and head up to Charleston Social @ The Sundeck for sunset and champagne as part of the food and wine festival.
Day 5:
At this point I was wondering how many more things to do in Aspen in Summer there were!
There was more.
Whitewater Rafting, run by Aspen Whitewater Rafting.
We get kitted up, briefed fully on safety procedure and practice various drills before even getting in the water. Which actually proved pretty useful, as this was Springtime so the river was super high, making the water about a level 5, we nearly flipped the raft in the first 10 mins but then aced it the rest of the way. We were 6 to a raft and all pretty competitive so failing was NOT an option. We were met at the end of the trail with a picnic lunch set up, which we ate by the river, then headed back up to the house to freshen up before dinner.
Dinner was an Oxheart Pop Up Dinner at Mezzaluna followed by dancing the night away to Spazmatics at Belly up!!
WHAT. A. TRIP!!!
Aspen…. Not JUST for skiing 😉
Hopefully I’ve been able to give you some tips and ideas for things to do in Aspen in Summer!
If you missed Monday’s post be sure to click here & go and take a look! And, of course, be sure to follow us on Instagram to keep up with everything Digital Nomad Family!
Have a great day!
(P.S. Click here to take a free look at the details of the Digital Business System that we have been using since day one!)