We first visited Crested Butte Colorado (Crusty Butt) in 2017, and told ourselves that we would be back as soon as we could.
Fast-forward five years, and we’ve finally returned.
Even living in a beautiful state like Colorado, you hear people talk about it nonstop. Makes you wonder just how beautiful it is when people talk about it so much.
We’ve pretty much seen the entire state, and we agree with all of that talk – there’s nowhere else quite like it.
Lush green landscape and rolling green hills, it’s more like Switzerland or southern Germany than what we’re used to in Colorado.
Those rolling green hills create a mountain biker’s paradise, and you’ll see them nonstop all day long on the trails, in town, and on the roads.
Because of the popularity and overuse of public lands, the Forest Service had to put restrictions in place on boondocking including camping only in numbered spots, fewer spots, and stay limits.
We rolled in on a Friday morning and were lucky enough to find a spot in the popular Washington Gulch area north of town.
That night was party central, with 6-7 cars and multiple tents in the spot next to us. Come Sunday afternoon, everybody cleared out and we were able to move into the spot on the end closest to nothing. Nice.
While we absolutely loved our time here, this would be a much better option for hardcore mountain bikers.
We had to drive to any decent hikes, and the traffic in the city itself is pretty crazy for such a small town.
Speaking of small town – despite all this land around, buildable land is scarce and in high demand – a nice house on a postage-stamp lot in the city will set you back a cool $6M. Bring your checkbook if you want to stay and play.
We’ll probably visit Crested Butte Colorado in another 5-10 years, but we won’t be bringing that checkbook with us.
Morning Overlook
Looking down at the town of Mount Crested Butte from the Snodgrass Trail.
Crested Butte
This part of Colorado is quite different from everywhere else with it’s rolling lush meadows.
Leave With Memories
You really should leave Crested Butte with memories. Not all of them may be good.
Sound of Music
This is where she was singing the theme song to the Sound of Music…
Site With A View
Free camping on Forest Service land in the Washington Gulch area north of Crested Butte.
Welcome to Crested Butte
It’s an expensive mountain town for a reason!
