Golden aspen leaves and snow-capped mountains in Crested Butte, Colorado
Table of Contents
Getting Around | Things to See & Do | Restaurants | Accessible Hotels | When to Go
Intro to Crested Butte
Crested Butte is mountain magic time. Of all the high country mountain towns in Colorado, Crested Butte is simply my favorite because it has a more unique culture and earthy, earnest charm. Outside of skiing, you can do a weekend in Crested Butte for under $400 USD if you’re a solo traveler.
Crested Butte sits in a valley in the Rocky Mountains in Gunnison County (southwest of Aspen). When you drive towards Crested Butte on the 135, you’re surrounded by mountain peaks to the left and right. You’ll get a tingling sensation down your back as you approach. Trust me. Crested Butte’s small with very few people who actually live there year round. A lot of people who work in Crested Butte actually live 30 minutes south in Gunnison.
For the active: during the winter (November to April), Crested Butte’s a ski town. It has a robust adaptive ski program to boot. During the summer, it’s a mountain biking, hiking, and outdoor town.
For others: if you just love to soak in beautiful places, Crested Butte presents you a quaint, colorful, and vibrant historic downtown, access to mountain peaks, golden autumn scenery, arts scene, spas and yoga, and a variety of multi-ethnic restaurants.
General info: Crested Butte is a tourist town, so prices are a bit higher. Crested Butte’s sales tax is about 1 percent higher than Denver at 9.4%. Crested Butte is also very safe. People are friendly and respectful, and no one solicits or harasses you for your business.
Elk Ave sidewalk in downtown Crested Butte
Getting Around Crested Butte
Crested Butte’s historic downtown is dainty and easy to navigate. The layout of downtown Crested Butte is simple: the main street is Elk Ave, which runs east to west, and has all the restaurants and establishments. There are cross streets that go north and south. Elk Ave and side streets are wheelchair accessible. They are relatively level, but as you go west on Elk Ave towards the ski resort area, there is a gradual climb. However, there’s not much in the way of activities or restaurants at the far west side of Elk Ave.
Also, Elk Ave has many alleyways or driveways that lead to the back entrance of establishments.
Sidewalk ramp, Elk Ave
Curbs & Ramps
As you can see in the photos, Elk Ave has sidewalks that are fairly flat without tree roots lifting up concrete slabs or busted up gaps. Also, the sidewalks have ramps at the corners and driveways.
Parking
When I visit, I park at the northwest corner of Elk Ave and 5th St in the dirt parking lot next to the wooden Redline Gallery building.
The only thing is, on the side streets, there are some dirt parking lots. If you visit Crested Butte’s downtown during the autumn, it’ll likely be somewhat wet, so just be aware where you park.
Access to Buildings
A fair warning: this is where it gets a little trickier. Some stores, restaurants, and other establishments have steps that go up and some even have steps that go below ground level. However, I’ve been able to access many establishments.
You have to check with the employees for wheelchair access, because some of the establishments have access around the back like Niky’s Mini Donuts.
Yellow and gold aspens of Kebler Pass
Attractions
There are A LOT of things to do in Crested Butte. But, I like to visit Crested Butte during the annual Vinotok Fall Festival and see the autumn colors around Gunnison County, which has Gunnison National Forest, Crested Butte, and Kebler Pass. The time to go to see all of these is late September. But, if you want to stay in Crested Butte during this festival, book your hotel a few months in advance, as the hotels in Crested Butte fill up quickly.
Celebrating during Crested Butte Vinotok Festival
Vinotok Festival
Vinotok is electric joy. Crested Butte’s Vinotok, decades old, is a week-long festival that celebrates the autumn equinox and the abundance that the Harvest Mother provides Crested Butte’s community. At the end of the celebration on Saturday, there’s a street festival on Elk Ave that ends with a Trial of the Grump. The Grump is an edifice constructed with the purpose of being ritually burned down. During the street festival, you’ll be enveloped by Crested Butte’s community–and tourists–dressed in colorful costumes reflecting nature, often with aspen crowns, dancing and playing musical instruments. Elk Ave is charged with intensity and joy as the community marches west on the street, stopping, beating drums, performing ritual songs and dancing. Everyone present is invited to participate.
Watch the Vinotok Celebration in action below. I made it over several trips.
Kebler Pass – See the Autumn Colors
Kebler Pass, which runs through Gunnison National Forest and cuts through to Aspen, is about 20 minutes east of downtown Crested Butte and is easy to access. It’s an aesthetic must-see for people who want to burn into their sensory experience aspens that transform into exquisite yellow and gold colors. There are also hiking trails.
Trail showing off autumn colors of Kebler Pass, Crested Butte
Visit during mid to late September. This is one of my favorite things to do in Colorado.
Gunnison National Forest
Gunnison National Forest en route to Crested Butte
The Gunnison National Forest is extensive. It covers close to 2 million acres of land and has two 14ers (mountain peaks that are 14,000 feet in elevation). Administratively, it’s just one of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests. The activities here are of course outdoorsy types such as boating, hiking, and biking.
Matt Getze using adaptive ski equipment
Adaptive Adventures & Activities
Crested Butte’s Adaptive Sports Center offers a robust set of outdoor activities with qualified instructors and staff. Throughout the year, they provide persons with disabilities a wide range of activities, including adaptive skiing, equipment, inclusive camps for families, and much much more.
As an aside, I know the former manager of Crested Butte’s Adaptive Adventures program, so I know you’re in great hands.
Location: 19 Emmons Road, Mt. Crested Butte, CO 81225
Call: (970) 349-2296
Find all the information about Crested Butte’s Adaptive Sports Center‘s programs, rates, and staff.
Other Activities
Arts & Culture
Crested Butte of course has many more activities. It even has an ArtWalks throughout the year hosted by Center for the Arts Crested Butte.
Crested Butte ArtWalk and Redline Gallery
For Crested Butte’s Art, see these resources:
Note that Redline Gallery has exhibitions throughout the year but it has several steps at the entrance and is not wheelchair accessible.
Crested Butte has other museums for the family. The Children’s Museum even offers art camps. Click on the links below for more information:
Here is a good resource for other Crested Butte attractions and activities is travelcrestedbutte.com for ski, hiking, spa, and yoga information.
Crested Butte quaint and delicious dining establishments
Crested Butte Eats
Ginger Cafe
Crested Butte’s Ginger Cafe is a Thai restaurant, and it’s my favorite restaurant–one I make a beeline for every time I visit Crested Butte. Is the Thai food awesome? It’s good enough. I know I’m not selling this to you, but I look at Ginger Cafe as a whole. It has a great ambience and it’s a really cute place.
Recommendations: Crab Cake and Vietnamese shrimp spring rolls appetizers. Pad Thai, any curry, and Vindaloo with shrimp.
Price range: between $10 – $30
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. There’s a ramp leading up to the entrance. However, it is a bit of a tight squeeze once you’re in the entrance. Ginger Cafe’s bathroom is also wheelchair accessible.
Location: 425 Elk Ave, Crested Butte, CO 81224
Crab cakes Ginger Cafe Crested Butte
Bonez
Bonez has contemporary Mexican food
Price range: $10 – $30
Accessibility: There is a small step at the entrance but outdoor patio deck.
Location: 130 Elk Ave, Crested Butte, CO 81224
The Secret Stash Crested Butte in The Company Store building
Secret Stash
The Secret Stash has a variety of pastas and gourmet pizzas up for consumption. This restaurant is hugely popular every time I visit Crested Butte. It is pricey though.
Price range: $14 – $35
Accessibility: There is a little step at the entrance and also an outdoor eating area in the front and side of The Company Store building.
Location: 303 Elk Ave, Crested Butte, CO 81224
Niky’s Mini Donuts
Niky’s Mini Donuts also has ice cream! It’s a really cute place and actually serves decent coffee.
Price range: $2 – $10
Accessibility: It’s wheelchair accessible. However, you have to go around the back for the accessible entrance.
Location: 327 Elk Ave, Crested Butte, CO 81224
Sherpa Cafe
The Sherpa Cafe in Crested Butte is a lovely restaurant. It’s not very accessible and it’s kind of a squeeze. However, I do recommend it, because the food is pretty tasty, and I love the novelty of a restaurant that serves Nepalese, Tibetan, and Indian cuisine in a mountain town.
Recommendation: Onion Bhaji and samosas for appetizers and Sherpa stew for main course.
Price range: $10 – $20
Accessibility: You can see in the picture below there is a step (about 5 inches). It is also fairly small inside but you can manage to move chairs.
Location: 313 Third St, Crested Butte, CO 81224
Sherpa Cafe in Crested Butte, CO
Gunnison Eats
Palisade Restaurant
The Palisade Restaurant in Gunnison is your typical diner type of restaurant that serves a variety of dishes. It’s a large, spacious restaurant with tables and booths, and is recessed from the 135 (N. Main St).
Price range: $9 – $15
Accessibility: It’s wheelchair accessible. The parking lot has handicapped spaces, a ramp, and the restaurant has a lot of room to wheel around in.
Location: 820 N Main St, Gunnison, CO 81230
Tributary Coffee Roasters
This is where I get my coffee and breakfast at the end of my Crested Butte trip, because I stay in Gunnison. The coffee is pretty good, and they serve a limited breakfast menu.
Price range: $3 – $10
Accessibility: It’s wheelchair accessible. There is no step at the entrance.
To park, however, I usually park around the corner on Virginia Ave, because there is a handicapped parking spot (no meter). Otherwise, there’s only parallel parking on N Main St.
Location: 120 N Main St, Gunnison, CO 81230
Quality Inn Wheelchair Accessible Room, Gunnison, CO
Accommodations
Okay, this is a budget travel site. As such, I’ll give you my pro tip: I stay always in Gunnison, which is 30 minutes south of Crested Butte, because it’s just less expensive. Plus, you drive through the beautiful Gunnison National Forest to get to Crested Butte. Just be careful of the speed limit changes as you near Crested Butte and vice-versa as you near Gunnison.
Recommendation
Quality Inn in Gunnison
I highly recommend this hotel. It’s standard but budget-friendly. It’s also near Gunnison’s Western Colorado University. Stay on the first floor where the wheelchair accessible room is located. What I like is that the room is close around the corner from the lobby. You can access the lobby through an alternate rear door. The staff is also very friendly, courteous, and accommodating.
Price range: during the Vinotok Festival in late September, the cost is around $130 – $150 per night.
Accessibility: On the first floor, Quality Inn in Gunnison has a spacious room with a king-sized bed that’s wheelchair accessible. The bathroom is wheelchair accessible with a wide doorway that a motorized wheelchair can fit through. The only thing is that the door swings in and not out, so you have to move right to close it.
The bathroom has a bathtub that has plenty of room to sit on top to lower yourself in, and it has handrails.
Amenities: small swimming pool and eating area. Also, a continental breakfast is included.
Location: 400 E Tomichi Ave, Gunnison, CO 81230
Call: (970) 641-1237
Hotels in Crested Butte: Wheelchair Accessible
- Grand Lodge Crested Butte – Learn Grand Lodge rates and information
- Elevation Hotel and Spa – Learn Elevation Hotel rates and information
When to Go
My absolute favorite time to visit Crested Butte is during Colorado’s high country autumn season, which is late September. Late September is when the autumn leaves, specifically the aspens, start changing colors from green to yellow to gold. I love seeing the world so bright and vibrant. The air is cool. It’s a little damp, so the scene looks rich and lush. It adds to Crested Butte’s charm.