I’ve driven this road a hundred times, but it doesn’t matter. I still strain my neck trying to take in the scenic view as my car climbs the foothills out of Denver and heads into the heart of the Rockies. As I rise above the city, now just a tiny speck in my rearview mirror, the scenery changes rapidly. Tall peaks surround me, each one looming larger than the next. Thick forests of dark pines cover the hillsides, and groves of aspen, their green leaves shivering in the breeze, dot the mountains like a quilt. Mountain streams running high with snowmelt meander through meadows covered in purple and white flowers.  

By the time I reach 8,000 feet (2438 m), I am totally relaxed. The mountains run on their own rhythm, and I’m on “mountain time” now. I’ve left my fast-paced city life in the valley below.  

Like most Coloradans, I’ve spent a lot of time in the high country, yet I never seem to get enough of it. Today, once again, I’m heading to one of my favorite regions of the state, the Fraser River Valley. My sister, Crystal, and I have planned a long weekend of summer play, and the valley is the perfect place to do that.  

Nestled on the edge of the Continental Divide some 90 miles (145 km) from Denver, the Fraser Valley is filled with open prairie, working ranches and several small towns, including Winter Park, Fraser, Granby and Grand Lake.  

The Fraser River Valley is filled with open prairie, working ranches and several charming small towns.

Although men rushed to this region when gold and silver were discovered in the Colorado River in the late 1800s, Winter Park, our final destination on this trip, owes its real start to the railroad.

When construction of the Moffat Tunnel began in 1923, the town boomed. Completion of the tunnel in 1928 made rail travel to the valley easier and brought a new type of gold — tourists.

Many of these travelers come for the skiing. Winter Park is home to the popular ski resort of the same name. This is where I learned to ski as a child, and where I taught my own children to ski. Owned by the city and county of Denver, the resort is popular for its great terrain, affordable prices and easygoing atmosphere. My family and have spent many a crisp winter day schussing down its slopes.  
 
But it is summer now. The ski resorts have closed and the Rockies have put on their summer wear. Birds coast in the warm breezes, cattle graze in green pastures and people are out enjoying the warm sun.  

We pass dozens of mountain bikers as we make our way through the valley and into Winter Park. There is only one main highway through the valley — if you can call this narrow road a highway — so we slow down often to share the road.  

Winter Park has no huge hotels, elegant restaurants or Hollywood celebrities flitting about town. Instead, tidy, unpretentious stores, hotels and restaurants, many of Tyrolean design, line the streets. This down-to-earth attitude is what draws so many visitors to the region.  

Although the town may not put on airs, the encircling alpine scenery does. We are surrounded by purple mountain majesty.  

Fewer than 1,000 people call Winter Park home year-round, and that is part of its charm. There is one stoplight, and never any traffic. We pass few other cars as we cruise through town, just a rancher in a huge 4-wheel-drive truck with a big dog in the passenger seat, two businessmen deep in discussion, a pony-tailed man driving a beat-up car with a $3,000 mountain bike on the top and more mountain bikers, who whiz past without breaking a sweat.  

This eclectic mix of people is one of the things I like about this part of Colorado. This is the true West, a frontier that has, for over a century, drawn independent spirits and free thinkers.  

I meet that independent spirit face-to-face when we check into the Wild Horse Inn, our accommodations for the weekend. There are so many B&Bs in this area that it’s hard to choose one. Some are located right at the base of Winter Park Ski Resort.

But we’re looking for a bit of seclusion, and the cozy and intimate Wild Horse Inn fits the bill. Tucked deep in the forests just outside town, the Wild Horse is an idyllic alpine lodge made of thick, handcrafted, 400-year-old logs with a double-sided moss-rock fireplace in the great room.