A lot of Colorado’s reputation outside the state is built around its ski towns, places like Vail, Aspen, and Breckenridge, where everything from the architecture to the restaurant prices is shaped by the ski season. But plenty of Colorado’s mountain towns were never built around a resort at all, and they tend to be a lot more affordable and a lot less crowded outside of winter.
Salida and Buena Vista, two towns on the same river
Salida and Buena Vista sit about 25 miles apart along the Arkansas River, and between them they cover most of what people come to this part of the state for. Salida has the Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center, a public pool fed by natural mineral water, which is a nice way to end a day outside without needing a hotel spa. Buena Vista’s main draw is the Buena Vista Whitewater Park along the river, with sections for rafting, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding, plus picnic areas and a disc golf course nearby. Main Street in Buena Vista has the coffee shops and gear stores you’d expect from a town built around outdoor recreation, minus the lift tickets.
Ouray, the town in a box canyon
Ouray is tucked into a narrow box canyon in the San Juan Mountains, which is part of why people sometimes call it the Switzerland of America. The setting alone is worth the drive, but Ouray also has its own natural hot springs, including a few options with full spa facilities if you want something more set up than a basic soaking pool. It’s a small town, walkable in well under an hour, but the mountains around it make it feel a lot bigger than its size.
Pagosa Springs, soaking pools and a waterfall down the road
Pagosa Springs is built around its hot springs, with a range of soaking options from simple motel-adjacent pools to full spa setups. What doesn’t always make the list is Treasure Falls, a roughly 105-foot waterfall about 15 miles outside town, right off the highway, which makes for an easy stop if you’re driving through anyway.
Getting between them
Realistically, these towns aren’t a single day trip from Denver, and they’re spread across different parts of the state. Salida and Buena Vista are a more direct drive from the Front Range, while Ouray and Pagosa Springs sit further southwest and closer to each other than to the others. If you’re renting a car for a mountain trip, it makes sense to pick which pair fits your timeline rather than trying to squeeze all four into one trip.
None of these towns are going to feel like a ski resort, and that’s kind of the point. They’re built around rivers, hot springs, and mountains that happen to be there year-round, not a lift system that mostly matters for a few months a year.