Aspen Highlands
Aspen Highlands is an intermediate and advanced skier’s paradise. The resort features one of the most legendary open bowls in the United States, Highlands Bowl. Whether you’re willing to make the hike to the top or ride the snowcat part way to the edge, you’ll find amazing views and fresh tracks all season long in the Bowl. Local skiers flock to Aspen Highlands (often referred to as simply, “Highlands”) knowing they can avoid the Aspen crowds and enjoy some of the most challenging terrain in the central Rockies.
The resort itself was designed to replicate the lodges used by the U.S. Forest Service and the charming plaza hosts lively apres-ski afternoons at restaurants including Willow Creek Bistro at the Ritz Carlton and Highlands Pizza Company. The Ritz Carlton Club Aspen Highlands is the only full-service luxury property on site, giving guests ski-in, ski-out access to the mountain. The property also provides guests complimentary transportation to downtown Aspen, only a short 5-10 minute ride away.
In the summertime, Aspen Highlands serves as the designated base area for transportation up to the scenic Maroon Bells, often cited as the most photographed mountain peaks in North America. Guests can pick up provisions for a picnic lunch at Aspen Highlands and purchase tickets and maps before boarding a bus up to the Maroon Bells, six miles up Maroon Creek Road. The scenery is spectacular and guests can choose from a wide variety of hiking trails suitable for all levels of age and fitness.
Luxury Vacation Properties
Aspen Highlands has a limited supply of condominiums and homes for sale.
Dining
Aspen Highlands has both on-mountain and off-mountain dining options for guests. The ever-popular Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro (at the top of the Cloud Nine chairlift) is a special, sit down dining experience akin to the on-mountain bistros of the European Alps. Reservations are strongly recommended. The recently remodeled Merry-Go-Round restaurant and bar serves skiers during the daytime as is located mid-mountain at the top of the Exhibition Lift.
Dining options at the base include the elegant Willow Creek Bistro at the Ritz Carlton Club, casual fare from Highlands Pizza Company, and the Highlands Ale House. Dozens of additional restaurants featuring all types of cuisine are available in Aspen, only 5 miles away.
Entertainment
While Aspen Highlands occasionally hosts outdoor concerts during the summertime and some restaurants feature live music for apres-ski, most of the entertainment is a short bus or shuttle ride away in downtown Aspen.
Parks and Recreation
Recreation options in the winter include snowboarding, downhill skiing and cross-country skiing. During the spring, summer and fall hikers enjoy the Maroon Bells Scenic Area run by the U.S. Forest Service, road bikers can ride both Maroon Creek Road and Castle Creek Road, and mountain bikers have a host of trails to explore nearby. Intrepid hikers can actually travel by food 11 miles to Crested Butte over West Maroon Pass.
How to Get Here
The Aspen Airport (ASE) is less than 6 miles away from Aspen Highlands and the Roaring Fork Transit Authority (RFTA) offers regular bus service to and from downtown Aspen year-round on the Castle-Maroon Bus. Guests arriving by car from Denver should drive West on I-70 to Glenwood Springs, then follow Highway 82 south-east from Glenwood Springs past the Aspen Airport to the roundabout just before Aspen, exiting on Maroon Creek Road and following the road one mile. The resort will be on the left hand side of the road.
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