Buena Vista & Leadville, CO

ByChristine Updated on

Buena Vista has become one of our new CO favorites, especially for Kevin. He absolutely loves this area and I can’t disagree. It is in the Arkansas River valley, with views of the Collegiate Range and many other 14ers.

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Buena Vista

Things To Do In Buena Vista

There is a hiking trail that runs along the river, through a park to include a bouldering area, as well as over a bridge and up into the bluffs, so we did some exploring and ended with a colorful sunset over the mountains.

Woman sitting on top of a large rock looking over her shoulder in Buena Vista Colorado with the snow covered Collegiate Peaks in the distance.

Where To Stay In Buena Vista

We took a weekend trip out together and stayed in a local hotel called the Surf Chateau that overlooks the Arkansas River and the bluffs above.

It’s a neat hotel with an interesting concept. There is no lobby, and you are provided the room code in advance so that you can let yourself in whenever you happen to arrive. The views from our balcony were beautiful.

Places To Eat In Buena Vista

While in town we checked out a couple neat breakfast locations, the Evergreen Cafe and Roosters Crow Cafe, both with local charm. For dinners we checked out both locations of the Eddyline Brewery, one of which is a traditional restaurant and the other more of a taproom, but both serving some food.

Leadville

We took a day trip over the Leadville which some folks claimed to be the most interesting and charming place, but we really thought Buena Vista was the much nicer of the the two. Leadville definitely has history and was neat to see, but a day trip was sufficient.

Twin Lakes & Independence Pass

We also drove by Twin Lakes and up Independence Pass just outside of Buena Vista. The drive and little trail and overlook at the top where breathtaking.

We decided we’d definitely got back to Buena Vista, and in fact Kevin has already been back once with the trailer and the dog. I’m sure we’ll go again in the not too distant future!

Christine is the co-founder of Never Stop Adventuring, and an avid traveler who started traveling the world as a child growing up in a military family. She even lived in Germany for numerous years. Since then she has been to 48 U.S. states, 17 countries, and traveled the U.S. in an RV for over 7 years.

With her 3 kids, the adventures continued family travel style. She has planned and coordinated travel with kids for the last 10 years and shares family travel tips and tricks, destinations, costs and even the mistakes so you can be empowered to take your own family trips with confidence!