Snow Mountain Ranch

Last weekend, the kids and Michael and I left straight from school and headed up to Snow Mountain Ranch. Snow was in the forecast and as we made our way into the mountains the snow appeared right on time. It was a bit scary driving through the pass on our Texas tires in our front wheel car. There was some sliding and it was hard to see, but Michael did a great job and we had an amazing audio book to keep us entertained. (The Forgotten).

We arrived and checked into to a wonderful two bedroom cabin with a very big gas fireplace and gorgeous views. We ate dinner and got settled.

The next day bright and early we drove through the snow to the library where they we got to do dog sledding! It was snowing, but the dogs did very well and we had such a good time! The kids did crafts and ate s'mores by the fire and then we headed back out to go snow tubing. We all sled down the hill over and over again until lunch, when we headed back to the cafeteria to eat carbs and caffeine up.
That afternoon we rested a bit and then headed back into the snow. The kids built tunnels and I tried out my new snow shoes. Then we drove down to the rec center where the kids did archery, roller skated and Michael and I played ping pong.


That evening we drove into Winter Park which is about 20 minutes away for a lovely dinner. We had planned to ice skate on the pond there, but it was so cold and snowy, we decided to come back to the cabin instead. Back in the cabin, we curled up by the fire, opened a great bottle of red wine, and played quirkle as a family. It was the best.


The next morning we went down to the Nordic Center to rent cross country skis. Davis knew how, but the rest of us were clueless and it was pretty funny for the first hour to watch us struggle through the trails. We got the hang of it after a while and I thought it was pretty fun, but Sam hated it and Michael had slept wrong, so his neck hurt, so we gave it up and went to lunch.

That afternoon, we did crafts at the craft shop. Then we all went on a snowshoe hike (except for Davis who did it on cross country skis which was absolutely amazing). The hike was incredible!!! The sun had come out and the snow was all sparkly like Edward's skin in Twilight. We hiked up a mountain through the trees and onto a vista and down a trail. I loved it so much.
That evening we stayed in again by the fire, played more games and read our books. It was perfect.
The next morning we left early, stopping in Idaho Springs at BeauJo's pizza.
The verdict? I'm in love with Snow Mountain Ranch. I want to go there every weekend. It's YMCA so it's affordable, it has tons of stuff to do, the cabins are cozy, and the location is top notch.