If you can pull yourself away from skiing or snowboarding, consider taking a few hours to visit a museum on your next ski adventure to restore your body and fuel your mind.
Colorado is home to 28 ski areas and resorts, each with a fascinating backstory.
These places have a rich history, from being the homelands and hunting grounds of the Ute, Arapahoe, and Cheyenne Native American Tribal Nations to the influx of silver and gold miners to the settlement of homesteading ranchers and cowboys and the development of ski areas by post-war veterans of the 10th Mountain Division soldiers of World War II. Colorado’s history is filled with diverse and colorful stories.
Of the 355+ museums in Colorado, many are in ski resort destinations.
A few share their unique Colorado perspective through history, art, snow sports, and the environment.
Enhance your ski getaway with a museum visit. You may be surprised by what you discover.
Tread of the Pioneers Museum
- 800 Oak Street, Steamboat Springs
- Open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- treadofpioneers.org
- Admission: $6 for adults, $5 for seniors over 62, $2 for children ages 6-12, and children under 6 years are admitted free. Routt County residents are admitted free with I.D. Free admission is available every day for Native American Indian Tribal members.
Located downtown off Main Street, the Tread of the Pioneers Museum is like stepping back in time to the turn of the 20th century.
Housed in a 1901 Queen Anne-styled Victorian home, you can get a sense of day-to-day life as you meander through period-furnished rooms like the ranch kitchen or the Victorian dining room and parlor.
The museum offers permanent and temporary exhibits that offer a local and regional history perspective.
You’ll learn about Steamboat Springs from its beginnings to its modern-day ski town status. Exhibits include displays of the area’s original inhabitants, the indigenous tribes of the Ute people, the mining boom era of the late 1800s, and the town’s pioneering settlers who ranched cattle and sheep to its rise to fame as a premier ski town.
Alpine and Nordic skiing and ski jumping play a prominent role in Steamboat Springs’s emergence as a top wintertime snow destination. The museum’s permanent exhibit, Ski Town USA, showcases the evolution of skiing in Steamboat Springs.
From the early 1900s, when ranchers strapped on homemade wooden skis to move about the snowy landscape as a means of transportation, to an exciting winter sport that has produced over 100 Olympic athletes from the area.
Plus, you’ll learn about Howelsen Hill, named after the Norwegian ski jumper Carl Howelsen, who taught residents how to ski and jump not long after he arrived in 1913. The landmark is considered North America’s oldest operating ski area and hosts national and international ski and jumping competitions today.
Apart from the museum exhibits, an outdoor audio tour was installed at Howelsen Hill Historic Lodge. Visitors can listen to stories of the legendary location while seeing the site and its ski-jumping platforms.
Don’t miss
- An impressive collection of famous Edward S. Curtis photogravures featuring Native American images.
- The new hands-on interactive exhibit “Ute Knowledge: Colorado’s Original Science Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)”
Events
- History Happy Hour: The First Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. each month through April, Olympian Hall at Howelsen Hill. Hear stories about Routt County heritage and western history.
- Festival of the Trees: Celebrate the holidays from Nov. 16-30.
Headwaters River Journey Museum
- 730 Baker Drive, Winter Park
- Open Thursday-Monday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
- headwatersriverjourney.com
- Admission: $10/Adult, $8/Senior, free for children and students.
This is the perfect museum to show little skiers and snowboarders what happens when all that snow melts.
The Headwaters River Journey Museum is located on the first floor of the Headwaters Center, perched next to the Fraser River in Winter Park.
Through a series of 31 interactive exhibits, visitors journey down the Fraser River to the headwaters of the Upper Colorado River Basin, where water is diverted across the Continental Divide into metro Denver.
It’s entertaining, provocative, and ultimately educational. It shows people where their water comes from and how our lifestyle can impact this critical resource. Best of all, it’s fun–even for big shredders.
An audio track chorus of nature sounds serenades you along the journey from start to end with elk bugles, birds chirping, and water gurgles as it rushes along creeks and streams.
There are few places where you can virtually experience a trout’s life or crawl into a beaver dam and watch a video of the creatures that dwell there.
If you want to fly like an osprey, a video program guides you through a flight on a big screen. There are games and quizzes at different stations that encourage feedback.
Visitors will better understand how lifestyle and recreational choices contribute to preserving the Colorado River Headwaters system by the journey’s end.
Don’t miss
- There’s an interactive snowboarding video program for those longing for a snowy run on the slopes. The best part is that you don’t have to wear all the gear for a realistic experience.
Events
- Headwaters Rocky Mountain Yule Celebration on Dec. 14: This event includes dinner, a silent auction and entertainment by Chris Daniels and the Kings from 6-10 p.m.
Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame
- 231 S. Frontage Road East, Vail, Colorado 81657
- Open daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- snowsportsmuseum.org
- Free Admission with donations appreciated.
The Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame is in a modest building on the third level of the Vail Village Parking Structure in the heart of Vail Village.
This small specialty museum showcases a vast collection of snow sports artifacts that celebrate the history and legacy of snow sports in Colorado. You can also learn about the birth of Vail Ski Resort in 1962. Did you know that Vail was a ski resort before the town of Vail was founded?
Seven displays and exhibits reveal the evolution of skiing and snowboarding in the state and showcase athletic ski competitors throughout the sport’s eleven decades.
A “Colorado Competition Timeline” display includes Olympic medals, competition uniforms, and World Cup trophies from Mikaela Shiffrin, Phil Mahre, Jimmie Huge, and Billy Kidd. The “Vail DNA” display describes the ski resort’s emergence.
“The Skiing Through Time” exhibit features a wide range of skis, boots, and bindings from the 1800s to current models. Observing the homemade wooden skis with iron bindings gives you a greater appreciation for modern technology and materials.
The ” Out There ” exhibit features a collection of new and old snowboarding equipment and a history of the sport. Some items include one-of-a-kind Snurfers, early examples of boards, and early innovations from Sims and Burton.
To see how ski outfits, styles, and fabrics have changed over the years, look at the “100 Years of Ski Fashion and Function” exhibit, then compare your ski wear.
Don’t miss
- The museum’s most unique and inspiring exhibit is “Climb to Glory,” which tells the story of the legendary 10th Mountain Division soldiers of World War II. The display is the country’s most comprehensive permanent exhibit of 10th Mountain Division artifacts. Soldiers ski-trained in harsh winter conditions at nearby Camp Hale to prepare for battle in Italy. Displays feature gear, uniforms, and ski equipment used in training. The exhibit is the museum’s jewel in its crown.
Events
- Vail History Walking Tours every Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon. $15. Learn about the founding of Vail, its snow sports history, and the people who established Vail as a world-renowned ski destination.
- Legacy Days and Legacy Weekend offers events that pay tribute to the 10th Mountain Division veterans, including 10th Mountain parades, a Black Hawk landing on Vail Mountain, ski-down nights, and more. The museum stays open until 8 p.m. on those dates. Legacy Days: Dec. 27 and Jan. 17. Legacy Weekend: Feb. 22-23. Parade and Blackhawk landing at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22. Riva (anniversary) ski down and troopers race.
AndersonRanch Arts Center
- 5263 Owl Creek Road, Snowmass Village
- Open October to May, Monday-Friday from 1-5 p.m.
- andersonranch.org
- Free admission
The Anderson Ranch Arts Center sits on five acres of 1900s-era ranch property in Snowmass Village. It provides a peaceful contrast to the bustling ski resorts of Aspen and Snowmass nearby.
The center has various buildings, including renovated ranch structures and new builds. The main gallery building and reception area are in a repurposed and renovated old horse barn. At the same time, the original Anderson 1910 ranch log home now houses an archival library with an upstairs apartment for visiting artists. The rehabilitated older and new buildings’ contemporary and rustic ranch architecture blend seamlessly.
Follow the digital self-guided tour of the Outdoor Sculpture Garden to view 11 works from established and emerging artists around the ranch buildings. Wander through the studios to glimpse working artists busy with projects ranging from printmaking, furniture design and woodworking, painting and drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and digital fabrication to photography and new media.
Take home a piece of original art with a purchase from the ArtWorks store. Refuel with lunch at the Ranch Cafe. Visit the Patton-Malott Gallery to see the rotating contemporary art exhibition.
Part of the Art Center’s goal is to provide the community with compelling exhibitions where art reflects the contemporary experience.
Don’t miss
- Patton-Malott Gallery’s new rotating art exhibition is on display from Nov. 18 through Jan. 24 and is entitled “Eagle/Last Gun: Modern Recordings of Ancient Blackfoot Symbolism.” The exhibition will feature the works of acclaimed indigenous artists Terrance Guardipee and Terran Last Gun.
Events
- Visiting Artists and Critics Public Lecture Series. The free lectures are held from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Check the website for event details.
- Holliday Open House: Dec. 12 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Candlelit paths light the way. Tour the studios filled with work made by Artists-in-Residence. Visit the gallery. Shop for holiday gifts.