Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WORTH A TRIP
FAIRPLAY
Follow Hwy 9 south from Breckenridge and after 11 miles of steady climbing, you'll come to
Hoosier Pass
(11,539ft) and the Continental Divide. From here you'll be looking out over the South Park basin, a high-altitude
prairie where the bison once roamed. On the other side of the pass is funky
Alma
, the highest incorporated town
in the United States, standing at an elevation of 10,578ft. It's surrounded by four 14ers, thousand-year-old bristle-
cone pines and scores of old mining claims. If you want to explore, follow the unpaved Buckskin Rd (County Rd
8) 6 miles west toward Kite Lake - high-clearance 4WD is recommended for the last mile.
Otherwise, continue 5.5 miles down Hwy 9 until you reach
Fairplay
. South Park's main settlement was origin-
ally a mining site and supply town for Leadville (pack burros used to clop back and forth over 13,000ft Mosquito
Pass to the west), and you can stop here to visit
South Park City
(
www.southparkcity.org
;
100 4th St; adult/child
6-12yr $10/4; 9am-7pm mid-May-mid-Oct, shorter hours May & Oct; ), a recreated 19th-century Color-
ado boomtown. Get a taste of life back in the good-old, bad-old days of the gold rush through the 40 restored
buildings on display, which range from the general store and saloon to a dentist's office and morgue. And yes,
South Park
fans, Fairplay does bear more than a passing resemblance to the hometown of Kyle, Cartman and the
boys.
If you've been itching to slide your boots into some stirrups, South Park also offers some decent horseback-rid-
ing experiences. The
Platte Ranch
( 719-836-1670; Hwy 9; 2hr/half-day ride $70/135) gets great reviews and
offers guests a bona fide cowboy experience with rides through open country on an actual working ranch. The
American Safari Ranch
( 719-836-2700;
www.americansafariranch.com
; 1484 County Rd 7; 1½/2hr rides
$55/65) is another nearby option worth looking into.
There are several predictable eating options on Front St in Fairplay, but for something slightly out of the ordin-
ary, try
Dorothy's Homemade Tamales
(123 Frontage Rd; tamales $2.25-3, enchilada plates $6.50;
7am-9pm; ), just south of town on Hwy 285 (look for Pizza Hut). The local greasy spoon dishes out all-
day breakfasts and Colorado-style Mexican fare, and while the food may not be amazing, it is located in a bowl-
ing alley, which is hard to beat.
Fairplay is 21 miles south of Breckenridge and 86 miles west of Denver. If you're looking for a scenic alternat-
ive to I-70, Hwy 285 is as pretty as they come and offers a good backdoor option to Breckenridge and Buena
Vista. Hoosier Pass stays open year round.
Entertainment
Breck is nobody's nightclub mecca, but frequent festivals keep the Breckenridge events
calendar filled with live music indoors and out, and in between you can get your fix of
set-piece entertainment.
Three20South
( 970-368-3204;
www.three20south.com
; 320 S Main St; cover varies; most nights 9pm-late)
Brecken-
ridge's only 'true' nightclub brings live music to the people most nights. The taste is wide
and deep, ranging from bluegrass to jazz to funk to rock. It's mostly indie acts here, but
LIVE MUSIC, CLUB
