Breckenridge is a charming Victorian town with lift-served skiing on four interconnected mountains. There’s easy-street skiing and snowboarding on Peak 9, tough stuff on Peak 10, and splendid backcountry-style skiing on Peak 7—155 trails in total, with a vertical rise of over 3,000 feet. There's also the Imperial Express SuperChair, the highest chairlift in North America. Given all that, it’s no surprise that this Vail-owned resort is the second-most visited in the U.S.

This is also Summit County’s brashest and liveliest resort, with abundant non-ski and apres-ski options. The surrounding town is the largest historic district in the state, with live theater, movie theaters, historic tours, mining for gold, and 79 restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. There’s a recreational center with free weights, aerobic classes, two climbing walls, an indoor pool, two hot tubs, and racquetball and basketball courts.

Twenty-five acres have been dedicated to five terrain parks, including the Freeway Terrain Park, consistently ranked one of the best on the continent by Snowboarder, Transworld, and Snowboarding magazines. The parks cater to beginners through experts, and there are two halfpipes (one 14-foot-high and a 22-foot superpipe).

The cons: While it’s great that Breckenridge is so close to Denver (85 miles west via I-70 and Colorado 9), the proximity can cause weekend crowds.

Where: 85 miles west of Denver via I-70 and Colorado 9.

What's There: 3,398-foot vertical drop, 155 trails, 2,358 acres, two high-speed six passenger SuperChairs, seven

Breckenridge is a charming Victorian town with lift-served skiing on four interconnected mountains. There’s easy-street skiing and snowboarding on Peak 9, tough stuff on Peak 10, and splendid backcountry-style skiing on Peak 7—155 trails in total, with a vertical rise of over 3,000 feet. There's also the Imperial Express SuperChair, the highest chairlift in North America. Given all that, it’s no surprise that this Vail-owned resort is the second-most visited in the U.S.

This is also Summit County’s brashest and liveliest resort, with abundant non-ski and apres-ski options. The surrounding town is the largest historic district in the state, with live theater, movie theaters, historic tours, mining for gold, and 79 restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. There’s a recreational center with free weights, aerobic classes, two climbing walls, an indoor pool, two hot tubs, and racquetball and basketball courts.

Twenty-five acres have been dedicated to five terrain parks, including the Freeway Terrain Park, consistently ranked one of the best on the continent by Snowboarder, Transworld, and Snowboarding magazines. The parks cater to beginners through experts, and there are two halfpipes (one 14-foot-high and a 22-foot superpipe).

The cons: While it’s great that Breckenridge is so close to Denver (85 miles west via I-70 and Colorado 9), the proximity can cause weekend crowds.

Where: 85 miles west of Denver via I-70 and Colorado 9.

What's There: 3,398-foot vertical drop, 155 trails, 2,358 acres, two high-speed six passenger SuperChairs, seven high-speed quad chairlifts, one triple, six doubles, one eight-person gondola, five surface lifts, nine magic carpets, and 25 acres of terrain parks.