For our honeymoon, my husband and I took a road trip to Telluride and Crested Butte. We planned it a week and a half before and rather than doing a bunch of research ahead of time, we went day by day.

Telluride was absolutely beautiful. The mountains were majestic and rugged all at once. The rock was sharp, and the views looked nothing like the front range. Hence, we loved the opportunity to explore something new.


We hiked Bridal Veil Falls, Ajax Peak, and made an attempt at Hope Lake. For mid-June, the weather was incredible, yet snow fields still covered trails at 12,000 feet and above. I fearfully crossed some creeks, and we trudged our puppy along with us.

Ash went from being a mountain dog to being a prince on this trip. After the first hike, he decided to donkey sit afters simply five feet. If we pulled on his leash, he would keep his bottom firmly on the ground so that we had no choice but to stop pulling to refrain from injuring his neck. I understand his exhaustion after hiking about 7 miles the first day and climbing about 1,500 feet. However, the last day we walked one mile, and he had to have pulled his stunt at least 30 times.


And yes, at one point, he hid under a truck and would not come out until we bribed him with a peanut butter cliff bar…my favorite.

Either he decided to become a stubborn teen over our trip or he felt like he deserved the world because we were paying an arm and a leg to have him with us.

The Telluride segment of our trip was memorable to say the least.

My review?

We loved it, yet we didn’t love it as much as Crested Butte (more to come in the next post). Here is why:

My husband and I love down-to-earth places where we can explore the local culture and outdoor scene. The mountains were absolutely perfect, yet we made the mistake of booking a room at the mountain resort. Yes, it was absolutely beautiful and blew me away, yet it wasn’t the feel we are most comfortable with. Not to mention, the puppy fee was $50 per night. Wowzers.

The restaurants in town were pricey (and so was the market!!! ($8 for cereal…), and after walking around the few blocks, there wasn’t much else to see. Because the town is closed in by the canyon, it doesn’t have quite as much to offer.

Yet we did still love it. Here were the best parts:

  1. Super dog friendly. Nearly every store had a spot to tie your dog up outside, the local gondola allowed pets, and there were even “doggy parking stations.” This made having our pup much easier because we really could have taken him anywhere we wanted!
  2. The gondola. In Telluride, the gondola is literally a method of transportation. It runs from early in the morning until 11:00 p.m., and it has several stations (think like a train). Hence, we were able to use this to get from our resort to downtown, to another section of Telluride, etc. We watched the sunset through the windows about 1,000 feet above the ground, and this is not something we could really do anywhere else.
  3. The mountains. Again, they were incredible.
  4. The weather. In the front range, when climbing a 14-er, everyone heads out first thing in the morning to avoid afternoon thunderstorms. Let me tell you that hiking at 13k feet in the middle of the afternoon, there was absolutely no chance of rain. Heck, there wasn’t even a cloud in the sky. The weather was like this every day. I am not sure if we just hit a pot of gold and had luck with weather, but it was amazing knowing that we could hike at any point of the day and not worry about running from storms.

Overall, I am so glad that we ventured to Telluride. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to visit. However, do be aware that your expenses will be much higher than planned, and if you are seeking local culture, you may run into a bunch of tourists instead.