She-Stache, He-Stache and the Wee-Staches in helmets and goggles squeezed into a selfie on a sunny groomed slope at the top of Bachelor Gulch
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The whole gang at the top of Bachelor Gulch. Goggles on, so no one has to admit who fell first.
A Wandering Mustache Series · Greater Vail Valley · Stop Two

Beaver Creek

Three villages, heated sidewalks and a dog who thinks Bachelor Gulch is his.

Beaver Creek’s own slogan is “Not Exactly Roughing It,” and for once the marketing department undersold it. Heated walkways. Outdoor escalators. Ski valets. Fresh chocolate chip cookies at 3 p.m., every afternoon of ski season. You will not suffer here, except at checkout.

Where Vail sprawls along the valley floor, Beaver Creek is split into three villages, each tucked into its own side valley: Beaver Creek Village, Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead. They sit up and away from the interstate, which keeps the crowds out, and keeps you tucked away with them.

Bachelor Gulch is our favorite place in the whole valley. We spent a Covid summer there and fell in love all over again, and now we come back every August and September. Buddha, our Pup-Stache, fell harder than we did.

The Greater Vail Valley Series The Hub  ·  Vail  ·  Beaver Creek  ·  Minturn, Avon & Edwards

Full Disclosure
Trip Dates Winters & summers, 2015–2026 · Style Ski weeks, one long Covid summer, and now every August & September
Incentives Not a Dime · Photo Creds All Stache

We paid full price for everything. Every link in this post goes straight to the vendor. No commission, on links or on reviews. Ever.

Trust us? Check out our Vail Valley, Avon & Beaver Creek Wander Map.

*As always, no commissions from our links. We encourage booking early and direct. These maps are always a work in progress, and are curated from all past trips and current research.

These pins also power ai-tinerary, our invite-only itinerary tool. Same stamps, same opinions.

The Gripe

Not Exactly Roughing It, Not Exactly Cheap

We’ll do the bad first. We always do.

The Bachelor Gulch tab. The gates and the lack of public parking that keep the day-trippers out also keep the quick bites out. In Bachelor Gulch you are at the mercy of the Ritz-Carlton’s food and drink prices. We pay them happily most days. When the bills get added up, we sometimes question our sanity.

No car, no choice. You don’t need a car to get around Beaver Creek. But without one, every meal is a resort meal, and the resort restaurants range in quality and value. The best-value food in the valley is down the hill.

Not all rooms are created equal. Many of the condos and lodge rooms here are privately owned, so two units in the same building can be very different. We’ve had mixed results. Ask about the specific unit, not just the building.

Epic prices. Lessons and activities cost about double what they should. They are not twice as good.

Mud season is real. In spring and late fall, between the lifts closing and the trails opening (and back again), many of the resort restaurants close for a few weeks. Some take the whole summer off. Check hours before you book a table, or a trip.

The Villages

Heated Sidewalks and the 3 p.m. Cookie

She-Stache in a fur-trimmed hood and He-Stache in a ski helmet and goggles taking a selfie in Beaver Creek
Après in Beaver Creek is often a furry affair. The fur in question is the hood.

The village is built for people who would rather not carry their own skis. Escalators take you up to the lifts, the walkways are heated, the ski valet at the base of Centennial will hold your skis, and in ski season the cookies come out at 3 p.m., in the village and at the bottom of Centennial Express. Summer visitors get no free cookies, though there’s a milk bar attached to {L('citrea','Citrea')} if you’d like to pay for one. It’s a little ridiculous. We love it anyway.

Getting around is easy and free with Village Connect, the on-demand shuttle that used to be called Dial-a-Ride. It’s quite good, with two catches. Every ride is booked in the app, so download it before you need it. And it only runs to Arrowhead in ski season; in summer there’s no shuttle to Arrowhead at all. You can also take it to the entrance and walk down to Avon, where there are a few more restaurants to choose from. In winter that walk is cold and can be icy, so dress for it and watch your feet.

In summer you can hike from base to base on the Village to Village Trail, but there’s a steep climb to get up to it. The creek the resort is named for runs right through the village and down to Avon, where it joins the Eagle River; Vail’s Gore Creek joins the same river a few miles upstream. The trails here are well marked and easy to follow. Be aware that you share them with mountain bikers and horses, and with the locals who were here first: bears, moose and mountain lions all turn up, even in the base village itself. You may be on a heated sidewalk, but you are still in the mountains.

The Wee-Staches and He-Stache in ski gear standing together at the base of a snowy ski run in Beaver Creek
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The Wee-Staches and He-Stache, pre-ski: rested, optimistic and still able to feel their toes.
Where We Stayed

Seven Places to Sleep, One Favorite

She-Stache in a white ski jacket and knit hat sitting outdoors at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, with Pup-Stache snuggled across her lap
Pup-Stache’s favorite après spot: the couches at the Ritz. The staff spoil him. He has no tab. He does have a special-recipe dinner.

Bachelor Gulch. We’ve stayed at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch. Right next door, The Residences Bachelor Gulch runs on a timeshare model, but units can often be rented. Bachelor Gulch is simply the best ski-in, ski-out location in the valley. Guard gates and no public parking make it hard, if not impossible, to beat. It’s priced accordingly. The best après scene-and-be-seen in the valley is the Ritz patio, and it’s very dog friendly.

Pup-Stache is a regular here. WYLD, Sakaba and Buffalos all have dog-friendly patios, though Buffalos is closed most of the summer. The bar, the Great Room and the patio bar are dog friendly too. The staff know him, love him and spoil him rotten. He does not have his own tab, whatever he tells you. He does have his own special-recipe dinner.

Also in Bachelor Gulch, Snow Cloud Lodge is an excellent location in a privately owned condo complex, which means vast differences in comfort from one unit to the next. The location is the real draw. It isn’t dog friendly; Pup-Stache is a task-trained service dog, so pet policies don’t apply to him.

Beaver Creek Village. The Chateau and The Pines Lodge both have a great bar and restaurant on site, and both are privately owned rooms and condos with mixed results. If the ski-ways are open, it’s a short walk to ski in and out. Townsend Place has nice condo-style rooms, with a bit of a walk to the lifts when the snow is light and the ski-ways are closed. The Beaver Creek Lodge is mostly mini-kitchen rooms, a short walk from the lifts; it doesn’t allow pets, but service animals are welcome. Poste Montane is a great little hotel near the slopes. You’ll still walk quite a way to the lifts.

Summer in Bachelor Gulch

We Came for a Summer and Got Snow in June

She-Stache and Wee-Stache 1 in hiking clothes sitting on a wooden deck with Pup-Stache, ski runs and hills behind them
She-Stache and Wee-Stache 1, after a long hike up Bachelor Gulch. The hats came off and the dog took the credit.

During Covid, like a lot of people, we spent a summer in Bachelor Gulch. It started badly. In June it snowed. On the balcony, on the lifts, on He-Stache, who went out and made a snowball to prove it. We stayed in with a martini, an old fashioned and a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Then summer showed up, and we spent it hiking. Pup-Stache hiked every trail he was allowed on. Bachelor Gulch became his. He has a lawn at the Ritz, a gray doodle twin he met by the lift, and strong opinions about every bush on the mountain.

A martini and an old fashioned on a bar beside a small spray bottle of hand sanitizer
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Covid, mountain style: a martini, an old fashioned and a bottle of hand sanitizer, all within reach.
Fresh snow covering a balcony railing, evergreens and an empty lift base in Bachelor Gulch
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June 9. Balcony view. We’d like to speak to the manager.
A snowy view of a chairlift station and picnic tables in June, framed by a snow-covered railing
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Snowing. In June. The lifts did not get the memo either.
He-Stache in a maroon cap and green puffer jacket holding a snowball in front of a snowy lift station
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He-Stache presents Exhibit A: a June snowball.

Covid, mountain style. We came for summer. Summer did not come.

Pup-Stache sitting on green grass in front of the Bachelor Gulch Express lift
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Waiting for his lift. Pup-Stache doesn’t care that it’s closed for the season.
Pup-Stache sitting on a dirt trail above a valley of golden aspens
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Summit pose, held for precisely one second.
A close-up of Pup-Stache with blurred autumn leaves behind him
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Professional head tilt. Unpaid.
A close-up of a happy Pup-Stache with his tongue out on a rocky riverbank
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Hike done. Tongue out. Hero.

Pup-Stache loves hiking in Beaver Creek. He has opinions about every single bush.

Hiking

Steep Trails, Llamas and One Very Opinionated Dog

She-Stache and He-Stache sitting together on a rock in a shady forest on the Beaver Lake Trail
The Beaver Lake Trail is steep. We stopped to “enjoy the view.” Repeatedly.

The Beaver Lake Trail starts at the base of Beaver Creek and climbs about three miles to the wilderness boundary, with the lake just past it. It is steep. We stopped to enjoy the view. Repeatedly. There are no restrooms and no water, so bring both kinds of supplies.

The Village to Village Trail is the easier way to see all three villages once you’re up on it. Dogs are allowed on every trail, but some trails are built for bikes, so on those, consider keeping the pups on a leash. Keep an ear out for bikes and horses either way.

And yes, we hiked with llamas. A guided llama hike on Beaver Creek Mountain: the llamas carry the lunch, and you carry the camera. Dogs aren’t allowed on llama hikes, so Pup-Stache stayed home and took it personally. We couldn’t find a current official page for llama hikes, so ask the resort what’s running before you plan around one.

He-Stache in a hiking pack kneeling on a grassy ski run with his arm around Pup-Stache
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He-Stache and his best hiking buddy. Only one of them complained about the hill.
Pup-Stache and a gray doodle tugging on a toy on the grass beside a chairlift
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Pup-Stache met his gray twin. Tug of war ensued.
A fluffy Pup-Stache sitting on a lawn in front of the timber-and-stone Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch
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Bachelor Gulch: his house, his lawn, his rules.
Pup-Stache sitting on a dirt trail with golden aspen hillsides behind him
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Aspens turning, doodle not turning. He’s staying.

Pup-Stache prefers Bachelor Gulch. Gated, no public parking, and a doodle doppelgänger at the lift.

He-Stache in a blue shirt walking a llama up a grassy ski slope
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A llama, on a leash, on a ski run. Normal Saturday.
She-Stache and He-Stache taking a selfie with a llama’s face filling the middle of the frame
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The llama photobombed us. We let him.
He-Stache and a Scout-Stache in sunglasses posing on either side of a llama
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He-Stache, a Scout-Stache and a llama. Three handsome faces; one of them is wearing a halter.
She-Stache and a Scout-Stache in caps and sunglasses grinning beside a llama in a red halter
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She-Stache, a Scout-Stache and the llama. The llama’s good side is all of them.

Pup-Stache does not approve of our new hiking companions. They carry our lunch. He carries a grudge.

Where We Ate

Our Favorite Grill, a Pricey Thanksgiving and a Lot of Patios

She-Stache, the Wee-Staches and He-Stache standing in front of a carved stone fireplace at Splendido
Thanksgiving at Splendido. Nobody washed a single dish, and the bill was proof of it.

Grouse Mountain Grill, at The Pines Lodge, is our favorite restaurant in Beaver Creek: a great bar, excellent food and usually good service. The Golden Eagle Inn is our favorite lunch in the village, and good for dinner too: locally owned, excellent service, great gluten-friendly options and a dog-friendly patio.

Splendido at the Chateau has a very good wine list at very high prices. The food is good and the service is excellent. We spent a Thanksgiving there with the Wee-Staches, and nobody washed a single dish.

Beano’s Cabin is excellent on-mountain dining, summer or winter. Over in Bachelor Gulch, WYLD has a dog-friendly patio and bar, excellent food and wine, and even better service, and Sakaba does excellent sushi, sake and wine on a dog-friendly patio, with service to match.

She-Stache in a blue ski jacket on a sunny patio with Pup-Stache sprawled across her lap
Another Pup-Stache-approved après spot: a lap.

For après and casual meals, all with dog-friendly patios: 8100 Mountainside Bar & Grill is a nice spot for après. Dusty Boot has good options and consistent food. Coyote Café has rebranded as a tourist-friendly spot with good food and a very dog-friendly atmosphere. Citrea: we’ve had good meals here and just OK meals here. Blue Moose Pizza: OK gluten-free pizza.

And Beaver Creek Chophouse: over-priced, but one of the few places in Beaver Creek to enjoy the mountain views with a drink in hand. Google shows it temporarily closed; we think it’s closed for the season, so check before you go.

Golf

Pack Patience

The Beaver Creek Golf Club is a nice course with typical resort green fees. Be prepared: play can be very slow. The best courses in the valley are private.

Getting Around

Free Shuttle, Paid Dinners

For a weekend or a week, you won’t need a car in Beaver Creek. In winter, Village Connect covers all three villages for free, and it’s the way to get around. Just book every ride in the app. In summer it doesn’t go to Arrowhead, so your legs and the Village to Village Trail do the job, after that first steep climb.

But if you want the best-value restaurants, rent a car for at least a day and go down-valley. See the Minturn, Avon & Edwards page for where.

The Hard Reality

Pampered, Tucked Away and Paying for It

Beaver Creek is the one to pick if you want to be pampered, tucked away and kept well fed, and you don’t mind paying for all three. Bachelor Gulch is our favorite place in the valley. Our credit card has a different opinion.

Take the escalator. Eat the cookie. Ask which unit. Rent a car for one day, and go eat in Edwards.

The Links

We Wouldn’t Send You Somewhere We Wouldn’t Go

No kick-backs for links. Ever.

Next Stop
Minturn, Avon & Edwards

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