This is our #1 choice of property to stay at when visiting Telluride. Element 52 is located in town, which is our personal preference (instead of Mountain Village). At the base of the mountain you have more privacy than most of the hotels in town. Plus it’s the only ski-in / ski-out hotel in town during winter. The staff goes above and beyond and most of the properties are dog-friendly which is a must for us! We typically rent a 2 bed/ 2.5 bath condo which gives us (and all the dogs), plenty of room to relax and really make ourselves at home. We love having a full kitchen too so we don’t have to eat out for every meal. This was the condo we stayed in for our summer visit.

We have stayed at The Hotel Telluride in the past during ski season when we had two dogs and it was such an accommodating hotel. Lovely staff, super pet friendly, and nice amenities. It’s located at the beginning of town, so it’s walkable everywhere, just takes a little longer if you’re walking across town.

This is our favorite spot for dinner! Award-winning chef and owner of 221 South Oak, Eliza Gavin, earned a spot in Season 10’s Top Chef competition on Bravo, and you’ll know why after dining here. 221 South Oak prepares fresh, quality ingredients together skillfully and there is always something new. What is so impressive is the FULL vegetarian menu 221 offers as well! Make sure you get the soup duo (this is Eliza’s specialty) and any of the desserts offered at the time. You won’t be disappointed.

This is somewhat of a newer restaurant, I think it opened 2 years ago and I feel like its gets better every time! Wood Ear is a noodle bar and whiskey lounge and it does not disappoint. Think Texas smokehouse classics meets Asian cuisine. The ramen bowls, rice plates, edamame, its all mouth watering and the ambiance is so cool. This is a must when visiting Telluride!

This was our first time dining at The National and we were SO impressed. An elevated gathering place that offers unconventional yet approachable dining experiences. The menu is artistically crafted while working closely with the farms and surrounding communities. Our favorite dishes were the cauliflower soup, corn appetizer, the vegan lasagna, and the trout. The chocolate delice was incredible, but very rich and worth sharing.

There is no Starbucks in town. I repeat there is no Starbucks in town and that’s 100% OK, because Coffee Cowboy is the only place you need! Located on Main Street in an airstream you’ll have the BEST coffee your entire stay. TRUST ME. Of course I always get an iced almond milk dirty chai. They also have fresh smoothies and a few grab and go pastries, should the line at Butcher be too long. Don’t forget to pay it forward and buy a drink for the next person in need!

Most recently this was known as LittleHouse but has since updated the menu and name to Petite Maison. Truthfully we loved it as LittleHouse for lunch AND as Petite Maison for dinner. We loved the French Onion soup and truffle fries to start. Truthfully you can’t go wrong with any of the mains. Will had the elk (and loved it), I had the gnocci which was pretty dry, but I’m hoping they were just having an off night. The drinks and desserts were incredible and we will definitely be going back the next time we’re in town.

The spectacular Bridal Veil Falls are the tallest free-falling falls in Colorado at 365 feet in height. This was my first time doing the hike and it was incredible. We took the new trail that runs from the parking area to the bottom of the falls. This single track trail is approximately 1.2 miles (one way) and is NOT recommended for beginner hikers. The terrain is rough and the ground is uneven. There is also a hazardous water crossing that is dangerous during spring and early summer. We took both of our dogs and saw a lot of other hikers with their dogs as well. Along the hike there are 2 waterfalls until you get to the top for the final waterfall. After that, we continued to hike up the mountain to the historic power plant sits atop the falls and enjoyed the gorgeous views. Time was about 1.5 hours from parking lot to the 3rd waterfall and about 30 min to the top of the mountain. Round trip took us roughly 3 hours.

Jud Wiebe Trail is a 3.1 mile full loop hike located in town that takes about 2 hours to complete. It’s a moderate hike with stunning views of the town at one of the overlooks at 10,000 feet. While this can be a popular hike, I don’t find it to be as busy as Bridal Veil Falls or Bear Creek hike. The first mile or so is basically hiking straight up the mountain, so it can be more difficult. Dogs are able to use the hike, but I might not recommend it for small children as it can be quite challenging. About halfway through you get into the forrest and there will be some incredible views of the town. There can be slippery areas of the hike with loose rock, so I definitely recommend wearing hiking shoes.

This is probably the most popular hike in Telluride. It’s a 5 mile out-and-back trail that takes about 2.5 hours to complete. At the “end” of the hike there is a gorgeous waterfall with stunning views. It’s a very gradual hike, so I would so its on the easier side for all ages, but it can be pretty busy; especially during the vacation months and early mornings. Sneakers are fine unless you want to wear hiking shoes, but they aren’t necessary.

Take the gondola from town to the top of the mountain and get off at Allred’s. From there, walk over to the Saint Sophia overlook and watch the sunset and the famous pink sky. We also walked a little ways up See Forever to watch the sunset as well. The pink sky lights up every night and it’s just magical.

The Durango/Silverton train ride was the top of Will’s list for us to do, and I’ll admit I wasn’t too thrilled of the idea, however I’m SO happy we did it! It was such an incredible experience. We opted to do the one-way from Durango to Silverton just because we didn’t want another full day of travel (after being in the car for 2 days straight). We booked the Diesel train with first class seats which had a glass roof and open sides (no glass windows). This gave us the best views, however it was very chilly for the first hour so definitely wear layers/bring a jacket. They serve food/drinks the entire time and have bathrooms on board. We also had a personal guide in our section who shared the history, facts, and other fun stories along the way.

We drove our car from Telluride to Silverton (about 2 hours), then had Mountain Limo drive us from Silverton to Durango (about 1 hour). We caught the train at 730am (yes, we left Telluride at 430am) in Durango and made our way to Silverton arriving about 3.5 hours later. We planned to have lunch in Silverton, but so many places were closed, so we just went back to Telluride and grabbed food and a much needed nap. I highly recommend fitting this into your schedule if possible. It was such a fun experience!

We actually haven’t visited Dunton in the summer, but we love it during the winter months and its worth making note of. Dunton is about an hour away during the summer months and 2 hours away during the winter months due to certain road closures. There are so many summer and winter activities depending on what you’re looking for. There are options to go out for a day and make use of the facility, but we usually just spend the night so we get the most out of it! The staff is incredible and it’s truly one of the best places I’ve ever stayed/experienced.