The 20 Best Mountain Towns in America

by Robert Earle Howells and Perri O. Blumberg

Crested Butte, Colorado

Crested Butte Bike Week, in late June, touts “Bikes, Beers, and Bands,” but that may as well be the town motto. The 130-year-old former coal-mining camp is nestled in a bowl of high pasture, in a cul-de-sac formed by jagged mountains etched with hundreds of miles of Jeep roads and killer singletrack. Rent a dual-suspension ride from Crested Butte Sports, and get a map marking fabled rides like 401, a 14-miler that starts near the ghost town of Gothic, climbs past Emerald Lake, and descends through helmet-high wildflowers. Or, venture to Evolution Bike Park with 30 miles of lift-served singletrack, including the new machine-built Psycho Rocks, which lives up to the stomach-churning title.

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