# Park City or Colorado for a summer/early fall vacation?



## PamMo (Aug 21, 2012)

We're thinking about a mountain vacation next year, and wondering which place would provide more varied activities - Park City or Breckenridge? We've spent summer/fall weeks in Whistler, Tahoe, and Sedona, and want to try somewhere different. We love hiking, fishing, biking, great restaurants, sightseeing, etc. Which would you recommend for a late August or early September vacation?


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## dougp26364 (Aug 21, 2012)

PamMo said:


> We're thinking about a mountain vacation next year, and wondering which place would provide more varied activities - Park City or Breckenridge? We've spent summer/fall weeks in Whistler, Tahoe, and Sedona, and want to try somewhere different. We love hiking, fishing, biking, great restaurants, sightseeing, etc. Which would you recommend for a late August or early September vacation?



We've been to both and, IMO, either is fine. Both have nice Main streets. Park City maybe has better restaurants. Park City is closer to Salt Lake City than Breckenridge is to Denver. Both have good hiking and scenic drives. Breckenridge is maybe set up a little better for biking or mountain biking. Both have a mountain amuesment park. Really, I'm not certain there's that much difference between the two except for location. Breckenridge is closer for us so we tend to go there much more frequently but, we really enjoyed our trip to Park City and have another vacation in Park City planned for next year.


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## PamMo (Aug 21, 2012)

Wow! Thanks for your quick reply! After this brutal summer, going up to the mountains to escape the heat seems like a good plan for next year. Both places look nice, but I really appreciate the insight of Tuggers with first hand experience. Thank you!


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## PStreet1 (Aug 21, 2012)

Like the first reply, I give the edge to Breckenridge--but I lived in Denver and owned a house on the slopes in Breckenridge for years and years.  I like Park City, too.  It seems to me there are more day trips available from Breckenridge if that matters at all.  You'll have fun at either.


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## Darlene (Aug 21, 2012)

I think Park City has great mountain biking. We have done the mountain trails and the farmland trails.
There is lots to do in both places. 
Will you be driving or flying? 
Darlene


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## PamMo (Aug 21, 2012)

We'd fly into Denver or SLC and head up to the mountains. We've spent time in both cities, so it's all about what's at the resort area.


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## Laurie (Aug 22, 2012)

We've been to both areas in the summer, and from our experience, I'd give the slight edge to Park City for more interesting hiking. I especially loved the trails at Deer Valley (which looked fabulous for mountain biking as well), and also hiking trails at Sundance, which is about an hour away. 

Both these areas are definitely worthwhile, so whichever you choose, you have something to look forward to for another summer.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 22, 2012)

PStreet1 said:


> Like the first reply, I give the edge to Breckenridge--but I lived in Denver and owned a house on the slopes in Breckenridge for years and years.  I like Park City, too.  It seems to me there are more day trips available from Breckenridge if that matters at all.  You'll have fun at either.



There are lots of day trips from Park City as well. The drive up to Mirror Lake, railroad excursions, white water rafting, the Olympic village, SLC, Sundance et..... Plenty of day trips to fill a couple of weeks from both Breckenridge and Park City. 

Both also have a ton of mountain biking trails and hiking trails. Breckenridge probably has access to more 14,000 ft. peaks if you really want to test your metal and Breckenridge is relatively close to Rocky Mountain National Park. Of course, there's a few national parks in southern UT that we never drove down to explore. RMNP is at least a 2 or 3 hour drive from Breckenridge. I'm not sure what the drive time is to the national parks in UT would be from PC.

I do have pictures from Breckenridge, Park City, RMNP and Estes Park on our timeshare photo's page. Click the link in my signature and it will take you to all our photo albums. Destination pictures are at the bottom of the page while photo albums of timeshares we've stayed at are at the top, so you'll need to scroll down to find the albums from Park City, Breckenridge, RMNP and Estes Park if you want to view them.


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## K2Quick (Aug 22, 2012)

You can't go wrong with either.  From a temperature perspective, I would go with Breckenridge in August and Park City in September.


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## zinger1457 (Aug 22, 2012)

To the entertainment side of things there are some fun things going on near Vail CO during Labor Day weekend.  There's a very good Jazz festival in Vail that concludes on Labor Day weekend.  Oktoberfest festivals start in Beaver Creek on Labor Day weekend and moves to Vail and Breckenridge the following two weekends, always a lot of fun.  The US Pro Cycle Challenge comes through the Breckenridge/Vail area, usually the last week of August.  Good chance to see many of the top bike riders that participate in the Tour de France.


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## PamMo (Aug 22, 2012)

You sure aren't making it easy for me to make a decision! I was starting to lean towards Park City after doing a bit more research on fly fishing and restaurants. We like to spend our days outdoors, and enjoy long meals with great food in the evenings. We don't want to spend a lot of time driving, so we'd like a fairly compact resort area (45-60 minute drives are OK) with a variety of activities available. It sure looks like both areas would fit the bill!


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## PigsDad (Aug 22, 2012)

Also consider elevation.  Park City is at 7,000 and Breckenridge is 9,600.  If you are susceptible to altitude sickness, that can be a big difference.  

I live at 5,000 feet and even have some problems in Breck occasionally.  I've never experienced issues at 8,500 or below.

Kurt


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## PamMo (Aug 22, 2012)

PigsDad said:


> Also consider elevation.  Park City is at 7,000 and Breckenridge is 9,600.  If you are susceptible to altitude sickness, that can be a big difference.
> 
> I live at 5,000 feet and even have some problems in Breck occasionally.  I've never experienced issues at 8,500 or below.
> 
> Kurt



Yikes! I didn't even think about that. Thank you for bringing up the elevation! We spent a week at a house in Yellowstone at 9,800' (skiing was higher), and my husband had splitting headaches the first couple of days. Don't want to repeat that. Looks like Park City it is!


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## klpca (Aug 22, 2012)

PigsDad said:


> Also consider elevation.  Park City is at 7,000 and Breckenridge is 9,600.  If you are susceptible to altitude sickness, that can be a big difference.
> 
> I live at 5,000 feet and even have some problems in Breck occasionally.  I've never experienced issues at 8,500 or below.
> 
> Kurt



I agree with Pam. This is great information. We discovered that my husband has altitude problems during a trip to the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland last year. The same issue repeated during a trip to Rocky Mountain NP this year, occurring at about 9,500'. I guess that I should cross Breckenridge off the list of places to visit.


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## Laurie (Aug 22, 2012)

*altitudes anbd acclimation*

For anyone wanting to visit Breckenridge, or Estes Park + Rocky Mt Nat'l Park, but has concerns about altitude: consider sleeping in Vail first, where it's about 8000. That's what we opted for, for exactly this reason - took an exchange into a lovely TS there (Sandstone Creek Club), and acclimated for a few days, before a day trip to Breckenridge and up its mountain, and felt fine. After week 1 we drove to Estes Park thru RMNP for our second TS week, and were OK for the drive, which tops 12,000. 

I can't say I didn't struggle a bit from the altitude on some of the hikes way up there in RMNP. Actually, I had a headache for a day or 2 in Park City as well. Altitudes never used to bother me but I've gotten more sensitive. It helps to drink lots of water, so I hear - good advice I didn't follow...


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## PigsDad (Aug 22, 2012)

The other thing regarding altitudes is that, for many people, altitude sickness is really brought on by prolonged stays above a certain altitude.  That is why you rarely hear of people having issues just driving in RMNP (over 12K ft) or just spending a day in Breckenridge.  Staying and sleeping there is a big difference vs. a day trip.  Estes Park at the base of RMNP is only 7,500 ft.

And yes, the best prevention is to be properly hydrated.  People don't realize just how dry the air is at altitude;  you lose a lot more hydration just breathing vs. lower altitude.  Another big tip is to lay off alcohol (especially the first couple of days) as that can cause dehydration as well.

Kurt


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## Davey54321 (Sep 9, 2012)

*Piggybacking off this post - which location better in late April*

I just posted with this question and then saw this thread and thought I would try to leverage this. 

Do the same preferences apply to you repliers for late April, as for summertime in Utah/Colorado  Marriott resorts?

Thanks!
Vicki


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## Tia (Sep 9, 2012)

BIL has a list of tips to minimize altitude sickness at his place in Fairplay, above Breckenridge. Don't recall all so I Googled and found several including this
 which says Powerade really helped-
http://www.windowseatblog.com/2009/08/tips-avoid-altitude-sickness-not-same-old-advice


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## PStreet1 (Sep 9, 2012)

Going up gradually really helps.  Spend the night in Denver, then go to Breckenridge--chances are, you'll have no problems.  Drink lots of fluids and enjoy.


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## PStreet1 (Sep 9, 2012)

Davey54321 said:


> I just posted with this question and then saw this thread and thought I would try to leverage this.
> 
> Do the same preferences apply to you repliers for late April, as for summertime in Utah/Colorado  Marriott resorts?
> 
> ...


The problem with April is it is often still muddy if you're a hiker.  The higher up you are, the cooler, so you might check historical temperature averages for both and see which seems better for you.


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