Keystone

Keystone sits in the Colorado Rockies at about 2,800m, a long way from any coast. Dillon Reservoir spreads out below the resort and looks inviting on a summer day, but it is snowmelt-cold and mostly closed to swimming. People come for boating and the views, not a swim. Hotel pools and hot tubs are the realistic way into the water here.

Eating in Keystone means resort dining. There are slopeside grills and pizza at the bases, burgers and craft beer for après-ski, and a few more ambitious dining rooms, including one reached by gondola at the summit. Colorado lamb, elk and trout turn up on menus, and the state's craft brewing gives the drinks some local character.

The range is narrow and prices follow the resort. Many visitors cook in their condo or drive the short distance to Dillon, Frisco or Breckenridge for more choice. Nobody books Keystone for the food, but it is easy to eat well enough after a day on the mountain.

Keystone is a resort built for skiing in the 1970s, and there is little in it to sightsee. River Run Village is a pleasant pedestrian base, but it is modern and made for convenience. The mining-era history of Summit County survives in the scattered ruins and old cabins along the Snake River valley above Montezuma, and in the Victorian towns nearby. Anyone after museums or architecture has to leave the resort.

Evenings begin at après-ski, when the bars and decks at River Run fill with skiers in boots, and for most visitors they end not long after dinner. Keystone draws families and people heading out early for first chair, so the resort goes quiet early. Anyone who wants a proper night out goes to Breckenridge's Main Street, a short drive or bus ride away.

This is the reason to come. Keystone's own three peaks have long groomed runs, tree skiing and bowls above 3,600m. Arapahoe Basin, among the highest and longest-running ski areas in North America, is a few minutes up the road. Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Vail are all within an hour. The snow is dry and reliable, and the season runs from late autumn into spring.

Summer turns the same mountains into hiking and lift-served mountain-biking country. Grays and Torreys Peaks, two of Colorado's 14,000ft summits, start close by. Loveland Pass and the Montezuma valley open onto alpine tundra, and Dillon Reservoir is good for sailing and paddleboarding. A paved bike path links the Summit County towns. The thin air at this altitude takes a day or two to get used to.

Summit County is good for a varied day out. Breckenridge's Victorian mining-town centre is about half an hour away, and Frisco and Dillon are closer still. Over the Continental Divide lie the 19th-century silver towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume, joined by a historic loop railway, and Idaho Springs with its old mines. Leadville, at the top of the Arkansas valley, keeps its mining-boom streets and opera house, and Vail's Tyrolean-style village is under an hour west.

Denver is about an hour and a half away for museums and city neighbourhoods, though weekend ski traffic on I-70 can make that much longer. Beyond that the choice thins out.

Keystone is built around family ski trips. There is a large ski and snowboard school, gentle terrain on the lower mountain, and tubing. In winter a giant snow fort sits up on the mountain and the frozen lake at Lakeside Village becomes one of the largest outdoor skating rinks in the country. Condos with kitchens, short walks to the lifts and free shuttles take a lot of the strain out of travelling with children.

In summer there are paddle boats, bike trails and easy hikes. Away from the snow there is not much else made for children. The altitude can hit young ones in the first days, and winter cold demands proper kit.

The resort is spread over several bases, River Run, Mountain House and Lakeside, linked by free shuttles. Within each one you can walk. Free county buses run to Dillon, Silverthorne, Frisco and Breckenridge, so a car is not essential once you have arrived. There is no train, though, and getting up from Denver and its airport means a shuttle or the drive over I-70, which in winter brings snow, chain rules and slow weekend traffic. Most visitors who want to roam the wider mountains hire a car.

Shopping in the resort means ski and outdoor gear, rental shops and a handful of gift and clothing stores in River Run Village. Ten minutes away in Silverthorne, a sprawling outlet centre draws people from across the county for brand-name clothes and outdoor wear. Beyond that there is little to browse, and few visitors come here to shop.

Keystone is an expensive place to stay, above all in ski season. Lift access, slopeside rooms and condos, equipment rental, ski school and resort meals all cost a lot, and the Christmas, New Year and spring-break weeks are the dearest of all. Some things help: the buses are free, many condos have kitchens, and supermarkets in Dillon and Silverthorne make self-catering easy. Summer is noticeably gentler, but this is never a budget destination.

Live performance here is mostly a summer affair. The resort puts on outdoor music festivals on its village stages, and Dillon's open-air amphitheatre by the reservoir has a season of concerts with mountain views. Breckenridge, nearby, has a long-running summer classical music festival centred on its Riverwalk Center, which also hosts touring acts through the year.

The year-round offer is small but real. About ten minutes away, Silverthorne's performing arts centre is home to a professional theatre company that stages plays and musicals in an intimate house. Otherwise winter evenings mean acoustic sets at après-ski, and anything bigger means the drive to Denver.

Wellness in Keystone is about recovery after skiing. There are resort spas with massages and treatments, and outdoor hot tubs at nearly every lodge and condo complex, where sitting in steaming water under falling snow is the classic end to the day. There is no bathing culture of its own. For natural hot springs you have to drive over the pass to Idaho Springs or much further to Glenwood Springs. Outside the Christmas and spring-break peaks the pace is quiet.