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Grand Lake is a year round resort community at the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, only a two-hour drive from the Denver metropolitan
area. Our area offers three huge mountain lakes plus thousands of acres of National Forest land and National Park land. Close to 90% of our part of the
county is publicly owned, for all of us to enjoy!
Our community sponsors special events on weekends year round, to entertain families from out of the area, you'll see me at almost all of them! You can come
into town and get involved in the many fun activities if you feel like it, or just stay at your cabin and enjoy the peace and quiet. In the summer there are
parades, outdoor musical events, boating and fishing, professional theater, arts and crafts festivals, the Buffalo Barbeque, golfing on several public mountain
courses, hiking and mountain biking...and the 4th of July fireworks over Grand Lake rivals the most spectacular in the state!
Autumn brings gorgeous aspen viewing (as the leaves turn from bright green to yellow, gold & red), elk bugling and an annual Fall Festival. You will see
wildlife year around in Grand Lake. Imagine seeing deer and elk, osprey and eagles, marmots...even moose - on your way into town. During Old Fashioned
Christmas, the village is transformed into a winter wonderland, with a White Christmas guaranteed. The celebration starts around Thanksgiving, with a crafts
fair, where you can shop for some one-of-a- kind holiday gifts. The month of December is full of fun, including caroling by candlelight, cantatas, a local
melodrama, and fire truck rides with Santa. On New Year's Eve, fireworks over the frozen lake welcome the New Year. During the winter, you can also
enjoy snowmobiling on over 100 miles of groomed trails, sledding, cross-country skiing, ice fishing, or simply sitting in front of a warm fire while you gaze
at the snow-covered mountains and trees. Downhill skiing is just over a half hour away, with intermediate slopes even closer.
The best part to me about living in Grand Lake is the small town atmosphere. If you count all of the area off Highway 34, from Rocky Mountain National Park
down to the south end of Lake Granby (a nine mile radius of town), I estimate that about 1500 people actually live here year round. Many of these are
families with school age children, and many are retired couples, some of whom spend the winters in warmer climates and return here for the summer season.
Some come to escape big city traffic, smog and overpopulation. Others come simply to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and lakes. Most of the homes which
you see as you drive around are vacation homes, so although you may see other homes from your property, you will have neighbors only on occasional
weekends.
Being a small town, you will see the same person behind the counter each time you go to the grocery store, and the people at the post office will soon know
you by name. "Locals" wave as they drive by, and those who visit are all on vacation, and so they are in a good mood! This is a very pleasant atmosphere in
which to live and work. We do not have street delivery for mail, so you will need to get a post office box in town. Or, if you live out of town and don't wish
to come in to town every day, you can place a mailbox along the highway, and your mail will be delivered.
Children thrive in this safe environment. The recreation department offers a multitude of really fun supervised activities. As they get to be old enough, kids
can meet friends in the park and spend time down by the beach and at the snack bar. Since there is little news in our small weekly paper, they occasionally get
their photos in the paper for sports, theater or school events. Beginning with grade 6, the schools have a four-day school week! Everyone gets Friday off, and
it is a free ski day for Grand County students. They can go to Winter Park or Sol Vista for downhill skiing or out onto the Grand Lake Golf Course, which is
groomed during the winter for cross-country skiing. Supervised lessons with transportation are available at low cost. Grand Lake Elementary is the location
for kindergarten through fifth grade. From sixth through twelfth grades, children ride the bus to East Grand Middle School and Middle Park High School, both
in Granby.
Shopping is often a surprise to families moving to Grand County. We have no shopping malls in Grand Lake or Granby. Here, you certainly do not waste time
driving miles to save a dollar by buying at a store across the metropolitan area. Our prices may be a bit higher than in the city, but you don't have the
temptation to buy unnecessary items. Wonderful items for decorating your mountain home and great specialty gifts can be found here locally in our many gift
shops. If you feel the need for a standard shopping spree, factory outlet stores and fast food restaurants can be found in Silverthorne (about an hour and a half
away), or take the gorgeous drive over Berthoud Pass into Denver! Internet and catalog shopping are fun, with UPS bringing packages all year round!
After living here for 30 years now, I have to say that my favorite parts of life in Grand Lake are the friendly, small town atmosphere, and the good feelings
that come from knowing that my children have received
the best start in life, living in this safe and beautiful community.
© By Donna Ready 2009 (original version was composed in 1995.
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