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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, thousands of acres of National Forest land and National Park
land. 90% of our part of the county is publicly owned, for all of us to enjoy!
The town sponsors special events on weekends to lure families from the Denver area.
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 & fishing, professional summer theater, arts and crafts
festivals, a food and wine festival, the Buffalo Barbecue and 5K race, golfing on one of
the top-rated mountain public courses, hiking & mountain biking ... and the 4th of July
fireworks over Grand Lake rival 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 Colorfest. You will see wildlife year round in
Grand Lake. Imagine seeing the deer & elk, hawks & eagles, marmots... even moose --
on your way to work each day. 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 (so that you can shop for some one-of-a- kind holiday gifts).
The month of December is full of fun, including caroling by candlelight, sleigh rides, cantatas,
a local melodrama, a reenactment of the Christmas story with a real outdoor nativity play and
family game nights. On New Year's Eve, fireworks over the frozen lake welcome the new year.
During the winter, you can also enjoy snowmobiling on 100 miles of groomed trails, downhill
& cross-country skiing, ice fishing, or simply sitting in front of a warm fire while you savor
the snow-covered mountains and trees.
The best part about living in Grand Lake is the small town atmosphere. The 1990 census
showed 258 people within the town limits. If you count all of the area off Highway 34,
from Rocky Mountain National Park down to the south end of Lake Granby, I would estimate
that 800 to 1,000 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 crime, 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 you'll have neighbors only
once in a while.
Being a small town, you'll 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!
It's 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 hand delivered Monday through Saturday.
Children thrive in this safe environment. Since there is little news in our small weekly paper,
they occasionally get their photos in the paper for sports, theater or school events. The schools
have a four day school week! Everyone gets Friday off, and it is a free ski day for the Grand
County school children. They can go to Winter Park or SilverCreek for downhill skiing or out
onto the Grand Lake Golf Course, which is groomed during the winter for cross country skiing.
Supervised lessons are available at low cost. Grand Lake Elementary is the location for preschool
through fifth grade. From sixth through twelfth, children ride the bus to East Grand Middle School
and Middle Park High School, both in Granby. If you have younger children or need after school
supervision, there is a day care center located next to the elementary school.
Shopping is often a suprpise to families moving to Grand County. We have no shopping malls
in Grand Lake or Granby. Granby is the center of commerce for our county, where most people
go to the bank, doctor, dentist, etc. It is a wonderfully efficient town, about one mile long.
You can drive up one side of the street and down the other, and visit the pharmacy, dry cleaners,
bank, grocery store, clothing stores, buy gasoline, etc. 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 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 shopping spree, a multitude of 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! Personally, I love catalog shopping, with UPS
bringing packages to me all year round! It turns out that you can buy almost anything here, through
catalogs or on the Internet..
After living here for 20 years, 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 are
getting the best start in life, living in this safe and beautiful environment.
© By Donna Ready 1995.
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