Vail is known first for its ski mountain: at 5,317 acres, Vail bills itself as the largest resort in Colorado, and Vail Resorts' annual report ranks it the second most visited mountain resort in the United States for 2024/25. It is also known for a car-free village built in the early 1960s in the style of European alpine towns, for a founder who trained with the Army's 10th Mountain Division, and for a summer season of music, dance and outdoor festivals.
A very large ski mountain
Vail's mountain totals 5,317 acres, with an average snowfall of 354 inches and "nearly 3,000 acres of bowl skiing" across seven back bowls. The Town of Vail's welcome material puts the figure at 5,289 skiable acres, so treat acreage as approximate. Vail Resorts' fiscal 2025 annual report describes the mountain as approximately 5,300 skiable acres including the back bowls and Blue Sky Basin. Our guides explain how the acreage is counted and how hard the back bowls are.
A village designed to look like the Alps
Many buildings in the pedestrian village were built by the founders in the early 1960s "with a nod to classic European alpine architecture," in Vail's own phrase. Vail has two village centers, Vail Village and Lionshead, and the town says it runs one of the largest free transportation systems in the country. See our Lionshead Village listing for the second village.
The Town of Vail's welcome page also points to 17 miles of recreation paths, 1,100 acres of open space and "the highest botanical gardens in the world." The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens describe themselves as sitting at 8,200 feet, and were started in 1986. The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater is named for the president the town calls its most famous resident.
A ski resort founded by a 10th Mountain veteran
Vail Mountain was founded by Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton, with the other members of the Vail Corporation, per the Colorado Snowsports Museum. Seibert joined the Army in 1943 as a 10th Mountain Division volunteer, training for high-altitude winter combat at Camp Hale, in the mountains near where Vail Mountain now operates. The resort opened on December 15, 1962, at 9 a.m., with one gondola, two chairlifts and $5 lift tickets. The Town of Vail dates the town's incorporation to 1966.
The land where the division trained is now the Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument in the White River National Forest, per Vail Resorts. Vail holds Legacy Days each spring honoring the division. The Colorado Snowsports Museum has an exhibit about the 10th Mountain Division called Climb to Glory. The museum is free, on the third level of the Vail Village parking structure next to the Covered Bridge; hours vary, so check ahead.
Restaurants with a long track record
Vail's dining reputation rests on restaurants that have been there a long time. Sweet Basil bills itself as a Vail landmark, serving New American cooking since 1977, and Matsuhisa, at 141 E Meadow Drive, is the Vail location of the sushi restaurant group led by chef Nobu Matsuhisa. Those two are examples, not a ranking, and menus and hours change, so check each restaurant before you go.
Summer festivals and trails
Several long-running festivals take place at the amphitheater and around town in summer. Dates change each year, so the table shows what the organizers had posted when this page was checked.
| Event | What it is | Dates posted |
|---|---|---|
| Bravo! Vail Music Festival | Orchestral series with resident orchestras listed as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic | Annual summer festival; 2027 is billed as its 40th anniversary season |
| Vail Dance Festival | Dance performances, run by the Vail Valley Foundation | July 31 to August 10, 2026 |
| GoPro Mountain Games | Outdoor sports competitions, run by the Vail Valley Foundation | June 10 to 13, 2027 |
| Vail Oktoberfest | Bavarian-style festival over two weekends in Lionshead Village and Vail Village | September 11 to 13 and 18 to 20 (2026 dates on Discover Vail) |
For trails, the Town of Vail runs a "Bus It to Hike It" program: park in the Vail Village or Lionshead garages and ride a town bus to the trailheads. The program notes there is no parking at the Booth Lake trailhead, the start of the Booth Falls hike in East Vail, beginning May 31, and that East Vail buses serve the Booth Falls stop. More ideas are in our guides to hiking in Vail, Oktoberfest in Vail and the best things to do in Vail.
