Crested Butte Festival features a summer in bloom

The butte is bursting with bountiful blooms this year — Crested Butte, that is. Immerse yourself in this spectacular explosion of color during the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival July 12-18.

Designated the “Wildflower Capital of Colorado” by the State Legislature in 1990, the 1880s mountain town’s celebration of nature’s amazing handiwork spans the peak of wildflower season and is dedicated to the conservation, preservation and appreciationof wildflowers through education and celebration.

Highlights include:

• Hit the ground with more than 85 hikes and walks for all ranges of strength, fitness and wildflower knowledge. Go full-day and full-strength, or half-day at a more leisurely pace. Hike through the Maroon Bells Wilderness to Aspen, an 11-mile trip through some of Colorado’s most dramatic wildflower meadows. Two private landowners are allowing hikes on their property, so visitors can see wildflowers that most folks never get to see. The “Adventure Six-Pack,” a strenuous, full-day hike to a remote area, goes out each Friday through Aug. 6.

Hiking packages will save visitors some money

• Learn some skills with more than 30 photography classes for all skill levels and cameras. New this year are two overnight camping trips to learn about getting into position for shooting sunsets and sunrises.

• Kid-specific classes offer opportunities to hike, do art projects and learn about wildflower identification.

• Tour the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, eight miles north of Crested Butte.

• Those unable to walk or hike long distances can take van and four-by-four tours into the backcountry to see the area’s wildflower splendor.

• Culinary and evening events include cooking with wild plants, ice cream and story times for kids, luncheons in private homes overlooking Snodgrass and Crested Butte mountains and storytelling and poetry in a registered backyard wildlife sanctuary.

• Events are also planned for birders, butterfly-watchers and botanists.

• Art classes for all skill levels include sumi-e, watercolors, painting on silk batik, field sketching and multimedia collage.

• Relax with a yoga class in a field of wildflowers.

IF YOU GO

The Crested Butte Wildflower Festival runs July 12-18. Get a schedule of events online at crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com, or by calling 1-979-349-2571. Find out about lodging and personalized vacation packages by visiting
gunnisoncrestedbutte.com, or by calling 1-800-814-8893.