While Keystone Resort’s origins were as a great family resort for the ski and snowboarding season, the development of the resort in the late 1960s by Max and Edna Dercum has ballooned in the past 35 years. Like a city whose population has been bolstered by word-of-mouth advertising, the original main village has swelled, and Keystone “suburbs” spot the hillside several miles in each direction. One such addition at the western end of the property, covered by fresh powder in the winter months, is the Keystone Ranch, where a pair of championship golf courses has turned this Rocky Mountain retreat into a four-season paradise for the outdoors person. Home to Colorado’s best restaurant, and featuring the central accommodations available at the Keystone Lodge Resort, May through September is no longer off-season in the state’s great mountain ranges west of Denver.

Now spanning almost seven miles along the Snake River that weaves before the mountain, Keystone Resort is continually adding new elements to improve the facilities in the Keystone Village. Restaurants, conference centers, leisure activities and trails are all among the trimmings that the resort chain has developed in recent years. With 36 championship golf holes among the most recent trappings, an earnest attempt has been made to develop the golf side of things, and the result is a legitimate golf resort that rivals the best destinations in the American West. The AAA 4-Diamond Keystone Resort Lodge, located in the center of the village, is a rugged, elegant edifice that has served winter thrill seekers for decades. Today, it is also the perfect summertime retreat, merging luxury accommodations with great value. The Adventure Passport, exclusive to guests of Keystone, gives guests free access to special activities in and around the resort, including wine tastings, yoga classes, and bike rentals, for taking to the trails that weave through the valley and along the shores of the river.

Rooms at the Lodge are, as one would want them to be in the mountains, highlighted by great views from private balconies and furnishings carved from the freshest pine. Rooms either feature a king or queen bed, with special suites offering a king bed set in a contemporary loft setting. As nice as the rooms are, whiling away the days in complimentary robes and room service is an impossible laziness, as there is simply too much to see and do at Keystone. Within the Lodge itself, there is a sauna, pool, and hot tub reserved for hotel guests, as well as a restaurant, meeting space for larger groups, and a run of shops and galleries in the village for memento shopping. But the highlights of the village belie a wonderful run of amenities scattered throughout the resort.

The Keystone Ranch restaurant, located in the Keystone Ranch Village at the east end of the property, is the best restaurant in Colorado – a claim that might seem to be hyperbole if not for the awards to back it up. Located in a traditional 1930s classic homestead adjacent to the golf course, Zagat has continuously placed it at the top of their list, in a state full of exceptional dining options. Its four-diamond AAA ranking and winner of the Wine Spectator’s prestigious DiNoRa award for fine dining excellence, a credential reserved for just 250 restaurants in North America since 1996. Once a working cattle ranch, the entire building has been restored, with only the fireplace claiming original status, to serve the state’s best fare. The highlights run deep – a six-course fixed menu, reasonably priced, features the best Colorado has to offer, particularly a series of exceptional wild game choices. Among the tantalizing dishes of menu fixes past? Arctic caribou tenderloin with a currant jus, roast rack of Colorado lamb with a minted couscous and Russian River Cabernet glace, and breast of Magret duck with a wild rice hazelnut strudel. Wine pairings from the great vineyards of the Pacific Northwest to around the world match well with the earthy menu, making for a dining experience that is beyond reproach.  

Out of doors, the options are endless. Both golf courses occupy perennial spots in the state’s top 10 resort courses, and Keystone holds frequent court in the country’s Top 75 golf resorts – an amazing accomplishment considering Keystone claims no exclusivity to golf. In fact, biking is one of the most popular summer pastimes along the Snake River. One of the longest, most technical downhills in the country runs straight into the Keystone village, and hundreds of miles of single-track and mountain roads provide beginner-to-expert bikers with some of the most varied terrain to be found anywhere. This is a veritable biking mecca, and a sanctuary for the outdoor enthusiast. If there wasn’t enough space in the rental car trunk for both your bike and golf clubs, bike rentals, for an hour, or for multiple days, are readily available in the Lakeside Village. Exploring the Keystone area, on foot, by bike, or on horseback (group outings, including ranch-style lunch or dinner, can be arranged through the Keystone stables) gives one the chance to see experience Keystone as it was meant to be—on one’s own terms, unmotorized, like a private enclave for the closet cattle rancher in everyone. Always renowned as one of the great winter family resorts in Colorado, Keystone today is a stunning four-season destination with an ownership that continues to improve its status among the country’s best.