Buena Vista, Colorado: Hikes, Events And Photos By Steve

Welcome to Buena Vista, Colorado! A website run by a local to promote this special town in the mountains. Forum - List of Hikes - Car Show - About This Site

Videos

Mt. Princeton Summit

Gorgeous Sunset

Full Rainbow

Snow at Cottonwood Pass

Unicycling Colorado 14ers

Midland Tunnels & Fourmile Road

Rock Garden at Chinaman Gulch

Buena Vista to Cottonwood Pass Time Lapse Drive

Chaffee County Road 162

Driving In Buena Vista

Colorado Fall Colors

Main Street

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs If you love soaking in relaxing hot springs, then consider the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs near the mouth of Chalk Creek Canyon ... View Pictures

Christmas Lights Around Town
I captured photos of great Christmas decorations in Buena Vista neighborhoods ... View Photos

BV Museum Model Train Set
The Buena Vista History Museum has a large model train set with great replications of towns from the old west era ... Read More

Bicycling Among The Rockies
Local road bicyclists do the popular 24-mile "south loop" which includes great views of the Rocky Mountains throughout ... View Pictures

Barbara Whipple Trail
The Whipple Trail on the east end of town is is a relatively easy hike that offers grand views of the Collegiate Peaks, the Arkansas River and information about the region's past. It is a popular trail for hikers ... View Photos

Historic Buildings On East Main
There are many downtown historic buildings on East Main Street that point to Buena Vista's old western heritage ... View Pictures

Sunset Over The Mountains
The sunset over the Collegiate Peaks on May 5 was colorful. Mt. Princeton, Mt. Yale and Mt. Columbia looked very pretty ... View Photos

Fall Foliage and Colors

It was a great year for fall foliage viewing in Colorado. The colors were unusually brighter and more colorful. Enjoy some photos west of town ... Fall Foliage and Colors

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

The very best professional cyclists came through Buena Vista during Stage 2 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. They started in Gunnison, went past Taylor Park Reservoir and climbed Cottonwood Pass before reaching our town. After that, they continued to Twin Lakes, went over Independence Pass and finished in Aspen ... USA Pro Cycling Challenge

Colorado Sunset

Nothing beats a Colorado sunset. On an August summer evening, the sky lit up over Mt. Columbia and the Sawatch Range. Enjoy four beautiful photos and two videos ... Colorado Sunset

Full Colorado Rainbow

A full rainbow was spotted on the south side of Buena Vista on June 30. This was our first major rainstorm for the 2011 summer. Enjoy Steve's video and photos ... Rainbow

10 Scenic Driving Videos

A collection of ten videos of scenic drives in and around Buena Vista, Colorado. Cottonwood Pass, Cottonwood Lake, Clear Creek Reservoir and many other local spots ... Local Drives

4-Wheeling Chinaman Gulch

Steve Garufi and friends went on a 4WD adventure in Chinaman Gulch, a popular 4-wheeling area that is rated difficult by most 4x4 enthusiasts. As Josh said, "It ain't over, until it tips over..." Chinaman Gulch

You Say Bewna, I Say Buena ...
An excellent and hilarous radio segment about how to pronounce our town's name of Buena Vista, Colorado. You must listen to this ... Radio Segment

May 11 - Colorado Snowfall
We seem to get one last big snowfall in mid-May, and 2011 has been no different. Enjoy beautiful snow scenes in and around Buena Vista, Colorado. Let it snow baby! ... Beautiful Snow Photos

Mountain Scenery Photos
Six photos of Colorado mountain scenery in the Arkansas River Valley. With the towering Sawatch Range to the west, it is easy to become spoiled living here ... View Photos

Town Bethlehem Marketplace
The Bethlehem Marketplace is a bi-annual walk-thru drama put on by Valley Fellowship Church in Buena Vista. Most first time visitors find this Christmas event to be extremely memorable ... View Photos

Hop Gulch Trestle
The remains of a railroad bridge over Hop Gulch can be seen from Chaffee County Road 304, west of town ... View Photos

Colorado Sunrise
Photographed was a stunning sunrise over the town of Buena Vista on October 6, 2010. So much color in this one ... View Photo

Colorado Fall Scenery
Photos of colorful leaves on trees near Trout Creek Pass on a sunny late September afternoon. ... View Photos

4-Wheel Drive To Tincup Pass
My friend from Colorado Springs drove their Jeep over Tincup Pass. We started at St. Elmo and finished in Tincup. This is a great 4WD route ... View Photos

Continental Divide Trail
My friend Luis was vacationing in Vail, but wanted to come by Buena Vista to meet and hike. We chose the fairly easily trail at Cottonwood Pass to an overlook ... View Photos

2010 Car Show Photos
The annual car show on East Main Street was a success. On this page are the 14 best classic cars from the event, including this sharp 1940 Ford ... View Photos

Time-Lapse Driving Videos
Ben Simo of Colorado Springs created two time-lapse videos of him driving from Buena Vista to Cottonwood Pass. The second video has him driving downhill on the same route back into the town center ... View Photos

Large Herd Of Elk
Steve only intended to photograph Mt. Princeton, but the herd of approximately 100 elk were hard to ignore ... View Photos

St. Elmo Ghost Town In Winter
A visit to the St. Elmo Ghost Town during winter was in order. Enjoy a photo gallery and video of this nearby town in the mountains ... View Pictures

Hike To Mt. Yale
Mt. Yale is one of many Colorado "14ers" nearby in the Sawatch Mountains. Megan and Steve hiked its summit in July ... View Photos

Camping at Cottonwood Lake
Megan in Texas recounts her enjoyable week camping at the Cottonwood Lake campground. (You'd think she worked for the Buena Vista Chamber!) ... Read More

Snowy Scenery All Around
Buena Vista has been received plenty of snow in the past two weeks. This morning, I visited a quiet country road covered in packed snow to photograph the views ... View Photos

Colorado Sunrise Photos
Enjoy photos of the Dec. 3, 2007 sunrise with plenty of nice mountain views included ... View Photos

4-Wheeling To Ptarmigan Lake
Local Steve Quilico and I drove a his high clearance vehicle in the Mineral Basin Area to eventually reach Ptarmigan Lake ... View Photos

Cottonwood Pass Wandering
A wandering at Cottonwood Pass on an old wagon trail with the discovery of a wonderful patch of snow ... in August. Beautiful photos of mountains included of course ... View Photos

Photos of the Mountains
Enjoy a picture collection of the mountains around Buena Vista from today's sunny and warm Spring day ... View Photos

The Old Railroad Tunnels
The old Midland Railroad tunnels are located on Chaffee County Road 371, a few miles north of Buena Vista ... View Pictures

Monarch Pass Cam

This is a traffic camera of Highway 50 at Monarch Pass. Provided by C-DOT.

Buena Vista Backyard Cam

This is the Buena Vista, CO backyard of Steve. His web cam page can be visited here.

St. Elmo Ghost Town Cam

This is a web cam provided by a property owner in St. Elmo. Click here to view it at a larger size.

Mountains & Wildlife

I ventured into the mountains on Easter Sunday. Although it snowed mightly in other parts of Colorado, Buena Vista received none. But alas, I captured two great photos of bighorn sheep and other mountain shots.

Enjoy this photo gallery: Colorado Scenery.

Balloona Vista

Steve Garufi in Buena Vista took numerous pictures of the beautiful hot air balloons rising up above town on June 8. The BalloonaVista Festival happens on the second weekend in June annually.

You can see his photos on his personal website: BalloonaVista Photos.

More Photos - Paul's Photos

Nearby Ghost Towns

If old Colorado ghost towns is your thing, you are definitely in the right area. There are many interesting and secluded ghost towns within short driving distance of Buena Vista, including St. Elmo, Tincup, Vicksburg, Winfield, Turret, Granite, Bonanza and Independence. Click here to read more with directions to each town.

Cottonwood Pass Sunset