Buena Vista, Colorado: Photos, Hikes, Happenings And Forum

Welcome to Buena Vista, Colorado! This website is run by a local to promote this special town in the mountains. Forum - List of Hikes - Chaffee County Walk - Steve's Fan Page

Videos

Unicycling Colorado 14ers

The Trailhead Store

Chaffee County Road 162

Mt. Princeton Sunset

Driving In Buena Vista

Cottonwood Pass to Buena Vista Time Lapse Drive

4-Wheeling in Chinaman Gulch

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

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

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

Buena Vista Traffic Light
Our small town has just one traffic light and many locals are quite proud of this fact. Enjoy this tribute with pictures of the Buena Vista traffic light ... Read More

Maxwell Park School
The Maxwell Park School was a school from 1889 to 1933 and was also known as the Mt. Princeton School. Today, it stands as a relic of a previous era ... 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

Sunset Over The Mountains
Tonight's sunset was average at best, but any evening in March is usually a great evening to photograph the mountains and snow ... 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

Autumn Leaves
The autumn foliage viewing season has been long over, but here is a photo gallery of pretty fall colors in the mountains west of town ... View Photos

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

Balloona Vista - Hot Air Balloons
Paul deBerjeois submitted nine very beautiful pictures of hot air balloons that launched for the annual Balloona Vista event. The weather was perfect with little wind on Saturday, which made Buena Vista a wonderland of hot air balloons floating above ... 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

Hike To Bald Mountain
Bald Mountain sits at 9,825 feet NNE of Mt. Princeton and can be accessed via the Colorado Trail or Chaffee County Road 345 ... View Photos

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

Santa Claus Comes To Buena Vista
Santa Claus made an appearance at Bongo Billy's Cafe in Buena Vista and spread holiday cheer to all ... 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

Fall Foliage In The Mountains
Enjoy this photo collection of fall foliage in Colorado's mountains. For 2-3 weeks, autumn leaves light up the area with color ... 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

List of Buena Vista Area Hikes
I am slowly compiling a list of some of the best hikes of all levels of difficulty in the Buena Vista area. Check it out! ... View Hikes List

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.

Cottonwood Pass Is Open

May 2010 - Cottonwood Pass opened for vehicular traffic on May 25. I recently made the scenic drive from Buena Vista to the pass and display 13 Colorado mountain and snow photos for your enjoyment. :)

View photo gallery: Cottonwood Pass

Espresso Chip Ice Cream

April 2010 - I made an afternoon ice cream run to Punky's Restaurant. I ordered a espresso chip ice cream in a waffle cone, and washed it down with coffee. My taste buds were so happy!

View photo gallery: Afternoon Ice Cream Cone

October Snowfall

We had a few days of snowfall in late October 2009. On the 28th, I captured photos driving from Leadville and then again in the evening.

View photo gallery: Snow in Buena Vista, CO.

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.

Buena Vista Rainbow

A spectacular rainbow hovered over Buena Vista for approximately 15 minutes on Saturday (July 19). So many people on the streets gazed at it and snapped photos.

You can see my rudimentary stitching of two photos to see this one and previous rainbows: Rainbow Photos.

2008 BalloonaVista

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 2008 Photos - 2007 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.