Year ’round Wilderness Outings from our Doorstep

If its Wild Hunger you seek to satisfy, yet you want the cozy comforts of an Alpine Inn by night fall, you will be amazed at the variety of back country adventures you can have right from the doorstep of your lodging at Beaver Lake Retreat.

Jeep Rides

to secret picnic spots or to challenging high-alpine trail heads can be arranged

Fishing

in Beaver and Lizard lakes can net full strings of trout. Flyfishing in the Crystal River is sporting and Gary Hubbell can guide you on horseback to special alpine lakes.

Canoeing

on Beaver Lake just below the retreat, with our canoes, is free for our guests.

Horseback Riding

Day rides or longer pack trips right from the retreat can be arranged through OutWEST Guides, one of Colorado’s leading outfitters operating right from Marble. Call (970) 963-5525; www.outwestguides.com

Llama Treks

to our privately held wilderness inholdings: Llamas carry all the gear for photo excursions or overnight camps, while you simply walk with just a small day pack.

Hiking

through splendid scenery for all ages and abilities. From a 2-hour, all-downhill stroll (my 82 year old mother’s favorite in leaf season) to game trails above tree line where few bipeds have ever stepped, we can direct you to them and often be talked into going along with you. Beaver Lake Retreat is situated at the trailhead of Carbonate Creek Trail which leads to Buckskin Basin and Avalanche Pass.

Mountain Biking

Your bikes or ours, in super terrain, with our hot tub waiting to ease any tired muscles. Beaver Lake Retreat has a locking bike rack and shelter for the bikes.

Back Country Skiing

trails start at our door when the big snows come, and snow lasts well into Spring skiing weather along the north faces of quakey and in the dark timber.

Kayaking

on the upper Crystal River for the experienced kayaker only. Let us first tell you where the high falls and the sweepers are hiding.

Snow Shoeing

from the level and cushy to the steep and extreme. Avalanche and alpine winter safety clinics are available from time to time or upon a groups advanced request.

The tiny alpine hamlet of Marble (pop. 98) has been a virtual ghost town much of the past 75 years since its prosperous marble quarrying and mining days. But its real wealth is in its being where the White River National Forest, Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness and the Gunnison National Forest’s Raggeds Wilderness converge on the upper Crystal River. Surrounded by jagged 12,000 ft. alpine peaks and an abundance of back country passes, no fewer than 12 official U.S. Forest Service trails are accessed from the immediate Marble area, branching out through a sub-alpine and alpine naturalist’s dream wilderness toward Aspen-Snowmass to the northeast and toward Crested Butte to the southeast.

The first Outward Bound camp built in The Rockies is on the edge of Marble. The Outward

Bound Map & Compass Handbook by Glenn Randall (ISBN#1558210229) is a great intro to back country orienteering. We recommend  The White River National Forest – Trail Guide (ISBN# 0930657160) Maps 9, 10 and 11 (pages 72-95) for trail details, wilderness ethics and back country preparedness information. Trails Illustrated, National Geographic Map #128 covers the terrain south of Sopris and West of Aspen most accessible from Marble which is shown in the segment of that map included here. And a lot of local, up-to-date wisdom can be gleaned over hot coffee in our kitchen.