Photo courtesy of CDOT.
Reduce traffic and keep air pollution to a minimum when planning your weekend ski trip.
The Interstate 70 corridor from Denver to Vail is known for heavy traffic during ski season. A round trip from Denver to Silverthorne can cost $25-$50 in fuel and parking fees. To save on expenses, the Way to Go team recommends trying alternatives to driving alone. Learn how to travel to the mountains in new ways via bus, train or carpooling.
Carpool
Meet your carpool at the Hogback Park-n-Ride (also known as the Dinosaur lots) in Golden, located at exit 259 off of I-70. There are three lots with plenty of parking spaces: Wooly Mammoth (918 spots), T-Rex (156 spots) and Stegosaurus (117 spots). This is a great place to fill up on gas and meet up with friends or colleagues to make the journey together.
Address: The main Wooly Mammoth lot is located at 18560 U.S. Highway 40, Golden, CO 80401.
Need to find someone to share the ride with? Use the TreadShare app to safely carpool to your favorite slopes, make friends and share the cost of travel.
Ski resort benefits for carpooling
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area requires parking reservations on weekends and holidays from late December through early May from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. However, carpools of four or more people do not have to pay the $20-per-vehicle reservation fee. When booking a reservation, select “carpool reservation.” Parking attendants will verify your carpool when you arrive and give you a placard to put on your dashboard.
Breckenridge Ski Resort offers 50% off the daily rate at its North and South Gondola parking lots for carpools of four or more people. You can redeem this offer via a coupon on the Tap n’ Ski app or at the parking kiosk.
The Winter Park & Fraser Chamber of Commerce has launched a new campaign called Share the Ride, giving skiers and snowboarders who carpool with two or more people or take the Lift bus or Winter Park Express train a chance to win one of many prizes. To enter, snap a photo of your ride and fill out the Share the Ride form. You can enter an unlimited number of times until the drawing on May 2, 2025.
Keystone Resort offers free parking in its River Run lot to skiers and snowboarders who arrive in a carpool of four or more people. The lot is a short walk from the River Run Gondola; carpool parking is limited and first come, first serve.
Snowstang bus
Take the Snowstang bus and eliminate worries about finding parking or navigating traffic congestion and snow-covered mountain roads. Snowstang offers routes to four different resorts (Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin, Loveland and Breckenridge) from three pick-up locations in the Denver metro area (Union Station, Federal Center Station and the Wooly Mammoth Park-n-Ride). The bus runs from mid-December to early May; adult roundtrip tickets are $25.
Each Snowstang bus is equipped with a restroom, bike racks, equipment storage, Wi-Fi, power outlets and USB ports. The buses are entirely accessible and have two standard securement areas with a center-loading wheelchair lift.
Winter Park Express train
Skip traffic and driving altogether and take Amtrak's Winter Park Express train, a two-hour scenic route from Union Station to the base of Winter Park Resort. Enjoy beverages and snacks as you watch the sun rise along the mountains. The train runs Thursday through Monday from late December through the end of March, and one-way fares start at $19 on select days.
Dates of operation for 2024-2025: December 20-22, December 27-29, January 3-5, January 9-March 31 (no service on Tuesdays and Wednesdays).