Breckenridge

About Breckenridge

Breckenridge is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Summit County, Colorado, sitting at the base of the Rocky Mountains’ Tenmile Range. It’s known today for its ski resort, year-round alpine activities and Gold Rush history. The Victorian core of this former mining town is preserved as the Breckenridge National Historic District, running primarily along Main Street. Founded in November of 1859, the modern day ski resort town’s population was 5,078 at the 2020 U. S. Census.

The elevation of Breckenridge is 9,728 feet (2,965 meters) above sea level, and the town has a total area of 6.041 square miles (15.65 km2), all of that land. The ski area has a total area of 2,880 acres (11.7 km2) of land. And besides the town being a major ski resort, it also has plenty of things to do in the summer with lots of hiking trails, fly fishing in the Blue River, mountain biking, boating on nearby Lake Dillon, white-water rafting, three alpine slides, a roller coaster, along with many shops and restaurants up and down Main Street for all seasons.

Breckenridge’s climate is considered to be high-alpine with the tree line at 11,500 feet (3,500 meters). Weather records here are incomplete, especially modern day records - which seems hard to believe and ridiculous! So with that noted, its highest temperature ever recorded was 90°F / 32°C set sometime one August between 1891–1978, with their coldest reading being -37°F (-38.3°C), which was recorded during the historic Great Blizzard of 1899. The town sees 163.6 inches / 415.5 centimeters of snow annually, but its ski slopes average approximately 300 to 355 inches (762 to 901 cm) of snowfall annually, and the entire area often sees its heaviest snow in January, seeing an average snowfall of 24.6 inches, along with consistent snow falling from October through May.