Ski resorts, by definition, live in beautiful places—the biggest mountains, the most pristine forests. And those mountains don’t close shop come spring.
Many resorts have morphed into summertime playgrounds, but few do it with as much charm and small-town panache as Red River, a burg of 435 people in the heart of New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
The former mining town was on the skids until snow seekers gave it new life in the late ’50s. Now it has beefed up its summer menu as well, with a new chairlift that opens up a whole mountain’s worth of trails.
Here’s the summertime skinny—plus three more ski towns that look pretty great in shorts too.
Where to hike
Where to go biking
Meet the locals
Where to eat
After hours
Spend the night