For even more mountain retreats, see Sarah Tuff and Greg Melville's book, \"101 Best Outdoor Towns: Unspoiled Places to Visit, Live & Play\" (Countryman Press, 2007)."; SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Truckee, Calif.","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070817/ideas_mountaintown_002.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Jeff Dow / Truckee Donner Chambe", "273", "411", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Truckee, California
The hills are alive with: The Wild West
Elevate yourself: One-armed bandits -- as in slot machines -- may rule other parts of Lake Tahoe. But Truckee, which sits in the Sierra Nevada at an elevation of 6,000 feet, has a more authentic Wild West vibe -- think gunslingers, gold, and mountain men. Settled in 1863, the town hasn't changed much since: False-front shops still flank a historic railroad depot, while an old-fashioned soda fountain operates at Bud's Sporting Goods. In fact, rather than constructing elaborate western sets, many Hollywood filmmakers lug cameras to Commercial Row and just set up. In the summer, Truckee's a base camp for wakeboarding the town's own Donner Lake and tackling the nearby Tahoe Rim Trail, a 165-mile ring around Lake Tahoe built for hikers, horseback riders, and mountain bikers. But early August is when the town really wakes up with Western Week, a jackpot of barrel racing, cowboy poetry, and the PRCA Truckee Championship Rodeo. Slip off the cowboy boots at the Cedar House Sport Hotel, a new 42-room lodge that's (happily) more influenced by hip European architecture and green design than kitschy western Americana.
Peak time: August, for Western Week and the Truckee Rodeo
Truckee Championship Rodeo
Tel: 530 587 5555
Cedar House Sport Hotel
Tel: 530 582 5655
Doubles from $180";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Sandpoint, Idaho","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Sandpoint, Idaho
The hills are alive with: Trout splashing about in crystal waters
Get elevated: The fish of Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille are so fat ... How fat are they? They make yer mama look skinny!
Er, anyway, a 37-pound rainbow trout, a 37-pound bull trout, and a 43-pound lake trout have all tusseled with (and lost to) anglers on the cobalt-blue lake, which glistens beneath the 6,500-foot peaks of the Selkirk and Cabinet mountains. Sitting on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced pon-duh-RAY) is the water-mad townlet of Sandpoint. In the winter, skiers hit frozen stuff at Schweitzer Mountain, which towers above town. In summer, they buzz boats around the lake, whose 111 miles of shoreline and depths of up to 1,160 feet offer more than enough fishing spots for the scant population of 8,000. Seek out fishing guide Kurt Artner for half- or full-day charters for up to six anglers. At night, swap tales at the Selkirk Lodge, located at the base of Schweitzer. Many of the 82 rooms, with knotty pine beds and kitchenettes, have views of the surrounding mountains -- and maybe even a glimpse of the next day's catch.
Peak time: All summer
Kurt Artner
Tel: 208 265 6781
Selkirk Lodge
Tel: 800 831 8810
Doubles from $145";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Crested Butte, Colo.","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Crested Butte, Colorado
The hills are alive with: Mountain biking and movies
Get elevated: It's not just the altitude -- an air-gulping 9,000 feet -- causing the unusual giddiness in Crested Butte. Nope, that light-headed feeling also comes from the dizzying array of mountain-biking trails that curl and corkscrew around the southwestern Colorado town. Back in the '70s, locals began storming the Elk Mountains on Schwinn bicycles with retrofitted gears and knobby tires. Today, Crested Butte is home to 300 miles of trails, the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, and a summer-long celebration of the sport. Late June heralds the arrival of Fat Tire Bike Week, with bike limbos, scavenger hunts, and pig roasts, while July and August bring a race series to the ski resort Mount Crested Butte. The eighth month also means the Crested Butte Reel Fest, which shows short films. Whether you're into wheels or reels, you'll find summer deals at the Ruby of Crested Butte, a six-room B&B in town with wrought-iron beds and dizzying mountain views.
Peak times: Last week of June (for Fat Tire Bike Week) and second week of August (for the Crested Butte Reel Fest)
Fat Tire Bike Week
Tel: 800 545 4505
Crested Butte Reel Fest
Tel: 970 349 2600
Ruby of Crested Butte
Tel: 800 390 1338
Doubles from $199";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","North Adams, Mass.","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070817/ideas_mountaintown_005.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Arjen Noordeman", "", "273", "364", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "North Adams, Massachusetts
The hills are alive with: Art
Get elevated: While the majesty of the Berkshires have always lured art and artists -- from writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville to world-class symphonies at Tanglewood and famous productions at the Williamstown Theater Festival -- nearby factory towns had once seemed exempt from the phenomena. That is, until the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, or MASS MoCA, sprung up eight years ago in North Adams. Today, it's the country's largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts, with 13 acres, 19 galleries, and 100,000 square feet of exhibition space. Even better, it's just north of the state's highest peak, 3,491-foot Mount Greylock. Summer sees the annual Bang on a Can festival -- a collaboration of students and teachers in experimental music that's more elegant than its title suggests -- as well as musicals and orchestra performances. And long-term gallery installations include the Technicolor textiles of Fransje Killaars. Stay at Porches, located on-site at MASS MoCA: The former row houses have been converted into slate- or wood-floored rooms and lofted suites infused with \"retro-edgy, industrial granny chic\" to host guests. Best of all, you won't have to look at a single canvas by Norman Rockwell.
Peak time: Late July for Bang on a Can; anytime for exhibitions
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
Tel: 413 662 2111
Porches
Tel: 413 664 0400
Doubles from $175
";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Whitefish, Mont.","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Whitefish, Montana
The hills are alive with: Rafting
Get elevated: Wriggling into a life vest, clipping on a helmet, and planting your posteriors on an out-of-control rubber raft will get your adrenaline up like almost nothing else. And in the river-swollen days of July and August, there are few better places to suit up than Whitefish, Montana. A handful of miles from the mountain-fringed town, the Flathead River pitches rafting parties along such class III and IV rapids as Bone Crusher and Jaws. Plus, the snow-fed river froths with some of the prettiest blue-green water in the Rockies (not to mention that it teems with Westslope cutthroat trout). The Glacier Outdoor Center near Whitefish hosts multiday rafting, horseback riding, and fly-fishing trips. Back in town, rafters peel out of wet suits for a Wheatfish Hefeweizen at the Great Northern Brewing Company. (More brews flow for the Whitefish Mountain Brewfest in late August, held at the town's own ski resort.) And the town's best après-anything accommodations are at the Good Medicine Lodge, a nine-room bed-and-breakfast with lodge pole beds, balconies overlooking the mountain, and eggs and breads to replenish all that spent energy.
Peak time: July and August
Glacier Outdoor Center
Tel: 406 888 5454
Good Medicine Lodge
Tel: 800 860 5488
Doubles from $135";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Brevard, N.C.","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Brevard, North Carolina
The hills are alive with: The sound of music. Really!
Get elevated: Tourism officials like to boast about the 260 waterfalls around Brevard, North Carolina. But the cascades of music around the Blue Ridge mountain town are really what distinguishes Brevard from its Appalachian neighbors. From June to August, the summer institute and festival known as the Brevard Music Center presents daily concerts of everything from bluegrass and Bach to piano recitals and performances of Puccini's La Bohème. Many are held in open-air concert halls beneath the smoky Blue Ridge hills, and free to the public. Meanwhile, Brevard College's Porter Center for the Performing Arts is one of the South's most hallowed halls for music. A $1.2-million Kirkpatrick-Coleman pipe organ sits near a stage that has seen such luminaries as Herbie Hancock and the Afro-Cuban All Stars. Brevard even has its own philharmonic and choral society. At the newly renovated, five-room Red House Inn, ask for the Braxton suite, which has mission-style furniture, simple white linens, and black-and-white photographs. Perfect for making music of your own.
Peak time: June to August
Brevard Music Center
Tel: 828 862 2105
Brevard College's Porter Center for the Performing Arts
Tel: 828 883 8292
Red House Inn
Tel: 828 884 9349
Doubles from $115";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Sisters, Ore.","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070817/ideas_mountaintown_013.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Robert Glusic", "Getty Images via Concierge.com", "273", "353", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Sisters, Oregon
The hills are alive with: Climbing
Get elevated: Remember that perfect Lincoln Logs town you built? The one your brother bulldozed with his Big Wheel? Picture it again -- only smack in the middle of Oregon's snowcapped Cascade Mountains, with 300 days of sunshine each year. That's Sisters, a town of 1,706 that lies just 20 miles northwest of Bend but gets far less tourist traffic. Sisters was named for Faith, Hope, and Charity (since renamed North, Middle, and South), the three major peaks that surround the log cabins and 19th-century storefronts that constitute downtown. Unless you're a serious mountaineer, the best one to hike is South Sister, where a five-and-a-half-mile, nontechnical trail -- no ropes or crampons needed -- leads to the summit of 10,358 feet. Simply climb into your canopied bed at the Grand Palace Hotel, which has train and cowboy \"theme\" suites. But save time for jalapeno bread at the bakery and ribs and beer at Bronco Billy's Ranch Grill and Saloon, a local landmark too risqué for Lincoln Logs.
Peak time: All summer
Grand Palace Hotel
Tel: 541 549 2211
Doubles from $89";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Nelson, B.C.","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070817/ideas_mountaintown_011.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Shambhala Music Fest", "273", "410", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Nelson, British Columbia
The hills are alive with: Hippies
Get elevated: Even if the August Shambhala Music Festival didn't promise \"four ecstatic nights and five dreamy days\" in this corner of the Kootenay Mountains, the funky Canadian hideout of Nelson (population 10,000) provides plenty of hints about its countercultural citizens. After all, the town brims with alternative-healing, hemp, and acupuncture shops; organic co-ops; and hydroponic supplies (for growing plants without soil). The setting is trippy, too: Storybook buildings slope down pine-covered hillsides toward stunning Kootenay Lake, while the Selkirk and Kootenay mountains frame the skyline. From July through September, local shopkeepers and artists team up to host parties for Artwalk. And then there's the Shambhala itself, a kinder, gentler Burning Man for the Great White North. Reenter civilization at Blaylock's Mansion, a pre–World War II estate with seven antique-filled rooms, 13 acres of gardens, organic breakfasts, and a spa. It's far-out.
Peak time: August 9 through 12 for the Shambhala Music Festival
Shambhala Music Festival
Tel: 250 352 7623
Blaylock's Mansion
Tel: 888 788 3613
Doubles from $185";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Park City, Utah","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070817/ideas_mountaintown_001.htease.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Lori Adamski-peek (435) 649-0259", "Lori Adamski-Peek/ Park City Cha", "99", "148", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Park City, Utah
The hills are alive with: Luxury
Get elevated: Long after the finely combed snow of Deer Valley ski resort has melted, the adjacent town of Park City retains its luster. Sure, the towering Wasatch Mountains, stitched with hiking and biking trails, indicate a hardcore sports haven. But having all of Hollywood descend upon the town every winter for Sundance has had an enlivening (or, shall we say, upmarket) effect. More than a dozen spas soothe the former mining town and even more galleries show off their Picassos, Rembrandts, and Renoirs. Instead of just the burgers and beers of some mountain towns, Park City's eateries serve seared foie gras, Kobe flank steak fajitas, and silky sabayon. Top picks are an outdoor table at Grappa for upscale Italian fare and chipotle-and-caramelized-pineapple-glazed spareribs at its sister restaurant, Chimayo. Through August, Deer Valley treats concertgoers to outdoor performances by the Utah Symphony and Opera. At the Hotel Park City, guests choose from 100 suites with goose-down duvets, Bulgari bath products, and balconies.
Peak time: June through August
Hotel Park City
Tel: 435 200 2000
Suites from $299";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Bristol, Vt.","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070817/ideas_mountaintown_010.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Addison County Chamber of Commer", "273", "411", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Bristol, Vermont
The hills are alive with: Swimming and ice cream
Get elevated: Summer in Vermont means two things: The first is swimming holes -- those sun-warmed pools of water that gurgle deep within the Green Mountains. The second is ice cream -- not Ben & Jerry's, but a simple cone of soft-serve, known in these parts as a creemee and spelled in various ways. Bristol, a tiny town at the foot of Dearleap Mountain in the central part of the state, has the best of both Vermont traditions. To make them even sweeter, work up a sweat by hiking up Mount Abraham, a 4,006-foot peak that takes about four hours round-trip. Then strip off the socks and shirts for a plunge into Bristol Falls (two miles east of Bristol on Lincoln Gap Road), where you can wade behind a 15-foot waterfall, explore caves, and bake on the boulders before hitting the Village Creeme Stand for a maple-syrup sundae. The views from the venerable yellow shack on Route 116 rival those from Mount Abraham. Cap it all off with a local microbrew at the Bobcat Café and a bed at the Inn at Baldwin Creek.
Peak time: July and August (when the water's warm enough)
Inn at Baldwin Creek
Tel: 888 424 2432
Doubles from $110";
SummerMountainTowns[i++] = new Array("","Cuetzalan, Mexico","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
SummerMountainTowns[i-1].body = "Cuetzalan, Mexico
The hills are alive with: Markets and culture
Get elevated: We know, Mexican food and early Sunday mornings haven't always been the best of bedfellows. But you'll have to just toss your notions of tequila and nachos and trust us on this one. Climb into the Sierra Norte, 120 miles northeast of Mexico City, to the colonial, cobblestoned (and steep) town of Cuetzalán. Then set your alarm for early Sunday. You'll see the jade hilltops draped in fog as pots of strong coffee, grown on nearby slopes, begin to brew and native Nahua women, dressed in white with red sashes, set up wares. There are live chickens and dried peppers, along with mountains of fresh produce that would make even the smuggest of American farmers-market vendors blush. Choose from delicate shawls, strong vanilla liqueur, crispy churros, and soft guavas. After the explosion of color, give your eyes a break by venturing into the sprawling caves that surround Cuetzalán. For the best local flavor, stay at the Hotel Taselotzin, an eco-lodge and working cooperative that consists of a cluster of five cabins run by Nahua women; massages and meals are also available.
Peak time: Sunday mornings, all year
Hotel Taselotzin
Tel: 52 233 33 10480
Email: maseualsiua@laneta.apc.org
Doubles from $34";
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// END editorial data