In a town many think closes for the winter, Never Summer Mountain Products on Grand Lake\u2019s main street opens every day at 9 a.m. The only days you\u2019ll find it closed are Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.<\/p>\n
Patrick Randall owns the sporting goods store, a family business started by his parents in 1982.<\/p>\n
Named for the mountain range to the north, Randall\u2019s business is one of the reasons the sign welcoming visitors to Grand Lake reads, \u201cOpen Year Round.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grand Lake is known as the western gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. On the northern edge of town, Trail Ridge Road connects Grand Lake to Estes Park \u2014 but when the road closes for the winter it leaves only about five miles of access into the park.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrail Ridge Road plays a big part in the fall, winter and spring economy up here,\u201d Randall said. \u201cAs soon as the park closes the road down, they almost turn a faucet off. You can tell if the road is open or not based on traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Randall\u2019s business has chosen to stay open every day even in the winter, as it means customers know that they\u2019ll be there.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall we do great winter business due to in part to the fact that we\u2019re consistently open,\u201d Randall said.<\/p>\n
Other businesses might not be open every day, but there are always a few restaurants and stores available every day of the week.<\/p>\n
The best days to find the biggest variety of open businesses are Thursdays to Sundays, according to Emily Hagen, executive director of the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the winter, Grand Lake becomes the last stop at the end of the road,\u201d Randall said. \u201cPeople do have to want to come up here. Around the holidays business is very good; lots of people coming up for Rocky Mountain National Park, taking a break from skiing at the parks or snowmobiling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patrick\u2019s business sees five to 10 people through the door every day during the winter, but often much more than that. Part of this is because of the various events put on by the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations in town.<\/p>\n
Events include fishing tournaments, hockey games, snowmobile races and fireworks. Even without an event going on, there\u2019s plenty to do in town.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the winter we put a lot of emphasis on our outdoor recreation,\u201d said Hagen.<\/p>\n
Grand Lake is known as the snowmobile capital of Colorado, with tons of businesses offering rentals. Snowmobiles are even allowed on the roads through town.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are big sports in the winter. With businesses like Randall\u2019s offering rentals for treks on public land and the Grand Lake Nordic Center just a mile outside of town, there\u2019s plenty of winter recreation to go around. The Nordic center even offers some dog-friendly trails, a rarity in the county where national parks ban canine companions.<\/p>\n
The national park does remain open to cars about five miles in, so hiking remains a popular activity. Because it does take more effort to reach the area, the snow-covered trails become nearly empty. For nature enthusiasts, there is nothing better than having a trail to yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get this opportunity to have a deserted national park at our backdoor,\u201d Randall said. \u201cYou can go up there any time, find a trail and not encounter hardly anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Grand Lake sits at the \u201cworld\u2019s end\u201d in the winter, the scenic town is not without a pulse. It may be on a relaxed mountain time, but the town is very much alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really love that it\u2019s like a little snow globe up here,\u201d Randal said. \u201cIt\u2019s a really great place to get away to. A very cute, quaint little town with amazing outdoor recreation opportunities, beautiful scenery and no lack of things to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
NOV. 29<\/strong><\/p>\n Tree Lighting Ceremony in Town Park, 5-7 p.m.<\/p>\n DEC. 14<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cHome for the Holidays\u201d at Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, 7:30-9:30 p.m.<\/p>\n DEC. 15<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cHome for the Holidays at Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, 2-4 p.m.<\/p>\n DEC. 26<\/strong><\/p>\n Kauffman House Museum Christmas display, 1-4 p.m.<\/p>\n DEC. 27<\/strong><\/p>\n Kauffman House Museum Christmas display, 1-4 p.m.<\/p>\n DEC. 31<\/strong><\/p>\n New Year\u2019s Eve with Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, 9-11 p.m.<\/p>\n DEC. 31<\/strong><\/p>\n Kauffman House Museum offers treats and tours while awaiting fireworks, 10 p.m. to midnight<\/p>\n JAN. 1<\/strong><\/p>\n Fireworks over the lake at midnight<\/p>\n FEB. 1<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWild, Wild West\u201d Winter Carnival, all day, concludes with fireworks<\/p>\n FEB. 8<\/strong><\/p>\n Pond Hockey Classic adult tournament, all day, registration required<\/p>\n FEB. 9<\/strong><\/p>\n Pond Hockey Classic junior tournament, all day, registration required<\/p>\n FEB. 22<\/strong><\/p>\n Ice Addiction Tournament, final round in series, lot opens at 4 a.m., registration required<\/p>\n FEB. 22<\/strong><\/p>\n Snowmobile for Life Poker Run, community house, 6-8 p.m.<\/p>\n FEB. 29<\/strong><\/p>\n Xtreme Mountain Racing snowmobile race<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a town many think closes for the winter, Never Summer Mountain Products on Grand Lake\u2019s main street opens every day at 9 a.m. The only days you\u2019ll find it closed are Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Patrick Randall owns the sporting goods store, a family business started by his parents in 1982. Named for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 15:35:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}